by how he begins and ends each letter. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, for example, opens with: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you ...” (Philippians 1:2-4). While as Lutherans we oſt en look to Paul for our
theological formulas, we ought to also remember that for him the theological isn’t easily separated from the pastoral, relational demands of his ministry. Paul’s let- ters aren’t only off erings of his theological astuteness, they are off erings of himself. Luther, too, knew this relational connection. In his
scholastic writing, he is oſt en forceful and unapologetic. However, in his letters to civil leaders, other reformers and ordinary Christians, we fi nd a Luther who is more sensitive to the situation at hand. For Paul and Luther, letter writing was a self-off ering,
an extension of their relational ministries. So how might we recover this lost art of writing
letters? Even if we have all become “practitioners of memo,”
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as Brueggemann suggests, two forms of letter writing seem to have avoided the digital revolution: love letters and thank-you notes. In love and gratitude we affi rm both the space
between one another and the miracle of bridging that gap. We affi rm the uniqueness of the other and also our shared interdependence. Perhaps this is why we still prefer our love letters and thank-you notes to be hand- written. We want to see the words written in their own hand. We want to hold the paper in our own hand. Our contemporary lives are full of writing and, in a
way, we are all called upon to write. I invite you to join me in writing beyond memos. Whether we fi nd our- selves writing on fi ne stationery or tablets, may we not forget the space between each of us. May we remember that our words carry little pieces of ourselves and have both the potential to hurt and to heal. As we off er our- selves via our words, may we remember the Word who came to dwell among us. And if you dare to write this way, may it be met with
grace and assurance. If no one else does, allow me to say ahead of time, “T anks for sharing.”
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