Epistle

e . pis . tle /noun/  a letter, missive, communication, a formal elegant letter,  a piece of writing in the form of a letter

“This is my letter to the world/ That never wrote to me . . .”

Emily Dickinson

If you are like me, you love  getting letters. Of course, we don’t call them epistles anymore, but they retain their ability to reach out to us and satisfy an emotional need. I eagerly look past the junk mail each day to find that one letter written just for me, even when there isn’t any reason why I should anticipate getting one, and it is certainly a satisfying feeling to sit in a chair and read sentences that draw me close to a dear friend who may be  an ocean  away.

Historians  say the earliest letters were spoken, with runners taking messages swiftly to their intended recipients. The Greek historian Heroditus praised the Persian post of the fifth century BC in a passage that has become well known, the latter part of which has been inscribed on the New York City Post Office.  “There is no mortal thing faster than these messengers,” Heroditus wrote. “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” This statement has become somewhat of an unofficial mail carrier’s oath of office.

I may be allowed a bit of female pride when I report that the first recorded hand-written letter around 500 BC was by a woman, the Persian Queen Alossa. And the stamped letter that we know today came into being in 1840 during the reign of Queen Victoria. It is fair to say that women have left their stamp on letter writing.

Whether it is a business or personal one,  a successful letter has certain identifying marks. First, it is  conversational, making the recipient feel that the writer is talking to him or her personally.  Some of the letters we write, and many of those we receive are stuffy, using inflated language merely to impress. My initial choice of a word for this week’s post  was epistolary, meaning “pertaining to or suitable to a letter,” about the same meaning as epistle,  but I decided against it as being inflated and a bit stuffy, so I chose epistle instead. Something  else that distinguishes a good letter is its courteous tone. The recipient is treated in language the way we ourselves would like to be treated. Then, too, the good letter is concise. Every word contributes to its meaning. No unnecessary words discourage the reader’s interest. A fourth quality is thoughtfulness. The writer shows interest in the reader, not merely in the message he or she wants to convey.

All this that has been said about what a good letter should be tends to create a keen awareness that letter writing  is a lost art today. I remember learning in elementary school how to write a business letter and also a friendly letter. My instructors were patient and thorough.  I think those teachers truly believed in the art, making sure that we youngsters mastered it as well as those who were trained to draw and paint landscapes mastered their art. But what do we find today? The means of communication are such that artistic, meticulous rendering of words on paper is not promoted. People dash off an e-mail with all its egregious grammatical sins and quickly click the “Send” button. The dominance of Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and other forms of modern communication has  rendered an emphasis on well-written letters passe.  How do you achieve elegant phrasing in 40 characters?

I along with others  may lament the passing of the age of letter writing as an art, but actually, there is a kind of letter writing that is going on all the time, and it includes us all.  The quotation from Emily Dickinson at the top of this post announces: “This is my letter to the world.” The words are from one of her pithy poems, and it ends in imploring the world to “judge tenderly of me.” A letter, then, invites judgment. What it says creates a reaction in the reader. With that in mind, a few observations are in order about us as letters to the world. We are being read all the time, whether we want to be or not. Our children read us very well. Our friends and colleagues read us. Even strangers take a look, read, and ponder the language they encounter. What is the message they receive?  We can only hope that it is sincere, forthright,  courteous, and unpretentious.

My friend Lona is a letter writer par excellence, not only in the words she employs, but also in the self she projects in her letters. Sometimes it’s just a card, the two sides filled with the latest news about her activities with her family. At other  times it’s pages long on attractive stationery. There is delight and enthusiasm transmitted in each line.  Oftentimes  she writes just to keep in touch, and how gentle and warm that touch is! I reread her letters with joy and appreciation.

In the Bible there are 21 epistles written to individuals as well as to church congregations. These letters were eagerly read by the recipients in their time, and today they are extensively read by all of us who go to them often to find comfort, inspiration,  exhortation, and instruction for daily living. These timeless epistles help us make our way in the world in times like these.

The letters we write can bring  joy to others, repairing  their spirit. Writing letters is something we can do for one another  and help God maintain happiness in the world.

Blessings,

Judith

*****

“Letters are among the most significant  memorial a person can leave behind.”       Goethe