Jo Ann and I recently moved from an apartment to a house. As is true in most moves, people come across items they hadn’t seen in years, things they thought had been lost, things that were not lost but had been forgotten. In this most recent move, once again I came across some letters I had forgotten that I had. Most are letters to or from family members, letters that are now 80-90 years old. Collections of letters have become their own genre. In Scripture we have some of the letters of the apostle Paul.
In church history we know of the letters between Abelard and Heloise in the 11th century. Today we have published letters of theologians to colleagues, friends, and family (e.g., Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer), political leaders (e.g., Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln), public letters (e.g., MLK, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”), and, of course, many of our own personal letters.
One of the most iconic letters in this part of Presbyterian country is one that James Skinner wrote in January 1914 to S. Brooks McLane. Skinner had just started Tex-Mex, a Presbyterian school for boys outside of Kingsville, Texas, later to become the Presbyterian Pan American School. McLane was young and interested in a teaching job. In the letter Skinner minces no words about what to expect. He challenges McLane to come if he wants, but also to expect hard work. (Skinner’s letter can be found in the “Introduction” to Planting Trees: A History of Presbyterian Pan American School). The school has now begun its 109th year. I believe that work and the work that continues today contributes to building up the kingdom.
Some letters are worth keeping, and while many are probably not, they all reveal something of the times in which they were written. Some letters can have a powerful impact on us. I have one that was written to me from one of my parents while I was in graduate school that made a huge influence on me in a good way. I keep that letter and read again occasionally. Many letters are filled with news that may be interesting and a reflection of the times, but occasionally a letter is written that holds profound meaning for us. This one does that for me. I think it reflects something of what the kingdom is like.
Paul’s letters, the letter of John to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, and others in the New Testament offer hope, encouragement, instruction, and challenge to those early Christians and to us. Have we lost the art of writing letters? Today we have become accustomed to emails, twitter, and text messaging. Will any of those be preserved? Are any of those worth preserving? Are there letters that over the years have been important to you? What will future generations find when they look for evidence of the written word? I wonder if they will find evidence of the kingdom.
