Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Typoes

I love this letter. Oh, you don't actually need to read it, if you don't want to. I just put it here so that you could, if you wished to see what I was writing about.

I mean, I love the sentiment, the encouragement, the love. I especially love the way that he uses the Master's reference to the country, the soil, the position and the spiritual receptivity. It's interesting, isn't it? How he goes from the country, which is merely a political designation, to the soil, which is the basis for the growth of food and the feeding of the peoples, to the position, which he doesn't define but it seems to be more important than the soil itself, and then on to the spiritual receptivity, which is the most important of all, for that is what will assure the future of that location.

He gives his consolation, and shows he is aware of what is happening. He let's them know that they're not alone. He gives guidance and encouragement, and let's them have a glimpse of where we are all heading.

It really is a beautiful letter of love.

But you know what touches me the most? The typos. And yes, I know that it is spelled incorrectly in the title. That was deliberate. And yes, I'm sure you just glanced up to check.

But why would I love the typos the most? Because even those send a deep message.

Obviously he corrects some of them, as evidenced by the xxxs and scratches here and there. But he doesn't correct all of them. Why not? Because I believe he can't be bothered. They're not important.

Who cares if he misspelled "unslacking"? It doesn't matter. We know exactly which word he meant. We can correct it ourselves.

What's important is the love.

It's as if he is telling us not to be concerned with perfection.

December 1923? He was busy. We know he was working hard, day and night, burning the candle at both ends, as they say. But he still found the time to write them, even though "as yet no letter" had reached him from them. He reminds them of his unfailing love.

But is the letter perfect, free from typos? Nope. And that's alright. The message is perfectly conveyed.

Does that mean we shouldn't strive for excellence? Of course not. We should, but we should not be concerned about perfection. There comes a point where something is "good enough". We have far more important things to worry about than catching every little detail.

This is such a good reminder in this rapid age of the internet. It's an important reminder in this age where so many are swift to find fault. Our progress is slow. Our task is far beyond our severely limited strength. We will suffer setbacks, neglect, indifference.

And yet we carry on, helping unfold the Plan that we see so much more clearly today than we did back in 1923.

Yeah, it's a beautiful letter, perfect, with typos and all.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for this! A beautiful point made about a beautiful letter.

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  2. What a precious insight to be gleaned from something that few would even notice. Thanks for sharing.

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