I might be old fashioned but I love to send and receive physical letters or postcards… or personalized packages. Obviously email, text or DMs are faster, but the tangible nature of a letter—a page someone who cares about me took the time to send—will always touch my heart. Letters (for lack of a better term) “Hit Differently”.
I think about famous postage:
-The letters of Anne Frank
-Martin Luther King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail
– The Epistles of Paul
These letters stand the test of time because they speak with intention, not just to convey facts, but lay out hope, dreams, concerns and emotions. Often connecting daily struggles with spiritual ideals. I love how a letter that endures is more than a direct message, it’s emotion in physical form.
I was made aware this week of “Letters From Dilly” a project documenting the letters written by children detained by ICE. In the past year, 6,200 children in the states have been separated from parents, placed in poor living conditions and forced to face a judicial system that most adults couldn’t navigate. You read that right, kids on trial.
Yet through all this turmoil and fear, letters and drawings are how these children can communicate their hopes, dreams and experiences.Reading these letters my heart is moved. I’m reminded of Paul the apostle who while in prison wrote letters of encouragement to his beloved church family.
If you feel moved too, at https://www.lettersfromdilley.org/letters allows you to also send letters to comfort these detained children. It may not feel like a lot, but to know that they are loved even in this cruel world can make all the difference to a child who feels forgotten.