Pastors Pause... NOW NOTE – What is it? A Now Note is a term that I coined, although I am sure not the concept. Nonetheless, it is a note that you send a person when you think about them. It may be sent by snail mail (US Postal Service), email, text, tweet, etc. But, it must be a typed or written note that is done and sent when you think of that person. For several years now, I have been sending notes to people when I have a sense that I need to just to let them know that I was thinking about them. I began this practice in 1993 after my sister passed away. One day, I was thinking about something sweet she had done for me, and I wanted to tell her how much it meant to me. I sat down to write her a brief note. After I regained my composure from sobbing over her no longer being with me, I understood that I needed to tell people how much they meant to me or were missed or that I was just thinking about them. That was when I truly realized that we only have NOW. There are good things that we would like to say to people, and we only have the present moment, not tomorrow, next week or next year; and if we do not express those thoughts then, we may never again have the opportunity. I imagine that God has no regrets about giving the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) to the Israelites at the moment they needed to have them. I would venture to say that Joshua wrote his covenant with the people (Joshua 24:25-28) at just the time they needed a promise. I would further surmise that The Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews was a sermon given to those early Christians precisely at the time they needed encouragement to keep the faith in the face of hardship. Because I do not believe in happenstance, I firmly believe that thoughts of people come into our minds at precisely the moments they are supposed to come. If we miss those opportunities to express those emotional moments to those others, we may never have another occasion. All of us need someone to affirm our existence - someone to wish us well, someone to love us unconditionally, and/or someone to let us know another is thinking about us. We are all given a circle of people, not just that intimate circle we call family, but those who have entered into our lives for their season. If we are true to our calling to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39), then we will explore ways of giving true joy and love without expecting to be repaid for the deeds we have done. As you meander through the remainder of your time here on earth, try sending someone/anyone an occasional NOW NOTE, and I guarantee you will reap the blessed reward...in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit... ~Rev. Lynda L. Mayberry
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 13:48:32 +0000
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