O Lord, you are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.  Psalm 142:5.

Now God is not of the dead but of the living; for to him, all of them are alive.  Luke 20:38.  

I wrote once about being a “bibliophile, a lover of books, a lover of words.  I find though, that as I grow older, words often escape me.  Proper nouns are the hardest to come up with sometimes, words for places, street names, objects which I use every day, and even names of acquaintances and friends.  I know that this is an aging thing and that I am not alone in my frustration with forgetting words. 

Words are important.  Words convey messages, express thoughts and feelings, share knowledge and information, send love or unlove.  Words can help or hurt.  We must learn to use words carefully, to think before we speak, to consider the potential impact of what we say and what we write. 

Jesus is the Word, sent from God. (John 1:1) In the words of Joyce Rupp, “Jesus was truly a letter from the Father”.  (FRESH BREAD, p.9).  She goes on to say that each of us is a letter from the Son.  In turn, we are to be a letter to all those who are in our lives.  In 2Corinthians 3:2, Paul writes “You know that you are a letter from Christ - - - - This letter is not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God.  It is not written on stone tablets.  It is written on human hearts.”

Letters say things about the writer.  What does your letter say about you?  Letters contain words and those words send a message.  Hopefully our letters convey a message of love, hope, forgiveness, mercy, grace.  May we all be beautiful letter writers and examples of faithful and beloved children of God.  

Holy Lord, you are love sent to us from the Father.  Your message is written on our living hearts.  Help us to be love to all those in our lives.  Amen  

Joan Perlich         

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