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Mr Postman!
'S op oh y s wai a minu e Mr Po man. P ea e l k and s e.'
Readers familiar with the Carpenters' song Mr Postman will recognise that there are letters missing in the quotation above ... as indeed there are all over the country.
W. H Auden's 'letters for the rich, letters for the poor; the shop at the corner and the girl next door.'
From his famous poem Night Mail simply aren't there.
Gas bills, refunds, birthday cards, wedding invitations and more are all building up in depots and sorting offices.
People who can't start the day without opening their post are staring blankly into space over their first cup of coffee.
Dogs who rush to the mat to savage the postman's offering have nothing to sink their teeth into, and Postman Pat is looking more like a symbol of a bygone age than ever before.
The thing is, this was never meant to happen.
I refer not to the current industrial dispute, but to the ongoing information revolution.
To listen to some pundits you would think that we would never want to send a letter ever again.
Electronic communication is the way to go, and the e-mail reigns supreme.
It doesn't though, does it?
The thrill of the red van pulling up outside the door and the postman delivering a parcel with your name on it will never be replaced by the electronic 'ping' of the latest e-mail arriving in your inbox.
Friends overseas who love to receive any communication nonetheless prefer letters over e-mail every time.
Admittedly in my case it might be because they can while away long hours figuring out my handwriting, but overall there is so much more personality about a handwritten letter.
Not only this, but 97% of the world's population don't have ready access to electronic mail anyway.
Throughout human history God has been the arch-communicator.
He has tried all sorts of approaches - from portents in the sky to handwritten tablets of stone and inspired prophetic words.
Undoubtedly the pinnacle of his communication, however, has been the personal touch.
Jesus demonstrated what written words could never communicate and showed what spoken words alone would have left cold and bland.
Jesus, God made flesh, is the best word delivered in the best way.
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