Mail Delivery

Day 5:  Gratitude

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” ~Meister Eckhart

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”
~G.K. Chesterton

I don’t know who delivers our mail.  I have lived in my current house for two years and I have never met the person who makes sure we get our birthday cards, local flyers and bills on time.  This person does not knock on the door when a parcel is delivered.  He or she puts it in between the two front doors and walks away, which works out well for us because whether we are home or not, we always get our packages.  But it also means we never meet the person who brings them.

Monday was my day off, and I was home reading over the 40acts challenge for the day, “thank someone who doesn’t usually get thanked:  your bus driver, local postman …these people need to be appreciated and being thankful is a great way to start the week!”

Local postman.  That was a great idea.  I’d start there.

Making myself another cup of coffee, I looked at the clock on the stove.  9:32 a.m.  The mail would likely be delivered before noon so I’d just keep an eye out.

It made for a restless morning punctuated by frequent glances out the window, and my ears perking up at any sound that seemed to come from outside the front of the house.  Twice I ran to the front door thinking that I heard something only to find my cat scratching in a nearby litter box.  And twice, she looked up, unimpressed, at my eager and expectant face as if to say, “Do you mind?”

10:00 a.m.

10:35 a.m.

By 11:30 a.m. the restlessness had intensified.  I was meeting my dad for lunch at 12:15 p.m. and wanted to see the mailperson before I had to leave.   The interesting thing in all of this was how much I was looking forward to seeing this person, someone I didn’t know at all.

It was as if the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to say, thank you:  thank you for making it up our driveway on the icy days; thank you for being out there during this harsh winter;  thank you for bringing me hand written news from family and friends; thank you for delivering endless packages from Chapters without complaint.

How often we  miss moments to be grateful.  How often we overlook the people for whom we are grateful.  In this tiny moment of contemplation I had begun to notice how simple gratitude expanded the heart, making room, in this case, for a stranger to become a friend.

What would it be like to make this a regular practice?  What if we created the conditions for a full life  through the simplicity of grateful living where what we have, the people we encounter, and the experiences God gives us are felt and known to be more than enough?

Suddenly, I heard the neighbour’s dog barking wildly.  I looked out the front door and saw the mailman walking up the neighbour’s driveway.

This is it!  I get to say thank you!

Standing near the door I waited, perched on tiptoe.  The dog continued to bark as the postman walked down the driveway, onto the sidewalk, toward the direction of our house.

We’re next!  Anticipation built as he reached our driveway.  Here we go!

But then, instead of turning into our driveway he continued on the sidewalk.  Perplexed and then disappointed, I watched helplessly as he walked right past our house.

I considered putting my boots on and running after him, red hair whirling behind me as I yelled, “Wait!  I wanted to say thank yooooou!”    Decorum prevailed, however, and instead of chasing him in a 40act-of-crazy, I watched him go around the corner, and out of sight.  My heart sank, not a bad thing in the whole scheme of things because it meant that I cared.  And that’s something, isn’t it?

Later that day, I wrote him a note.

Dear Friend. 

We just want to thank you for all of your hard work and for delivering our mail each day.  We’re grateful for you and for the service you provide.

Blessings,
Michelle and Jake

I placed it in the mailbox with a coffee gift card, grateful, that on this day, I got to be someone who delivered the mail for someone else.