Greetings,
My parents have recently decided to downsize from their home and move into a
smaller unit in a retirement village. In some ways this couldn’t have come soon enough,
but now we are faced with the monumental task of going through more than 50 years of
stuff deciding what needs to be kept and what can be parted with. I’m sure those of you who have done this know what it’s like.
Among the finds have been many old letters which were no doubt kept because of their value. I must admit that I have some old letters too, precious memories of people or events now past. I love letters and it’s probably no wonder when I see how much my mother loves them and how she instilled that love in me.
I remember well that as a small child one of the tasks in early January was to write a letter to grandparents, aunties and cousins to thank them for the Christmas gifts that I had received. My sister had to do this too, and it couldn’t be a combined letter, even though both letters ended up being sent in the same envelope.
When the pace of life is so fast it is a precious gift to receive a letter, especially one that someone has taken the time to write by hand, in a chosen card, addressed, stamped and posted. Someone has taken the time to make contact.
In 2 Corinthians 3:3 we read these words: “and you show that you are a letter of Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”
Wow … to be a letter of Christ is both a privilege and a challenge. I wonder how people receive us when we appear. Are we letters that leave people with a smile on their face? Are we a letter filled with good news? What would make us the sort of letter that people want to keep and cherish?
In the week ahead I pray that there might be times when we are aware of the blessing that we can be as we walk the path that is before us.
Blessings – Rev Heather.