Dear young man:
When I think about letters in my life,
three major sets of correspondence come to mind. First, I remember as a young man, getting
letters from my grandmother. They were
always addressed to “Master Johnny King” – which, of course, I thought was VERY
cool. She would tell me about small
things in her life. Of course, I would “have” to write back (I saw it as a
chore back then). My letters inevitably
started “Dear Grandma: How are you? I am fine.”
Trying to find things to say about a young boy’s life that would
interest my grandmother seemed difficult.
It was not until many years later that I understood it wasn’t so much
the content of the letter that mattered, it was the contact itself. As I grew older, Grandma continued to write,
even when I didn’t. She would send
clippings of Bloom County, knowing it was my favorite comic strip. I remember her letters were always so much
fun to read – they provided a sense of home and connectedness.
The second correspondence I remember
is between me and my girlfriend/fiancée.
I was in San Diego and she was in Reno.
Back then there were these things called “long distance phone calls” and
they cost money! We talked by phone no
more than once a week. But we wrote each
other often. Those letters were easy to
write, though I confess often repetitive in nature as I talked about how much I
missed her and how much I loved her. Those
letters also provided a sense of connectedness as well as hope and love. There was also a sense of expectation – of eagerly
checking the mailbox each day and the joy of finding a letter there.
The final set of letters in my life
are the letters I receive from the children I sponsor through Compassion International. These letters are handwritten (sometimes by
teachers, for the children too young to write).
They sometimes sound like the letters I wrote my grandmother, but they
are full of love!
I still have the letter my
grandmother wrote to me when I graduated medical school. I still have the letters I received from Marji
(and she still has the ones from me). And literally have 3 binders full of the
letters from our compassion kids. Re-reading all these letters bring back
precious memories and deepen relationships.
E-mails are convenient, certainly. I remember being on deployment and being able
to e-mail daily. And yet I would still write longer “letters” sent by email to
family and friends every month. Yet
despite the convenience – or maybe because of it – e-mails have their
down-side. Let’s start with the “art” of
writing. It was bad enough that I would
write “Dear Grandma: How are you? I am fine?”
But e-mail (and texting) encourage even worse: “How r u?”
“IDK” “lol” and so on. There is something about taking the time to
write out a sentence fully – artfully – that makes letters personal. You invest a part of your life in letters.
Now, being an old-fashioned guy who
still prefers holding a book in his hands to reading something on my iPad, it
should come as no surprise that I also find something “tangible” in holding a
letter that has a person’s handwriting on it.
How many e-mails a day to we delete?
(How much junk mail do we throw away each day?) I don’t know about you, but I certainly don’t
have any e-mails that are 30+ years old.
A few final thoughts: Second to a nice long letter is a
hand-written note. A thank-you note, a
get-well card, a note of encouragement.
These hand-written “moments in time” still contain a piece of the person
who wrote them. They speak of
consideration given in time and thought.
Lastly, good letter writing skills will prove themselves when it comes
to finding a job. Sending a letter of
intent (even if attached electronically), a letter of thanks for an interview,
etc can make a tremendous difference.
The one time I can still anticipate
a letter is with Christmas cards. Even
so, it is not quite the same. They are
personal, but not individual. They do
increase connectedness and relationship, but sometimes it seems more like a
Christmas ritual than a true correspondence.
So here is my challenge to you: write a letter. In fact, make it a habit to write a letter –
shoot for once a month. And send it by
regular mail – I guarantee it will brighten someone’s day (maybe even your
own).
With much love,
Pastor JC
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