“Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. I do this in all my letters to prove they are from me.”

The most prolific letter writer in the New Testament is Paul. In 2 Thessalonians 3:17, he wrote that – with his own hand. Sadly, digital preservation techniques were not in use back then.

I’ve always loved writing letters – with my own hand. There’s something I love about using a fine-quality pen to scribble a few thoughts on paper and send that letter to a friend.

Maybe it’s the fact that I love getting real letters in my mailbox.

Maybe it’s wanting to communicate in a different way than a 5-second text.

Maybe it’s because I can also share a small artifact of my life with the recipient.

Take some time this week and sit down to write a letter to someone you know. You’ll be following in the footsteps of at least two different Pauls.

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The photo shows a stack of letters from me, my wife and my kids to my mom. She passed away about 15 years ago and left us a box of all our letters.

Paul Merrill writes here every first Friday.