We live in a day of quick and easy communication. Moments after I hit the publish button this post will be available to people around the globe if they choose to read it. I can send and receive e-mail to people living in many places around the globe. My phone allows me to share in vocal communication instantly with peoples thousands of miles away, or just a few. Text messages keep me aware of various events, allow for quick short messages to get things done, to share information, locate people… Facebook allows me to stay in contact with people I haven’t seen in years…. So much more is possible, so much communication, at so fast a pace, and yet… there’s something special about receiving a letter in the mail.
Be it a letter typed on a type writer from a wonderful older member of a congregation I was part of for just a brief time, or a hand written letter from my sister. There’s something special, something unique. Wednesday on my way to work, I stopped and opened my mailbox, and within were a few items, one of which was addressed to me in the handwriting of my sister. The joy that came to me as I opened that letter, as I read her words in her own hand, was wonderful. The content of the letter brought me joy, and brought back memories. While surly she could have shared the same words in another written form, a form that would have brought them to my eyes even faster, there was something special, something extra by seeing it in her hand, about receiving it in the mail. I was blessed this week by that gift, I am glad for all our fast communication, but I think that letter if received as an e-mail, just would not have been quite as special. So today I give praise for that gift, and hope that we will never forget the power of a written, mailed letter. Or the power of sharing in conversation in person with someone. May there never be a day when we allow our instant communication over vast distances replace completely the wonders of slower personalized communication, or of being in the physical presence of one who we wish to communicate with. Now I must take the time to write to her, to share my joy, to share the smile she brought to my face.
Peace,
— Lyle II