Letters

TUES., JUNE 2, 1987, 6:17 AM
FARM, STUDY

Let us use your carelessness in your responsibility to Liza as the commencement of a lesson on letters on this warm, Spring morning. You wrote the letter which could help her become a properly employed professional, but it remains on your desk, unmailed and therefore unable to accomplish the good its contents can achieve. The fundamental is that a letter must be conceived, written, and then mailed before its value is evident.

You feel relief that the responsibility for the two newsletters has been lifted. Composition of these represents a small talent you have which should only be rested, not put aside. Enjoy the respite, but know that this is a proper and appropriate service to both your church and to hospice.

A letter can be a virtually spiritless communication, one with some spirit… and on to a communication that truly exudes spirit. You use words rather well, but the quality of letters you write is mostly in the spirit that shines forth from them. You have the spirit, but you have to be willing to let it be exhibited in this written form. The trade off for this respite from newsletters is that you should be composing each day… at least every other day… a letter to someone who needs or wants to hear from you. The list is long and varied. You may choose who shall receive. But, yes, this is a mini-commission, which you must accept.

The writer of that book on influential people in history made a valid point when he concluded that though I, as Jesus, was the focus of the religion called Christianity, I really did not institute it. This opportunity was Paul’s, and he did it with letters as well as with personal preaching and evangelism. His letters, and ones like them, constitute an important part of the Scriptures of the New Testament. In your teaching, continue to require these as a means of combining information and feeling. Consider that whenever you sit down to write a letter you have the opportunity of composing something like scripture.

This opportunity is most evident in this Ruminations letter that is now well established as a regular communication, in this letter form. Though it does require attention and time, you know that it isn’t as difficult a task as you sometimes make it out to be. There is truly no reason why you cannot turn out four of these a year, this combination of selected thoughts from Me, interspersed with your ruminative comments. This is a unique contribution that you can make, so resist the feeling that it is more than you can accomplish. Just consider that all of My Teachings are of high quality, so you need not fret overlong about which are truly best. Select and compose. Simple as that.