The Notes of Recovery

I'm home - so glad, after my 12 days in isolation. Molly watches over me, and helps me be better.

And, little notes and long letters come, helping me be together with friends on the journey who are dear to me. They tell me where their hearts are, and about their prayers. What an honor.

They are words on paper in their own "hand." So many of them so distinctive. The words come from deep places. Out of shared memories -- some from very long ago.  Memories that have been treasured, and are now offered to me, as something precious that they want me to know.

They are a kind of sacred exchange.  Sometimes they tell me mine to them have been long saved.  I too, try to hold on to theirs, to read and re-read.  They are among the most treasured things I possess.

In some ways these exchanges of notes and letters have come into a new day among people who care about each other.  We are, for now, a slow-down society.  We look at each other in new ways.  Many of us cannot even see each other for now.  So faces come from those words on paper.  We find new - though very old - ways of appreciating each other, and communicating.  And letters, so old-fashioned, have a new importance.

We can hold them in our hands.  We can see in our hearts the faces behind the handwriting.  We're more ready to take time for that.  These "things" we hold, paper with handwriting on it, have a new value, in this new day.

Perhaps we're learning something important, we could continue in the post-pandemic that will follow this strange transitional time.  Maybe we will write more, in the future.  Maybe we will remember more, and reflect more, and value more.

And so, we may find ourselves better, richer, deeper, renewed people - better for all we're going through.

A great joy in life is remembering people. Is giving thanks for them, thanking God for them.  Good habits for us human beings.  A lesson the Lord is teaching us.

So, God love you. He does, dearly and deeply.  As His children, we are the beloved.  Be glad.

Love you all.

Your friend, Arthur