In the Mail

I have taken a couple of days off (mow, fertilize, mulch, etc.) and I picked up the Church's mail to see if there was anything urgent.  It amazes me how little of the mail that is addressed either to me as Pastor or to the congregation in general has to do with who we are as the Church.  I see we have about nine copies of various catalogs from Oriental Trading (the web version of the five and dime).  Lord knows that the Church of Jesus Christ must have cheap plastic crap or else we will certainly fail in the purpose for which Christ has established us!  A couple of dozen invitations to things that have nothing to do with us the Church (various goings on at the local university, some things from the Chamber of Commerce, some business stuff sent to us because we belong to the Chamber).  There were any number of office supply catalogs and post cards wondering why we had not been ordering more.  There were offers from various journals and magazines whose viewpoints are absolutely essential for any effective church and Pastor.  There were a host of church supply catalogs (mostly offering stuff we never use and never would use).  There were a number of charities soliciting support from our congregation and from me personally.  There was even a letter from a prom committee in town asking for money to cover the post prom party for one of the local high schools.

I must have had a hundred emails that I had not read.  While about 20 of them were urgently related to me as Pastor and to the congregation, many of them were solicitations, some "junk" emails that missed the spam filter, and some from various mailing lists to which I subscribe (some news services for my Synod and some other church bodies).  Most of it ended up in the delete file and some never even got opened  before they ended up there.  I am sure that I must have deleted that one all important email that would have made me more efficient and more effective and that this is the reason I often am "under the gun" -- or not.

There was one thing that was personal.  It was a note from a member of the congregation who felt I was looking kind of tired and was concerned for me.  It was heart felt and greatly appreciated.  The individual expressed appreciation for all that I do and wondered how I had time for everything and hoped that it did not come at the expense of my family or myself.  Ahhhh, I knew there was a reason I looked forward to the mail... (snail or email varieties)... There is always at least one thing in the stack that makes it worth while...