It's strange now to think that not so very long ago, there was no such thing as instant messaging or video calls or even text messages. If you wanted to talk to someone on the phone and they lived in another state or province, you had to pay extra to call "long distance" and those minutes added up quickly when you got to talking with a loved one. In those days, and for generations before that, writing a letter was the best, and sometimes, the only way to communicate.
Do you remember when it was common to write letters or personal notes to friends and family that lived far away? Did you ever have a pen pal or write love letters to your sweetheart?
In an age like ours, which is not given to letter-writing, we forget what an important part it used to play in people's lives. ~Anatole Broyard
Humans have been writing letters practically from the time we invented written language, but once paper and writing utensils became more widely available, more people took the time to communicate this way. Letters were the main form of communication before the telegraph and telephone. In the United States, the Postal Act of 1845 reduced the cost of sending a letter, and around the same time paper was being made from wood pulp. As a result, letter-writing flourished.
Letters are valuable sources for historians, have formed the basis of literary works and of educational materials, and are the source of a fair amount of the New Testament.
Today, we do most of our business communication by email; and our personal correspondence with friends and family is more likely to consist of text messages and instant messaging apps than of bundles of hand-written letters. In many ways, the email or text message is just the next logical iteration of written communication, but I can't help but think that it is also sad that letter writing is becoming somewhat of a lost art.
Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them. ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere, without moving anything but your heart. ~Phyllis Grissim-Theroux
Letter-writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity. ~Agnes Repplier
Before I had a smartphone or a computer, sitting down to read and reply to a letter from a relative or a friend was a fairly regular occurrence. My grandparents and aunts lived quite a distance from us, and those long-distance phone calls were pricey, but we could write letters! When my friends and I started going our separate ways to college, some of us did stay in touch by mail. When my boyfriend and I spent several months apart, we wrote cards and letters to each other every other day. And both of us kept at least some of those letters long after we became husband and wife! We moved away from family and friends and regularly wrote letters. But the intervals between missives gradually lengthened, especially as long distance calls became easier and more affordable. And then we all had computers and it was just so much easier to send emails . . . except that we didn't always do it. And soon it was just the annual Christmas newsletter.
Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. ~Proverbs 25:25
It's a funny thing that as it became ever easier to communicate across the miles . . . it also became easier to put it off until tomorrow or just forget to do it. Many times I've decided to do better with writing letters, and thought of setting a personal goal of handwriting at least one little note card per week, but seldom have I followed through to my satisfaction.
Will writing this reflection remind me and encourage me to write a letter? I hope it will, but then I ask myself how many letters I could have written in the time it took me to write this post and set it up here. Maybe I do need to examine how I spend my time and find a little more for writing letters. As the one quote says, it's an expression of generosity.
A letter is never ill-timed; it never interrupts. Instead it waits for us to find the opportune minute, the quiet moment to savor the message. There is an element of timelessness about letter writing. ~Lois Wyse
To be fair, a text message also allows us to find an opportune minute. But it seems less likely that text messages will feel timeless, touching, or sacred. Not in the same way as a letter.
Letter writing is the only device combining solitude with good company. ~Lord Byron
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. ~II John 2:12
Don't you like to write letters? I do because it's such a swell way to keep from working and yet feel you've done something. ~Ernest Hemingway
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Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me.
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Wednesday Quotes 2025 Themes
January 8 - Planning Ahead/Setting Goals
January 22 - Winter Sleep
February 5 - Love Inspires Us
February 19 - Staying Balanced
March 5 - First Impressions
March 19 - Looking After Yourself
April 2 - Competition
April 16 - Spring Colours
April 30 - Morning Routines
May 14 - Memorable Vacations
May 28 - Telling Your Stories
June 11 - Summer Fun
June 25 - Patriotism
July 9 - Hobbies
July 23 - Being Adventurous
August 6 - Spirituality
August 20 - Writing Letters
September 3 - Chocolate
September 17 - Making and Keeping Promises
October 1 - Autumn/Another Spring
October 15 - Daily Bread
October 29 - Night Skies/Stargazing
November 12 - Good Manners
November 26 - Celebrating Holidays
December 10 - Winter Wonderland
December 24 - Holiday Memories
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Brilliant post 💕
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