This week I watched The Answer Man, an old movie from 2009. In one scene a bookstore owner is talking about why he loves his bookstore. He is so moved by how the authors shared something in writing for others to read. Such appreciation. It reminded me of a woman I tutored in an adult literacy program. She told me that as I child, her class would regularly go to the library, and she was in awe of all the books on the shelves. She told me, “To think that someone felt something was important enough to write it and share it.” She was sad that she had not been able to read those books.

As I thought about those two comments, I considered what a gift it is to be able to read someone else’s thoughts when they put them on paper. It’s special because you can take your time with the words. Read them slowly. Even read them a second or third time. And you can finish a section and quietly soak in it. It’s not like conversations where you usually are pressed to respond right away. Or while you’re absorbing what has been shared, the author/speaker interrupts with explaining it to you or asking you questions, as in a conversation. You get time with it before responding. 

I think our understanding of one another would be greatly improved if that was the norm for communications—if we got to listen to a whole chapter or passage before we make a judgment about an issue. Instead, our sharing seems to be largely reduced to sound bites, just snippets of thoughts, without space for sincere interaction. I know, it’s too much to ask that we would write a full book to one another, but letters were always nice. They were probably a lot closer to true communication, true sharing of the heart, more authentic than today’s social media posts and “tweetable” bits here and there.  Anyway, it just got me thinking. Hmmm, maybe I’ll write a letter.  Maybe you want to give it a try, too.