I love mail.  I love writing letters, stumbling across the perfect card or postcard to surprise a friend with, or creating a thoughtful gift or care package.  I love that moment when the mail truck pulls up in front of my house when just for a minute, anything seems possible.  There might be a letter from someone I haven’t heard from in a while.  There could be a picture of a friend’s new baby.  There might be that book that I ordered, or maybe there is a check I didn’t know would be coming.  The mail is in the mailbox for no longer than 10 seconds before I stop whatever it is I am doing to go outside and retrieve it.  It really is one of the highlights of my day.

 

I have fond memories of writing and receiving letters.  From exchanging letters with close friends who moved away, to receiving cards and care packages when I went off to college, to hearing from family and friends when I was serving in the military, the practice of writing letters or sending mail has been near and dear to me for as long as I can remember.

 

Magical Mail Month began in March 2014 as a way to get through the end of a harsh New England winter by using letter writing as a spiritual practice.  It soon turned into a form of ministry that permeated several aspects of my life. Morning coffee became a time to send a note to a distant friend; staff meetings were started by writing thank you notes to volunteers and leaders; grocery shopping was now an opportunity for my kids and I to leave anonymous love letters and notes of encouragement underneath the boxes of cereal or crowns of broccoli.

 

During Magical Mail Month, you might send notes to congregants you haven’t seen in a while just to check in, thank you notes, or invitations to community members to join you in worship or other events.

 

You might look through the newspaper for examples of people/organizations that have stood on the side of love and send them a thank you note.

 

You can write notes with Unitarian Universalist quotes or messages of hope and leave them in library books or in random places while running errands.

 

No matter how you choose to participate, Magical Mail Month has become a way to spread the Love and Grace of Unitarian Universalism out in the world.  You are invited to join the fun from March 1-31, 2015 for the second annual #magicalmailmonth.

 

Here are some resources to get you started:

Love Letters to Strangers, a TED Talk

CLF’s Prison Letter Writing Ministry

The World Needs More Love Letters

 

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Kimberly Sweeney serves as the Multigenerational Ministry Director for the New England Regional Staff Team of the UUA.  If that doesn’t pan out, she’s pretty sure working for the post office would be a solid plan B.