Love letters and life
Itruly believe my genera tion, the Boomers as we are called, grew up in two differ ent worlds. Born in the fifties and growing up in the sixties, we grew up with party line rotary phones, antennae television with four channels if you were fortunate, and with schools, homes and cars having no air conditioning. We played outside until dark without fear of danger from strangers. We drank unfiltered water from garden hoses and survived. Our homes, churches, and cars were unlocked and safe. Instead of texts, we wrote letters and sent them through the post office.
When I met my now wife of fortyfour years, we were often sepa-rated due to her being in college and my service in the Army.
So, before cell phones, it was too costly to talk long distance on the phone, so we usually sent letters to each other. We sent many letters! They were, by any definition, love letters. I have in my closet a shoebox packed full of her letters to me. She has in her closet the letters I sent to her. I have sometimes joked that when one of us passes, the other must burn the letters. However, we both have a piece of our romance that we can still read and remember how our love grew, even in time of separation from each other.
I thought about how great technology is today and how nice it would have been to be able to connect so easily back in our day, but then I wouldn’t have the physical letters I have to read. I wouldn’t have experienced the excitement and anticipation of mail call on base so I could get her next letter. In fact, I have letters from my grandparents, my parents, and friends I would not otherwise have if there had been instant communication technol-ogy. I’m not saying technology is bad, only that the preservation of words written is far less common than back in my time.
However, far more important than letters from family, friends, and the love of your life, is God’s love letters to us, written down and preserved in the form of the Bible. I still have my very first Bible given to me by my church in Largo, Florida after my baptism. In my childhood writing, in one of the front pages, is written these words, “God’s love letter to Walter Blackman.” When you can, as often as you can, read His love letters to you. They are the letters of abundant and eternal life.
