From my childhood, I loved to get mail. I started corresponding with a neighbor’s daughter— a married woman who lived in Connecticut. Her name was Phyllis White. We met one summer and she wrote to me, and I wrote back to her, and this pen-pal relationship lasted a few years. It was a special day for me when her letter would arrive. The postage was 3 cents, and so it was not an expensive experience at all.
Perhaps the most vivid memory I have about receiving mail was while in the Seminary. Several family members and friends made an effort to write to me on a regular basis. Going to my mailbox and finding a letter was a welcome gift and made the day special. Often there was not much news in the letter, but just the fact that someone was keeping in touch made a difference for me.
I did not give much thought to the workings of the post office until after my ordination to the Priesthood, when I began to realize how important the delivery of mail was to the running of the parish. It was not just the delivery of notices from the diocesan offices that communicated important events and meeting dates, but also the missives from the parishioners requesting help, seeking sacramental certificates, and yes, there were some complaints that came in by mail too. The delivery of mail each day gave us Priests some work to do, and we depended on the mail delivery to run the parish in an organized way.
Of course, as we know, things change drastically when the world of technology developed ways of communicating that did not involve the post office! The traditional mail delivery and even the art of letter writing was drastically changed by what the computer can do for us. However, for me with all the advancements we have made and continue to make with technology, I still enjoy getting a handwritten (or typed) letter in the mail! Perhaps, my lack of responding in a timely matter is one reason not too many such letters arrive these days.
But all that being said, I do have some issues (gripes) with my beloved USPS! It seems to me that although the postal workers generally work hard, the current situation of service is not really what it should be. I don’t have any answers to the questions of why on certain days there is no mail delivery?, why certain mail and sometimes packages get “lost in the mail?,” why so often mail is delivered to the wrong address?, why the post office sometimes closes before the closing time?, why the prices keep going up to mail letters and packages?, why one day of the week only 3rd class mail is delivered?, why we don’t have steady mail delivery people like we did in the “old days?,” why the delivery is not within a regular time frame (somedays early and somedays late)?, why mail theft seems to be a growing problem?, why I yearn for the past when I know things have changed drastically? There are no easy answers, but we live in hope!
Do you remember when there were two mail deliveries from December 15 until December 24? Do you remember when you could mail a letter at 8:30pm at the corner mailbox and it would be delivered the next day? Fond memories but a different era!
In spite of all its flaws, I still love going to the post office, buying stamps, mailing packages, and on a really good day, getting an old-fashioned letter!
Bishop Ray's Blog 
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