The Big Question

This month’s question is: ‘Paul is one of the famous letterwriters of the New Testament. Do you continue to write letters and why?’

“Life is busy. Between a full family calendar and the myriad demands of parish ministry, I must confess that I have fallen out of the habit of writing letters – something that, upon reflection, I deeply regret…

“As a teenager, I used to love coming home from a holiday abroad or a summer Scripture Union camp and writing letters to the people whom I had met as well as those I already knew.

“I remember the feeling of ‘getting post’! Even now, when I receive a handwritten envelope through the letterbox, it fills my heart with joy to read the words that a friend or parishioner has taken time out of their life to handwrite in a beautiful card or on a nice piece of paper.

“In a world of instant communication, it is too easy to pick up a phone and send a quick message.

“Does such a message contain the same emotion or depth?

“I used to love picking up a pen and writing ‘Dear’. How many of us jump straight into the body of an email, text, chat post without even an opening greeting?

“When you carve space out of a day to handwrite a letter, you can take your time to reflect before replying as well as creating space to open up about how things make you feel.

“You can leave a letter and think carefully about your responses before putting the final draft into the envelope.

“Do we do that as much in our electronic communications?”

“To write or not to write -that is the question…

“When I was a child, I wrote like a child. When I became a man I put aside childish pencils.

“I have been through three phases in my life. As a child I wrote letters. As a boy, I was neither good at writing, nor did I enjoy it -especially the week after Christmas.

“Then, as a young adult, I was given a typewriter and suddenly all my lines were straight and neat and the writing was legible. In those younger days, receiving a typed letter was an excitement.

“Finally, I bought my first computer. Most of my letter writing, since then, has been electronic. Now, when I receive a handwritten letter, I panic. Will I be able to read the handwriting?

“Writing to someone, whether it is by pen, by email, message or tweet, is to convey a message. It is the message that is important, not the method of conveying it.

“John Calvin wrote at least 4000 letters (those still surviving) to over 300 recipients – writing to kings, to ladies in high places, to missionaries, friends and Reformers, to nobility and commoners. Invariably his letters pointed people to the Living God.

“Maybe Paul’s words should be our guide: 1 Corinthians 10:31 whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 6:14 do everything in love. Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another. “

QUESTION

“I love it when the postman comes to our door and I see an envelope with familiar handwriting.

“There is something quite special about getting a personal, handwritten letter.

“I have three very special friends who send me letters and because of the joy it gives me to receive those special little envelopes I write to each of those friends.

“One friend keeps me up to date with her travels, where she’s been and where she hopes to go.

“Another shares the joys and heartbreaks of family life and, as we both have daughters living on the other side of the world, we empathise with each other in what we miss, despite the wonders of technology.

“My third friend has a severe hearing loss, so verbal conversations are very difficult, but he writes wonderful letters about his travels in his camper van with his hearing dog.

“Finding time to write to these friends can sometimes be tricky, but years ago my friend wrote to me, while she was at the hairdresser’s and since then, you will often find me scribbling away as my hairdresser works her magic.

“I used to work in a care home, and one lovely lady had a box of letters from friends and she would often ask me to read one or two of them to her.

“I now have my own box of letters from my friends which is marked – Mum’s – for when she needs to be looked after!”

“I Am A Letter Writer

“I am a letter writer and I do so because I believe that building and maintaining good relationships, as Paul did, is one of the most important things that we can share with each other.

“Sometimes the words we speak might not convey the full message of what we really want to say often resulting in a muted and polite confusion. However, as we write, we also read and often edit what we write to address the point we really want to make.

“Paul’s earliest letter was written to address the needs of the congregation at Thessalonica shortly after he had left the city.

“When the letter arrived, it was read to the congregation and in time, copied and shared with other congregations; giving them an important role in shaping the beliefs and practices of the early church.

“While we do live in an age of advanced technology, if you are like me; then often than not, I end up with typos and incorrect auto-corrections in my texts and emails. This can lead to misunderstood and often confusing messages being exchanged. I truly believe that as we write; we do so with a sense of understanding while holding the love and care of the recipient in our thoughts and prayers.

“We may not change or reshape very much, but it is a very tangible way of sharing our Christian love and care that can be cherished and preserved.

“Paul’s letters were of course more like small books, or at least booklets, rather than the one to two page things which we usually call letters. And he wrote them mostly because he couldn’t be at all these places in person. I suspect, therefore, that if Paul had had the technology available to him, he’d have used Zoom to speak with the good people of Colossae, Corinth and so on.

“But maybe not: the thing about a letter is that it can be read and re-read, studied and mulled over – unlike a conversation. His letter to the Romans wouldn’t work on Zoom!

“Recently I had to handwrite more than I’d done for a while and at first it was awkward and ugly, but after 1/2 hours or so I started to enjoy it and I realised how much more personal it is than email, text or WhatsApp.

“I don’t write many letters – no more than one or two a year, I suppose, but I find that some of my emails have a way of growing into letters. People comment that they’re longer than ones they get from others.

“On the other hand, I prefer the immediacy of a video call with most of the people I used to write to; it’s more intimate and personal, I think. And I think some people find it strange and difficult to write a letter back. I wouldn’t like to oblige my friends to do that.”

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