Royal Reality

At a recent family dinner, the topic of the upcoming royal wedding came up. The general opinion of a few at the table was, why do people get so excited about this wedding that has nothing to do with us? Why, as Americans, do we even care? What was the big deal after all? And then what really amused me was that some of those with that opinion then offered equally strong opinions about the fact that the royal couple would not be kissing at the end of the wedding ceremony. "That's just wrong!", one person exclaimed. Well, I thought, if you don't care about the wedding why would you care about weather or not they kiss? It is funny how we feel the need to offer our opinions about things that we claim to not care about. I for one, have a different feeling about the wedding. I am actually looking forward to it, grateful for a view into a world completely unlike my daily reality and yet, at the same time, reflecting a very real facet of who I am, who I believe we all are, deep down inside.

Why would the wedding of two people we've never met be such a big deal? What is the fascination? For me, it is this: In this day and age, it is refreshing to behold that there is still nobility in this world. That there are still kings and queens and princes and princesses. And it is not just the literal Royalty I am talking about. It is something special in the heart of the human experience. Set apart. This is not just represented in a certain royal family, but it echos from the lives of every man, woman and child. Every one of us has an influence and a reign. We may not be walking our lives on a world stage, but we purpose our lives with the imprint of our Father, our Maker, The King of Kings.

If our Father is King, then what does that make us?

What makes us special? Why do we celebrate weddings and birthdays and graduations along the way? Why are little girls talked about as princesses and little boys as princes? What is it in the heart of common man that gives us our meaning, our significance, and orchestrates our destiny? I believe it is our innate, God-given, royal identity.

So for that reason, I look forward to this wedding. It matters to me because it is beautiful and special and significant when two people join their hearts in marriage. I wish the couple well, a life full of blessings, the joy of hard work, and a lifetime of happy memories.

I pray that for all of us.

In Defense of E-Communication

I love the written word. Nothing thrills me more than stringing together letters into words and words in to sentences and crafting, shaping, coaxing thoughts out of these symbols. To me, it is pure bliss! Two of the most useful classes I ever had were Vocabulary in Junior High and Keyboarding in High School. Give me words to say and a way to say them and I'm good as gold!Writing is about communicating and communicating is about relationships. Of course, neither is yet perfect, but still we attempt them both. In the relationship between writer and reader, there is the potential for glory or disaster. With words spoken from fingertips, we can encourage or abuse. Hmmm. . .with words spoken from fingertips, is this what we mean by "staying in touch"? Because words, these symbols on paper or on screen, certainly do reach out and touch us, for good or for bad. "Dear Ms. Jones, We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted. . . ." "Dear Mr. Smith, We regret to inform you that the results of your biopsy. . . " "Dear John, . . . . . ." Oh, but I especially love a good letter! There is something lovely and elegant and special about written, personal communication between people. A good portion of our Bible is made up out of letters and it holds a rich well of thoughts and encouragement. The blanks of History are filled in when we look back at letters. We can glean hearts' intent and glimpse into windows of personality through good letters. We can track the journey of a fine romance with our love letters. Or feel the weight of a soldier's homesickness in a letter home. Pages are sprinkled with tears, spritzed with perfume and "Sealed With A Kiss". Our humanity is marked by our words. They are our monuments, milestones, altars of proof to our experience on this earth. Consider our baby books, birth announcements, diplomas, licences, certificates, grocery lists, novels, scripts, lyrics, signs, medical charts, birthday cards, applications, and obituaries. And let's not forget the poetry on the walls of public bathroom stalls! We all want the anonymous others to know that "WE were here." Oh, and behold THE Word:

"In the beginning the Word already existed. He was in God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make."

John 1:1-3 (NLT)

Beautiful.

Words can represent our past, our present and our future. As long as we have relationships, we will need to "use our words". As history has marched by, our vocabulary venues have evolved. This is sometimes, to our great benefit, and sometimes not. I kind chuckle at this though, because we humans are infinitely imperfect but one thing we always seem to be expert in is misunderstanding each other. So no matter or vehicle for written communication, we have great potential for folly.

Here we are in a day and age when the way of "snail mail" is fading and we are emailing, "facebooking", and texting as our main modes of written communication. "Go paperless!", they encourage us. It has its advantages and maybe some disadvantages too. I love to banter via text message as much as the next girl, but one year I received birthday wishes from dear loved ones purely via text and it kind of broke my heart that I was not deemed worthy of an actual, voice to voice phone call. When you have a deep, emotional connection with someone, perhaps consider the investment of your audible, "Hello". It is music to the soul.

There are some times when a personal touch is required. However, this does not mean that the electronic written word is a poor substitution. It can often be quite the perfect matrix for thought, intention, and emotion. For example, I have heard people speak poorly of email and I couldn't disagree more. They say things like "Oh, email is never a good way to communicate." Well, in my perspective, it depends on how we feel about what the writer is communicating. If we agree with them or are reacting positively, then we don't seem to complain about the delivery system. Yet if we disagree or are hurt by what the writer is saying, then we tend to bristle at the electronic format. "They put it in an email! Isn't that terrible?!"

There have been times in my own life where receiving or sending a timely email has been quite a wonderful and uplifting thing. Email has often been a relationship-builder, a sustaining force for personal connection, that I would not have experienced otherwise. I had a grandmother who lived 2,000 miles away from me, but through email we exchanged daily communications and enjoyed a very loving and close relationship. It was great to share the day-to-day little details of life with her. We shared a bond quite beautifully and it was sustained with the nourishment of frequent conversations via email. She's passed away now and I will always be grateful for the bonding we encountered on-screen.

I have stored in my email in-box one note I just don't ever want to delete. It is a note from my Dad that is precious to me. If I ever wondered if he loved me, I could pull up these words:

"Oh my beautiful daughter...I am one blessed Dad. I am so proud of you and the woman/mother/wife you have become. Because of you one day I will close my eyes and go to be with the Lord knowing I did something good to bless the world. Keep up the good work...Love you, Dad"

All

in one

email.

Do you see why I cannot universally discount the value of e-communication?

The blessings flow both ways. One day, I was stirred in my heart to send an email of commitment and appreciation to a dear friend. I thanked her for all her hard work and what a blessing she is to many, many people, what a leader she is and I told how much I consider it a joy to serve along with her. It was full of words that if I had tried to speak them aloud to her, they'd be lost in a jumble of girl-tears. These words needed the time and space and freedom to be typed out. So I gave these sentiments the respect of giving them form and I signed it "Love, Love, Love" and sent it off to her with a click of a mouse. Her reply convinces me that email is a very valid way to touch some one's heart:

"You don't know how timely your email was...the tears are flowing as I'm trying to respond. You are such an encouraging friend...[She went on to share some personal struggles she was going through at that moment that I hadn't even known about at that point.]...Again, thanks for your loving, encouraging words. Love and hugs..."

All in

one

email.

Let us consider text messaging now. As I shared earlier, I experienced a very hallow side of texting that left me a bit jaded. I can understand how the medium may not claim universal fans. Texting can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. To me, it holds the relational significance of say, passing notes in class. There is not a whole lot of meat on those bones. But oh how FUN it is! It's neat to just fire off any and all random thoughts, questions, or ideas to someone wherever you happen to be to wherever they happen to be. It is direct, person to person, real-time communication. It can be, depending on the user, a very discreet way of being in contact with someone and it has its benefits. And for better or for worse, it has a very real presence in modern life. In my personal experience, I find it incredibly great that I have this ability to be just a few taps away from my young adult nieces who live a state away. At any moment, I can send them a quick, "I love you" and they know that I am thinking of them. My husband moans, "Can't you just callll them?!" And I say, "Sure I can, but this is the way kids are communicating these days. So just get with the program, Grandpa!" ;) I don't believe our relationship is any way watered down by texting. It is only enhanced. Like the emails shared with my Gram, it is a way to share daily life and maintain connection, no matter the miles.

There was a time....long, long ago....okay, not so long ago when we didn't have these new-fangled emails and texts and whatnots....when we wrote letters and put stamps on them or ponys ran or stagecoaches pulled or steamer ships steamed or messengers sprinted and delivered the written word. We connected with one another with letters and punctuation and grammar. We expressed what was in our hearts and we described what was in our world. We established or maintained or dissolved relationships with written words. We signed our names on the events of mankind with our written utterances. We scribbled our names on the wall of the bathroom stall of life so others would know that

we

were

here.

I beg that we do not discount these newer modes of communication or the newer newest ones that I am sure to come. No matter the medium, at its best, the heart, the intent is the same. It is to bond and connect. It is to explain and decline. It is to invite into discussion or share a silly joke. It's to communicate. To be human with another human. After all, writing in words is about communication and communication is about relationship.

"Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will remain forever."

Matthew 24: 35 (NLT)