Sat. Jan. 29, 2022
One Note Can Mean So Much
Fran Meffen
Each morning when I open the “Reflection for the Day” from our community it reminds me of words from our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. In a recent sermon on Epiphany he spoke of three “Rs”: Renew our Relationship with the God of love, Revive our relationships with each other and Resurrect our commitment to our ideas and values that we share. I decided that I would write about reviving relationships since most recently my relationship with my faith has been sparked by notes of encouragement and love from Anne and others.
During this long dark time of the year, in our second year of COVID relationships have proven to be key in my every day mostly at a safe distance. But how best can we revive relationships or build new ones with friend and stranger alike. We can send a quick text or email, we can tweet or do snap chat but much better than any of this as I taught my students is to take time out and write a note. Yes, write a handwritten note that will let the recipient know that you cared so much that even though there is never enough time in a day, you did a “full stop” as the author David Kundtz would suggest to write and then put that note in the mail.
Today as I listened to one of the “Pray as you go”( great application that Anne sent me” podcast readings the question was asked “ how would you feel to receive a note – this being a note from John to Timothy? How does it feel to open the mailbox and amongst all the ads that insist we need one more thing there was this one note that showed you thought enough about a relationship with another that you wanted to just send a few lines to let them know we are thinking of them, care about them, are praying for them, are grateful for them? I can only tell you from my most recent experience that it means so very much, more than you could possibly imagine.
So, I hope that you will do a “full stop” this week and find a post card or a note in your drawer, or have a child make a note to send to a friend, grandparent, or someone that you know lives by themselves so that we can revive relationships as has been suggested by our Presiding Bishop and which was exemplified by Jesus each and every day.
Let’s take this “one note” at a time.