SEATTLE, WA - Local youth pastor Bryce LoPresti blew a perfect chance to give a reason for the hope within him Wednesday when his neighbor finally inquired what his tattoo means.

"Dude! Thank you so much for asking," LoPresti reportedly replied, peering down at his forearm. "It's Hebrew for . . . uh . . . It's the Hebrew word for . . . "

"I could have sliced the awkwardness with a two-edged sword," girlfriend Samantha Spurlock recounted to reporters. "A divine appointment gone horribly wrong, that's for sure."

In a press release Thursday, LoPresti commented on the squandered opportunity. "It was a moment missional dreams are made of. There I stood, about to go all incarnational. And I just froze."

Asked if he's since determined the meaning projecting from his forearm, LoPresti was honest. "I've narrowed it down to faith, hope, and love. It's got to be one of those . . . right?"

"I don't know why God allowed this," he added, "but I hope I'll get another chance. As that blessed Puritan John Flavel said, 'Providence is best read like Hebrew - backwards.'"