Writing letters
Writing letters
My lecturer said something this morning during class which got me thinking ... She said nowadays with all the technology availability (SMS, MMS, MSN, emails, and the list just goes on), we no longer take time to write letters - letters that are so personal and that warms the heart of the recipients.
In fact, in biblical times, letter-writing is the only way of corresponding and staying in-touch with one another. There is much worth in letters themselves - just think about it ...
1) During those times, writing material is not cheap, and to pen a letter speaks of your heart's intention, sincerity and love to those you want to correspond to.
2) When we write letters, we need to phrase our words properly so that it carries the meaning of our intention - that requires efforts to think deeply, on the part of the writer, and carefulness in writing as each word is being hand written.
3) There's no such thing as instant connection then, letters are usually courier (not the courier we understand this day such as DHL, or FedEx) by someone travelling on a journey to the destination and it can take days, weeks, or months. Even when postage stamps are invented, sending a letter takes a while too.
So what has happened in our time? We have become such "instantaneous" people that we get impatient when we don't receive immediate replies from those we want to hear, isn't it? Then, we become so used to abbreviations or sms-language that words become so "cheaply substituted" - just because we want to shorten our text, or just because we assume the other party understand what we intend to communicate. Of course, there's the very "impersonal" mode which we choose to use - everything becomes so set in technology (think about it: how much time do you spend in front of all the technical devices and how much time do you spend with people?) Then, because of all the typing we have been doing, we are now unable to write legibly, or perhaps even, having the patience to complete writing what we need to write.
Gone were the days where we look forward to receiving letters from pen-pals of different countries ... gone were the days where we look forward to writing another letter to update our pen-pals the exciting things we want to share with them ... gone were the days where we receive personalized letters, addressed to us, and which warms our hearts ...
Technology is good, but if it takes the "humanness" out from us that we become like these technical devices in our relationship with others or our lifestyle, then I think we need to stop and ponder how to get our "humanness" back. Have we lost our "human touch"? I'll leave you to ponder and reflect ...
On a side note, friends feedback that my posts are very long (haha, may I "argue" that it's also because I chose a normal size font as opposed to those small ones) =P Anyway, this blog is meant to share lessons learn and reflections, and I can't shortchange it by not stating my case before I make my conclusion, can I? =) Therefore, please bear with me, and if you have found this blog encouraging and spurring for you, please feel free to share it with others. Don't worry, no names will be mentioned here, the purpose is NOT to highlight persons, but what God wants to teach us, and what we need to learn.
My lecturer said something this morning during class which got me thinking ... She said nowadays with all the technology availability (SMS, MMS, MSN, emails, and the list just goes on), we no longer take time to write letters - letters that are so personal and that warms the heart of the recipients.
In fact, in biblical times, letter-writing is the only way of corresponding and staying in-touch with one another. There is much worth in letters themselves - just think about it ...
1) During those times, writing material is not cheap, and to pen a letter speaks of your heart's intention, sincerity and love to those you want to correspond to.
2) When we write letters, we need to phrase our words properly so that it carries the meaning of our intention - that requires efforts to think deeply, on the part of the writer, and carefulness in writing as each word is being hand written.
3) There's no such thing as instant connection then, letters are usually courier (not the courier we understand this day such as DHL, or FedEx) by someone travelling on a journey to the destination and it can take days, weeks, or months. Even when postage stamps are invented, sending a letter takes a while too.
So what has happened in our time? We have become such "instantaneous" people that we get impatient when we don't receive immediate replies from those we want to hear, isn't it? Then, we become so used to abbreviations or sms-language that words become so "cheaply substituted" - just because we want to shorten our text, or just because we assume the other party understand what we intend to communicate. Of course, there's the very "impersonal" mode which we choose to use - everything becomes so set in technology (think about it: how much time do you spend in front of all the technical devices and how much time do you spend with people?) Then, because of all the typing we have been doing, we are now unable to write legibly, or perhaps even, having the patience to complete writing what we need to write.
Gone were the days where we look forward to receiving letters from pen-pals of different countries ... gone were the days where we look forward to writing another letter to update our pen-pals the exciting things we want to share with them ... gone were the days where we receive personalized letters, addressed to us, and which warms our hearts ...
Technology is good, but if it takes the "humanness" out from us that we become like these technical devices in our relationship with others or our lifestyle, then I think we need to stop and ponder how to get our "humanness" back. Have we lost our "human touch"? I'll leave you to ponder and reflect ...
On a side note, friends feedback that my posts are very long (haha, may I "argue" that it's also because I chose a normal size font as opposed to those small ones) =P Anyway, this blog is meant to share lessons learn and reflections, and I can't shortchange it by not stating my case before I make my conclusion, can I? =) Therefore, please bear with me, and if you have found this blog encouraging and spurring for you, please feel free to share it with others. Don't worry, no names will be mentioned here, the purpose is NOT to highlight persons, but what God wants to teach us, and what we need to learn.
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