Just on Wed night, I've received a unique email from a friend, inviting a group of her friends (including me) to take part in an exchange of bible verses that uplift us during our challenging times, with a total stranger to us. The interesting part is, this stranger is actually a friend of my friend.
With all the viruses going on, when I saw my friend's name without a subject line, I was naturally suspicious. Then I thought, if I click quick enough to see if it is safe, and quickly get out, I should not get infected if it proves to be a fake. What made me open it was, the same friend had sent me a normal email at about the same time which I had opened, so, chances of it being a virus was almost zilch.
After opening it and reading it, I first thought it was a chain letter, which I normally won't support. Upon re-reading the contents of the email, what was unusual was the invitation was to really uplift a friend's friend by sharing a favourite bible verse of ours with another. After which, this friend's friend's name was removed entirely and replaced with the name of our mutual friend who linked us up, and then I insert my name in place of this stranger. So, it's not strictly speaking, a chain letter, unless everyone who I forwarded this invitation to, just sends it out.
I thought, it's just like paying forward. Who knows, I may be the instrument through which God needs to speak to this person.
After sending it off to more than the recommended number, I got a little worried I may unintentionally jam this person's email. I also got a little worried about the repercussions of jamming mine too. Then I thought again, hey, but my name is only forwarded once, so there's no chance of my email being flooded. However, when I sent it off, I decided to add in a subject header so that my friends know it's definitely not a virus.
The next day, the very first email with my subject matter which I received, was a decline from a friend, as he does not support chain letters. I was a little disappointed, and felt a little bruised by his rejection. Later, another email came in from the stranger to whom I had sent a verse that popped into my head, as suggested by the email, and prompted by the Holy Spirit, arrived in my Inbox. It was a thank you email, saying how the verse I had sent had directly spoken to her. I felt the other extreme of the emotion barometer. I had not made a mistake. I had been a fool for Christ and His instrument. Earlier, I thought of explaining to the friend that declined that this was not really a chain letter in the usual sense of the word. Then I thought, it's up to him to decide anyway and let it be.
Today, Friday, 2 days after I had sent off my mass mail to "pray" for this stranger (I equate it to how we usually have no qualms about praying for others, because, really, it is the same), I had received 2 emails from total strangers who shared with me verses from the bible. One was a favourite verse of mine (from the new testament); the other was not a common one, which is very powerful in it's message to me (from the old testament). It was the very same message about God never abandoning us, and constant love for us, which our Praying Parents' Session also shared on today. If you are interested, the 2 verses I received are:
1st Verse received
1 Corinthians 13: 4-6
Love is Patient and Kind
Love does not Envy or Boast;
It is not Arrogant or Rude
It does not insist on its own way
It is not Irritable or Resentful
It does not rejoice at wrongdoings, but
rejoices with the truth
2nd Verse received
Deuteronomy 31:6
" Be valiant and strong, do not fear or tremble before them for Yahweh, your God, is with you; he will not leave you or abandon you. "
I had sent out so many emails, yet only 2 came back to me. It's really true that the harvest is plentiful, but labourers few. Why do we send out emails that uplifted us so quickly, without thought, to numerous friends, not caring if it's mass mailing and in actual fact, creating a chain mail? Yet, when it's addressed to one person, a stranger, most likely, a fellow Catholic, we fail to act on it, feeling afraid it is supporting chain mailing, when our sharing can be a balm to that person in some way or another?
It is indeed a very interesting experiment and insight into our human nature and how we think.
Love
Theresa
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