Salvation Sound - June 2012

Posted on June 1, 2012

Modern Technology... Not My Scene...

In the newspaper today I read an article that stated "The days of letter writing are over".

Well, with postage stamps at such a high price that's a "may be", but, oh, there is a great joy to be had by some of us when the postman delivers a handwritten letter from an old friend, or a postcard from an exotic country, that I in my "old age" will never visit; or perhaps a birthday or congratulatory card; along with the mountains of junk mail that I seem to get.

W.H.Auden wrote the poem, The Night Mail, which makes the claim, "And none will hear the postman's knock without a quickening of the heart, for who can bear to feel himself forgotten?"

So many of my generation do not have access to the internet, do not send or receive E-Mails, cannot send text messages, and really do not want to become addicted to the small screens. Things like Kindles and I-Pods etc. are like a foreign language to me; I like to read with a proper book in my hands.

One of the leasures of belonging to the older generation is that the need for speed is not a necessity.

Ecclesiastes chapter 7 is headed in my Good News bible, "thoughts about life." Verse 29 says: "This is all that I have learnt. God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated"

To get back to the mail; if letter writing is to be a thing of the past tell all the philatelists to hold on to their collections; soon they will be worth a small fortune - especially if they have a unique stamp, such as a 1 cent black-on-magenta British Guiana (now Guyana) printed in the capital, Georgetown in 1856. One was sold in 1873 for the equivalent of 30p. In 1934 it was resold for £7,500, in 1979 it was valued at £350,000. Today who knows?

Letters written in a bygone age, peoples' signatures become collectors' items. These are not things to be discarded, destroyed, or thrown out willy-nilly. They are treasures and will become our heritage.

"Some give thanks for a day that is done,
I give thanks for one begun;
For the chance to live as I feel I should,
And with good grace as I know I could.
I'm glad of the chance to do or say
A kindly thing in a kindly way;
And of bringing, if but for a little while,
To the face of another, a happy smile."

Letters do that, write one today.

These are an example of letters written by children to God.

• "I sorry did not write before but I only learned how this week. Martha. I am five."
• "Dear God, If we had fur like animals we wouldnt have to wear clothes. Did you ever think of that. Walter."
• "Dear God Last week it rained for 3 days. We thought it would be like Noahs Ark but it wasnt. Im glad because you could only take two of things, remember. And we have 3 cats. love from Donna."
• "Dear God Why do I have to pray when you know anyway that I want? But if it makes you feel better, Ill do it. Sue."

Letters like this always reach there destination, no cost involved!

Source: Focus, June 2012