麻豆约拍

A reflection and prayer to start the day with the Rt Revd Mary Stallard, Assistant Bishop in Bangor.

Good morning. One of the best bits of advice I received while training for ministry was to keep thank-you letters and to look at them anytime I feel discouraged. I was reminded of how useful this can be recently when I called on a colleague. He and his wife had been sorting through their possessions as they settled into their retirement home. They seemed remarkably calm and upbeat even though they鈥檇 been dealing with stressful family issues. My colleague told me that they鈥檇 been reading through his file of appreciation for one last time before they finally got rid of it, and they鈥檇 felt so buoyed up re-reading many kind words.

There is incredible power in written words of encouragement, especially when they鈥檙e handwritten. A few months ago at a stressful time someone sent a card with a warm message at a stressful. I carried it around with me for weeks, reading it so often it became quite tatty,but the message inside felt like a precious gift.

Throughout the Bible there鈥檚 a strong theme about words making a difference: in Genesis, creation鈥檚 called into being by the word of God; and of course one of the famous names Christians have for Jesus is 鈥渢he Word鈥�. He is for believers the embodiment of God鈥檚 loving desire for all creation.

Over the years I鈥檝e not always been good at writing messages to others. I often think about doing this, but somehow thoughts don鈥檛 get translated into action. Recently, after receiving a number of lovely handwritten messages, I鈥檓 feeling challenged to make a greater effort.

Connecting God, help me to be a bearer of words of encouragement and loving concern in all I share with others today: in what I say and write, and in all my communication, may I be a sign of your hope. Amen.