D.L. Diener <<>> words
303 Carter Road, Staying Connected (August 2017 issue, due December 1)
Goshen, IN 46526 dldiener@gmail.com 574-333-4242
A long time ago, in a land not so far away, there were humans that communicated with handwritten words on paper. Sprawling swirls of ink in rows that marched across the expanse of a piece of creamy white paper, sometimes augmented with a small monogram centered at the top. The paper was then carefully folded and placed inside an envelope and sealed. A stamp would be affixed at the top right corner of the envelope, and the name of a dear friend, sweetheart, or doting grandmother, would be carefully printed on the front so that no confusion …show more content…
I have many close friendships that have developed entirely online. I’m speaking to you right now, thanks to technology. However, nothing speaks to me like a real, handwritten …show more content…
It’s a small notebook, with super thin paper, and it is mailed back and forth between a set of people. In this case, my friend and I. I remember it took six stamps to mail it, and in it, in tiny printed letters, is my trip to Africa, the birth of my son, the time my friend moved into an intentional community, and then her move back home as an adult. It holds some of the biggest, most sacred moments of our lives, and they were passed from my hand to hers and back.
It should come as no surprise that my favorite form of connecting with God, is through the letters that were left for us in the Bible. I love the greetings in those old letters, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” [Philippians 1:3, NIV] It reminds me that while life can feel overwhelming, I am not the first person to feel this way, and like my faith-ancestors I, too, will persevere with the help of my friends.
It feels a little bit like a betrayal to the Gospel to say I don’t find the “red letters” as the way for me to connect, but when I need encouragement, when I am feeling bewildered with the way things are, it is the letters from these forbearers of faith that remind me I am in good company. Laying my finger on the pages of my Bible (or the screen of the Bible app) feels akin to pulling out my old letters with their familiar phrases and stories. It keeps me grounded and rallies my
303 Carter Road, Staying Connected (August 2017 issue, due December 1)
Goshen, IN 46526 dldiener@gmail.com 574-333-4242
A long time ago, in a land not so far away, there were humans that communicated with handwritten words on paper. Sprawling swirls of ink in rows that marched across the expanse of a piece of creamy white paper, sometimes augmented with a small monogram centered at the top. The paper was then carefully folded and placed inside an envelope and sealed. A stamp would be affixed at the top right corner of the envelope, and the name of a dear friend, sweetheart, or doting grandmother, would be carefully printed on the front so that no confusion …show more content…
I have many close friendships that have developed entirely online. I’m speaking to you right now, thanks to technology. However, nothing speaks to me like a real, handwritten …show more content…
It’s a small notebook, with super thin paper, and it is mailed back and forth between a set of people. In this case, my friend and I. I remember it took six stamps to mail it, and in it, in tiny printed letters, is my trip to Africa, the birth of my son, the time my friend moved into an intentional community, and then her move back home as an adult. It holds some of the biggest, most sacred moments of our lives, and they were passed from my hand to hers and back.
It should come as no surprise that my favorite form of connecting with God, is through the letters that were left for us in the Bible. I love the greetings in those old letters, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” [Philippians 1:3, NIV] It reminds me that while life can feel overwhelming, I am not the first person to feel this way, and like my faith-ancestors I, too, will persevere with the help of my friends.
It feels a little bit like a betrayal to the Gospel to say I don’t find the “red letters” as the way for me to connect, but when I need encouragement, when I am feeling bewildered with the way things are, it is the letters from these forbearers of faith that remind me I am in good company. Laying my finger on the pages of my Bible (or the screen of the Bible app) feels akin to pulling out my old letters with their familiar phrases and stories. It keeps me grounded and rallies my