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Letters to God find a home

28 Dec 2008 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Just before Hanukkah and Christmas a handful of Jerusalem postal workers leave the post office for a few hours and head to the Western Wall. They are hauling thousands of letters addressed to "God, Jerusalem Israel," "the Almighty," or "the Wailing Wall," among others. At the wall the workers separate the letters by gender, going either to the men's or women's prayer sections. They then carefully open the envelopes, fold the letters into slivers, and insert them into crevices. The letters arrive from dozens of countries, some of which, like Malaysia and Kuwait, do not have diplomatic ties with Israel. "The majority come[s] from Christians, but a sizable number come from Jews and even a few from Muslims," said postal worker Avi Yaniv, the manager of the "dead letters" department. "There are also quite a few letters to Santa Claus." Yaniv, a 65-year-old grandfather some call "God's postman,” said he and his fellow postal workers read some of the letters before placing them in the wall, but are careful not to look at the senders' names out of respect for their privacy. Of all the letters he has read over the years, Yaniv said he was particularly moved by one from a mother asking God to heal her son of alcoholism and drug abuse. Another, from a little boy, asked God to bring him a Harry Potter wizard's wand for Christmas. Many others ask for strength to confront challenges ranging from illness and unemployment to marital problems and sexual abuse. Regardless of the religion of the sender, all letters addressed to God are taken to the Western Wall, said Avi Hochman, general manager of the Israel Postal Service. "Israel is a Jewish country and the Kotel [Western Wall] is a sacred place. All people are welcome to pray here. We respect all minorities," Hochman said. "I'm religious myself, so this task gives me the opportunity to go to the Kotel and be part of it," said Iris Cohen, another letter sorter. "I'm attached to this job." "It is a privilege," said Yaniv. "In Jerusalem we feel very close to God, as if he is just a local call away." Source: An article by Michele Chabin for Religion News Service

Christmas western wall wailing wall letters hannukah avi yaniv jerusalem temple israel postal service

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Letters to Santa a sign of the times

26 Dec 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Just as the Holy Family struggled to find adequate shelter in challenging circumstances, many American families battered by economic downturn are in desperate straits this holiday season, and they are letting Santa know about it. The U.S. Postal Service is accustomed to getting letters this time of year from children writing to ask Santa for toys. But postal workers report that this year more kids are asking for basics—coats, socks, shoes—and large numbers of parents in desperate straits are writing Santa on behalf of their children. “I want them to know there is hope,” wrote a single mother who is living with her kids in a shelter. Customer relations coordinator Pete Fontana has been “head elf” at the New York City main post office for 15 years. He oversees 22 “staff elves” who will sort 2 million letters this year in Operation Santa, which connects needy children with "Secret Santas" who answer their wishes. "The need is greater this year than I've ever seen it," says Fontana. "One little girl didn't want anything for herself. She wanted a winter coat for her mother." The story is the same elsewhere. "We saw a few last year, but it was never like this," said one of the postal clerks as she sorted hundreds of letters from desperate adults to Santa at the Brentwood postal facility in Washington, D.C. Source: Articles by Donna Leinwand for USA TODAY and Petula Dvorak for the Washington Post

Christmas santa letters recession pete fontana us postal service

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First president’s thankful letter at auction

06 Oct 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The psalmist this Sunday urges us to “sing joyfully to the Lord” and to “come into his presence with thanksgiving.” President George Washington urged a similar spirit of thanksgiving in his 1789 proclamation establishing the first Thanksgiving Day. One of only two known copies of the document will be auctioned at Christie’s in New York City November 14.The only other known copy of the proclamation is at the Library of Congress, the auction house said. The proclamation, which set the first national day of thanksgiving for Thursday, November 26, 1789, is projected to sell for between $8 million and $12 million. It's being sold by a private American collector.Washington marked the day in 1789 by attending services at St. Paul's Chapel in Manhattan. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving Day a permanent national holiday to be celebrated annually on the fourth Thursday in November. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 moved it to the third Thursday in November. Two years later Congress passed a resolution reestablishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.Washington's proclamation says in part: “Both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer. Now therefore do I recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being.”Homily hint: Though it’s a cliché to say that “every day should be Thanksgiving Day,” that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. While some may pay millions for a proclamation, we need no invitation to thank our Maker for all we are given each day. Source: An article by the Associated Press

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