Living Letters

It has been said that the art of letter writing is a dying form of expression.  In recent years pen and ink have been replaced by email and more recently by texting.  My mother was a letter writer.  I can vividly recall her excellent penmanship that resulted in each letter becoming a literal work of art! 

My Mom and Dad had met at a USO dance toward the end of WWII when my Dad was stationed in New York where my Mom’s family lived.  When the war ended my parents were married and my Dad went to work at my Grandfather’s successful garment factory.  But the California in my Dad kept beckoning to him and in the late forties my Dad, Mom and older sister who had recently come on the scene moved back to my Dad’s home town of Richmond, California.

Needless to say that although she was in full agreement and fully committed to the move, it was still quite a shock to her as she moved almost 3000 miles away from her close knit family and friends so that my Dad could finish his college education at San Francisco State College and fulfill his career aspirations to become a teacher.  Back then the phone system was nothing like it is today and long distance calling was very expensive.  So in some respects, she was forced to become a letter writer!

Her communications by mail continued through the years to her distant cousins and friends even after my Grandparents and my Mom’s sister and family followed them to sunny California, not too many years after they pioneered the family transition!  To me a letter is much more personal than an email or a text.  And while I make use of the new technologies, I tend to email or text a lot more information than I usually get in reply!  A letter seems to become a part of the writer’s personality.  When one reads old letters that have been written between good friends or lovers, it is as if you instantly become a part of the story and almost feel the romance that oozes between the lines!  A letter written from the heart expresses the writer’s deepest being and emotions.

As I studied from Colossians 1:6 this morning where Paul states that “this Good News is present with you now” (God’s Word ©) I could not help but think about letter writing… The Apostolic Bible Polyglot, which is translated from the original Greek translation of the Bible with a Greek interlineal gloss and is keyed to a concordance, states this portion of scripture as “the good news, the one being at hand in you…”  The King James version says “is come unto you…”  A look at Strong’s confirms the ABP’s use of the word “in” as this relates the more accurate usage of the original Greek.

Therefore you could conceivably take this thought one step further and say that since the Good News is in us and becomes a part of us, it is us!  2 Corinthians 3:3 would agree with this supposition and bring my discussion of letters into clear focus as it declares that, “It’s clear that you are Christ’s letter, written as a result of our ministry.  You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (God’s Word ©)

Once we accept and begin to live our lives in line with the Word of God, we become living letters expressing the love of God to all who see or READ us!  So when you think about it… the art of letter writing is not dead!  You and I are living and breathing examples of God’s letter writing skills as He declares His love to the world.  And I think that that God uses indelible ink that can’t be erased!

Kind of gets you thinking doesn’t it?  It is a big responsibility to be that visible letter written for all to see!  But thank the Lord that He is the One writing it and His words are always loving and kind… even if we don’t necessarily feel like it at certain times in our lives!  So, I would encourage you to take yourself out of the envelope and let those around you read what God has written to them.  Then share His love as He did to you!  Have a great week.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”