Dear Reader,
I rather like writing letters. And I also rather like receiving them. I enjoy running to the hallway when you know that one might be coming, and expectantly shuffling papers,eyes running over addresses and handwriting, searching for familiar pen strokes. I like to write reams and reams of thoughts, impromptu haikus and little drawings onto cream paper, and to slip them inside an envelope, safely sealed until new fingers prize it open.
You see, the thing about letters is they’re so personal. What’s inside is for you, and for you alone. Someone has taken the time to sit down, put pen to paper, and to write in that glorious old fashioned way. In a society where everything moves to the sound of tapping keyboards, this can’t help but be something special.
A little while back I stumbled across something called the ‘Hand Written Letter Project’. It stemmed from a conversation between Craig Oldham (the guy who started it) and a friend, as they discussed how the art of letter writing shouldn’t be forgotten, especially in an age of instant communication. The essence of the project is that people could write in on their own stationary, telling him, in their own handwriting, what they thought about letter writing, and he would then publish them. He says that
'the project offers much more than that voyeuristic insight into the creative minds of those we revere, more that it represents a visual narrative on the cultural transition in which we find ourselves.'
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| 'Writing letters is a bit like thatching the roof of a cottage. Not many people do it anymore" |
At around the same time (coincidence?) I also saw an article which had picked 12 hand written love letters from famous people, and published them online.
This one was my particular favourite. It’s from the jazz musician Charlie Parker (whose ‘Yardbird Suite’ is just something else!) to his long term girlfriend.
"To you;
The way I thought was wrong, having not known, it was right. Here is the proof of my feelings, Don’t hate me, love me forever: — — — —
Beautiful is the world, slow is one to take advantage. Wind up the world the other way. And at the start of the turning of the earth, lie my feelings for thou.
To you
Shame on me.
I love you."
Could you say this words out loud? (Or more importantly, would you?). What if they were said in an email? A Tweet? A Facebook message? Would they have they same simple beauty? The same resonance as pencil on partially torn paper? I don't think so.
Not only this, but letters last. Letters have power. Letters change things. One of my favourite letters is that of a man named Paul, who was writing to the Corinthians in around AD 55. He was writing to a troubled Church, a Church that had lost sight of the crucified Christ. In Chapter 15 vs 1, he says to them 'I want to remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you'. Now why does Paul use a letter to remind them? Correspondence of the day? Yes, of course. Most practical way to get a message to the Corinthian Church? Most certainly. But I'd also like to think that Paul knew that what he wanted to say to the Corinthians could be best said in the form of a letter.
More importantly, what is it that Paul says that he thinks is so important? That 'Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures.' (1 Corinthians 15:3).
Paul decided to put the most important news ever...the news of the Resurrected Christ... in a letter. Does this diminish spoken words or speeches? No. But it does display the power of the written word.
This year, I'm challenged to write more. So don't be surprised if you get a letter.
Yours faithfully and with a whole lot of love,
Alex
xx
