I know that we are a couple of months away from Christmas. We are, in fact, about to celebrate St. Valentine's Day. (Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Higher Love" (Steve Winwood)) I bring up Christmas because one of my favorite Christmas films, Miracle on 34th Street, has one of my favorite scenes in all of moviedom. The scene is about the United States Postal Service. Let's give it a watch: (for you purists, I apologize, the colorized version was the only one I could find...) Post Office Speech from the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street released by 20th Century Fox
I have a great deal of fondness for the United States Postal Service. Sure it has its difficulties, especially in the digitized world we live in, but it continues to be one of the constants of American life. Going to the mailbox, whether the rural one I had while growing up, the one in the dorm in college that was reminiscent of the ones from Miracle on 34th Street, or the number of manifestations of mail delivery we have had since getting married and moving around Florida and Arkansas, has always been a highlight of the day for me. It's almost like opening a Christmas present every day, because, even if it's nothing but bills, you never know what you might get. Maybe it's more like a box of chocolates...
My fondness also comes from the fact that I began, like many folks my age, collecting stamps (mostly canceled, but occasionally never used) at an early age. I had a couple of dear aunts (Letha and Vera, not related to each other) who had kept many of their old letters (some dating back to the 20s and 30s) and allowed me to harvest the original "thumbnail" artwork of the American institution. Many of those stamps had the busts of past presidents, while others truly were the modern art, or as close as I would ever get to modern art, of their day. I still have those stamps and hope to bring them out, with my dad's coin collection, and spend a rainy day with the older grands telling them about the dear aunts I got them from and the history of the presidents whose heads are pictured.
We are fast losing the art of stamps. This comes from the fact that to my knowledge we don't teach the art of writing a proper letter anymore, so there is a significantly lesser need for stamps. In case you were wondering and are encouraged to reexamine your letter-writing skills, our friends at Grammarly have a tutorial blog on how to write a proper letter. "How to Write Any Type of Letter" by Matt Ellis, July 7, 2022 grammerly.com/blog and our friends at lifepersona.com have a list of the types of letters so you can get even that email done correctly. "The 26 Main Types of Letters (Formal and Informal)" Did you have any flashbacks to elementary school? Welcome to Tuesday's Musical Notes where we not only entertain, but we educate!
The whole process from writing the letter to mailing to receipt of said letter has been captured in the annals of music history. As you would imagine we've even had a couple of Tuesday's Musical Notes about letters. Just in case you missed them: Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Letter To You" (Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band), Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The Letter" (The Box Tops)
One of the best songs we know of that speaks about the entirety of the letter-writing process is today's featured song by Stevland Hardaway Morris who started his career by signing with a record label at the ripe old age of 11. With today's Special Delivery, here's Little Stevie Wonder!!!
Imagine yourself at 20 having already spent nearly a decade in the music industry. You've already had 14 Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (5 of which were top 5 smash hits). You are fast becoming known as one of the great R&B artists and crossover artists of your time. What do you do next? You begin diversifying your musical portfolio by producing your next top 5 hit. You also bring in for the first time an all-female backup group that features your future wife, Syreeta Wright, and a future Supreme, Lynda Tucker Laurence.
"Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" is the song that sent Stevie Wonder into the annals of iconic artists. The song features an electric sitar played by Eddie "Chank" Willis. It became another signature song for Wonder and was nominated for a Grammy (Wonder's sixth). And the Grammy goes to...Clarence Carter's "Patches". Just goes to show you that awards shows have been missing the mark for many, many years, but I digress. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" ranking at #203 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time" list makes it among music's most iconic and well-used songs across media demographics.
It has been used in politics and of course, as many good songs have, it has been covered. The most notable cover is by Peter Frampton, with Mick Jagger on background vocals, from Frampton's June 3, 1977 album I'm In You. The cover peaked at #18 but continues to receive rotation at "classic" rock stations around the country. "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" has been covered a total of 26 times, counting Frampton's version, with the most recent being 2021's Troll's Christmas special, Trolls: Holiday In Harmony and sung by the cast featuring the likes of Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick.
The song is about the regret of a breakup. Through this regret the singer realizes that he messed up and needs to commit to his true love, like a special delivery package that's been brought by the postal service, it is indeed "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours". It makes for a great song, and could even be the start of a powerful letter...
Last week's Musical Notes saw Paul delivered to Rome and for the most part, his story has ended. However, through historical records and other sources we find out Paul's destiny. We'll talk about that soon, but for today, we want to talk about what happened after the Acts of the Apostles and the end of Paul's missionary journeys.
You see, Paul was in prison at the end of his life. While there he had time to draft letters to the churches. Some of these churches he had started others he had not, but he had heard enough about them that he wanted to write encouragement, direction, and discipline as necessary. Paul wasn't alone in this writing of letters. The apostles Peter, James, and John also reached out to the churches and the burgeoning group of believers who were scattered across the known world. These letters represent the remainder of the New Testament.
There is much wisdom in these letters that modern-day followers of Jesus can glean. One of the first of Paul's first letters while in prison he wrote to the church at Colossae. This church was on the Mediterranean Sea and ruins of the city can be found in modern-day Turkey. Paul follows a standard letter-writing form, much like the one we posted the link from grammerly.com about earlier.
Paul opens with an introduction of himself and his companions. Paul had not been the instigator of this church, nor had he even been there, but had heard of it through the disciple Epaphras. Even though the church had probably heard of the apostle Paul, he felt the need to follow his training, he was after all a Pharisee, and write a proper letter of encouragement through the direction of the Holy Spirit.
After his introduction, he signifies to whom the letter is to be read. There were very few literate folks in the churches of the time. The audience of this letter was the Jesus-followers in Colossae. Paul invokes a blessing on them and then continues.
The first 8 verses in our Bible are one long sentence where Paul addresses some of the history of the church he has heard. He applauds the Colossians for their faith and belief and assures them that he prays continually and gives thanks for them to God. He speaks of the faith and love that the church exhibited for the saints of the region and lauds them for their sacrifice, their laying down of their lives for the benefit of others. Paul continues his encouragement by challenging the church to seek wisdom on top of the grace, hope, and love they already have. This wisdom comes in the form of the "knowledge of His (God's) will". The reason Paul tells them to seek such wisdom is so that they will continue in their journey to become more like Jesus and that they will walk "worthy in the manner of the Lord (Jesus)". This walk takes them down the pathways of doing the works, increasing in the knowledge of God, and being strengthened by all power so that they will be patient and persevere through the trials and pushback they will be receiving in the future.
What is their motivation for all of this? Paul wishes them to be signed, sealed, delivered on the day of their inheritance of the saints of light. Paul wants their desire to do all of these things to be based on how they are becoming Christ-like in their day-to-day living and how that living testifies to those around them to whom they are being delivered. It allows these believers to exclaim..."I'm Yours!!!" to the One who is worthy to be praised. Or as "Little Stevie" put it..."...you set my soul on fire. That's why I know you're my heart's only desire..."
So believing, Jesus-following friend, does your life have a Colossian testimony? Could Paul pray for you like he did for them? Are you seeking God's wisdom so you can through the Holy Spirit's power walk worthy in the manner of Jesus? A little self-inspection could be overdue, I know that it is for me. Because on the day I take my last breath, I want to be able to say, sing, and shout..."Here I am! Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!!
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by Loving You,
randy
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment