Imagine that you work for the post office manually sorting the mail. I am sure that you would see thousands of letters come through every day. Do you think that you would remember anyone specific?
I have been thinking about it and I think there are probably three types of people that would stand out among the rest of the mail.
1. The first person I would remember would be the sick child in town who receives hundreds of letters each week. After seeing so many letters go through my post office for this child I would probably want to meet him or her to find out how someone so young had already touched so many lives.
2. The second person I would remember would be the person in town who sends hundreds of letters each week to their fellow townspeople, their neighbors. After seeing so many letters go through my post office from this person I would probably want to meet them as well and find out where he or she finds the time to touch so many lives.
3. Finally the third I would remember would be the person who sends hundreds of letters to themselves. It might cross my mind that this person needs help, and doesn’t really understand the purpose of the postal system. I don’t think meeting this person to explain in more depth the purpose of the postal system would be useful, because clearly they understand the logistics of sending mail, but seem to be missing the depth behind the technicalities.
I think instead I might to try and arrange for #3 to accidentally meet #2 who is sending so many letters to others. If they met by chance due to incorrect delivery of some of #2’s hundreds of letters being delivered to #3, then maybe #2 could indirectly help #3 better understand the depth behind the logistics of the postal system.
I know there probably aren’t very many people, if any, like #3 when actually sending mail, but when praying is this the case?
If prayer is somewhat like this scenario, I hope that I will try harder to be more like our friend #2. I want God to know me as His child who sends love out to all of my brothers and sisters, not as His child who can think of no else but myself when speaking with Him.
I know I still have a lot of work to do, but at least I think I now have the compass pointed in the right direction.