Walking with St. Paul How to be a Paul-Bearer, Part III

Jul 21, 2008

The third way to be a Paul-bearer during this Jubilee Year may seem like a very ordinary task, but I promise you it can become a powerful spiritual practice.  It is writing letters.  Around one-third of the New Testament is letters written by St. Paul and others.  Look at the impact these epistles are still having today!

In a digital age of text messages, voice-mails, and quickly typed e-mails -- there is a singular joy when one receives a stamped, handwritten letter from someone we love.  What a perfect year to restore the lost art of letter writing.  In fact, writing letters is a perfect way to implement the first two ways of becoming a Paul-bearer.  It is a perfect medium to express love and to be a “prophet” by witnessing to Christ and encouraging others.  This practice is also a wonderful way to make a gift of yourself to another (an upcoming way to be a Paul-bearer).

Recently, I have been reading the correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams in the final years of their lives.  As you know, they were very close in the beginning of our Republic, but later had a falling out.  A close friend of both statesman “encouraged” them to restore their friendship and the letters they wrote to one another are remarkable.  They are models of a kind of letter writing (carefully composed and thoughtfully penned) that is nearly extinct.  I’m sure in your own life, you have kept a few priceless handwritten notes from people you love.

Here are some practical suggestions:  First, write letters to those who are older than you.  Write a thoughtful and gracious letter to your parents or an important mentor in your life.  Maybe you’ve never taken the time to express to them in words how important they are to you.  Find an appropriate Scripture that expresses your thoughts or conveys a characteristic that they possess.  You may even need to reconcile with this person, a handwritten letter can open the door of forgiveness.  Even if you were the one wronged, taking the first step can begin the process of healing.

Second, consider writing to someone younger than you that you can spiritually mentor.  Think about the life lessons you have learned and how you may simply and clearly communicate them to another.  In a world bereft of mentors, this can be an incredible gift to a young person (child or grandchild).  These letters can be read again and again.

Third, write letters to your peers.  St. Paul was a great Apostle, in part, because a peer named Barnabas took a risk and embraced the new believer of Christ.  Consider writing a letter to a friend expressing how much they mean to you.  Again, include a text from the Scriptures that may seem appropriate. Include, not only the Scriptures, but also your reflections on them.  In other words, share the fruit of your prayer time and/or Lectio Divina with others.

If you have children or grandchildren, be a champion of the lost art of letter writing.  Write them regularly and when they are with you, help them compose a letter to someone they love.  This may be one of the most important habits you pass on to them.

Finally, it is important that we show the truth of our words with concrete actions.  Imagine an openly cheating husband giving a love letter to his wife.  It would be painful rather than helpful, because his actions don’t match his expressions in the letter.  Now that is a dramatic example, but you see the point.  Our lives must be living letters of love that match our handwritten prose.  St. Paul expressed it best to the Corinthian church.  When others were questioning his “credentials,” he pointed to his flock as the surest sign of his authenticity.  Their lives had become living letters manifesting that St. Paul had truly communicated Christ to them in word and deed.  He joyfully proclaimed, “You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3-4).

May we, through the intercession of St. Paul, be God’s living letters from Christ to all we may meet.