Shulamite Ministries

“Much of our Christianity today is a system of acquisition rather than a surrender of relinquishment.” — Martha Kilpatrick (Manna, 6/14/05)

Article 1 of 18 in the Series...

Letters Never Sent
Letters Never Sent
Author: Martha Kilpatrick

A long time ago I began to write Letters Never Sent. They were just for me, but some read them and said they should be read by others, that they speak for all, not just for me.  So I offer these letters, written for profound events and little encounters. Written to real individuals. Some are lost to me. A few are dead . . . but all are remembered - and I remember my own responses - because I recorded them.

E-zine Article

The Best

Author: Martha Kilpatrick  1 April 2000

Send to a Friend

* Required fields

Close this form

God has handed you a raw deal. I don't like it! It's not fair. You, the best, the finest. Oh, your suffering! On every hand that suffering claws at you and has incessantly for years. You bear too many and each of them such a heavy weight. I know no such measure of responsibility, no like burden.     I want you rich - and you are poor.     I want you rested - and you are worked.     I want your health - and you hurt.     I want you loved - and you are hated.     I want you recognized - and you're unknown.     I want you exalted - and you are lied about.  "God, don't you know ... read remainder of article

God has handed you a raw deal. I don't like it!
It's not fair.

You, the best, the finest.
Oh, your suffering!
On every hand that suffering claws
at you and has incessantly for years.

You bear too many
and each of them such a heavy weight.

I know no such measure of responsibility, no like burden.

    I want you rich - and you are poor.
    I want you rested - and you are worked.
    I want your health - and you hurt.
    I want you loved - and you are hated.
    I want you recognized - and you're unknown.
    I want you exalted - and you are lied about. 

"God, don't you know how pure she is?
How little she is? I deserve her suffering
and she deserves my ease."

I wrote to you one day, "You perceive of integrity like no one else."

I gave a party for a visitor.
Said the visitor: "All your friends are lovely.
But she's the one I'd most like to know.
She knows God."

Had I had my way, I would have ruined you.

 

Copyright © 1980 Martha Kilpatrick

... less article

Comment on "The Best"

* Required fields

Like this topic?
Click and read more in the following associated topics:

Other Articles In This Series (Table of Contents)

2
The Liberal
1 May 2000  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
Dear Pastor, You, so current and liberal. "The Bible mostly myth." I could not bear your leading astray those tottering and...continue reading
3
Garden Gates
1 June 2000  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
Beloved friend, don't analyze me. I defy analysis. So do you. To do so violates my soul by confining me to your...continue reading
4
The Brother
1 July 2000  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
I lectured you. (I called it sharing.) You needed to do things by the standard I had chosen, arriving when you promised,...continue reading
5
The Star
1 August 2000  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
You want me for your counselor. Beg me to look deep and give you what my inner eyes see. We walk...continue reading
6
The Tyrant
1 September 2000  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
This person was my first introduction to "religious evil," the kind that didn't recognize the Beloved Son of the God they...continue reading
7
The Boy
1 October 2000  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
Brave you rose to speak. Myriad faces didn't stop you nor an awesome pulpit.   Boys sometimes stand and shaking, preach. But only men cry in public for their...continue reading
8
The Living Dead
1 January 2001  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
(I will call this person TAMI) I have had such strange thoughts. I have been thinking about the eulogy that could be spoken...continue reading
9
The Comic
1 February 2001  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
You taught me to laugh. But for you I'd be a stodgy stick-in-the-mud. No mundane days for you....continue reading
10
The Prince
1 March 2001  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
You are a prince. Do not walk as common men. The world is yours as much as you are wholly His.     ...continue reading
11
Radiant Nurse
1 October 2001  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
You were lovely in your nurse-white, coming in my empty room. Really empty, having lost my first: years-waited-for, prayed-for baby. Isolated from...continue reading
12
The Melancholy
1 November 2001  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
 You are Winter, know only one season. Gray silhouettes. Hopeless struggle. Life is not sleeping, soon to stretch and wake. For you life...continue reading
13
The Christian Teacher
1 November 2001  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
I'm his mother. What makes you think you know better for him than I do? I who pray and fast...continue reading
14
The Mother
1 January 2002  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
Dear Baba (my infant name for you), You've lived in heaven for many years now . . . . As you lay...continue reading
15
The Gossip
1 February 2002  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
You served up all the juicy meat. I didn't know how to stop you and I hated myself for wanting to...continue reading
16
The Image Consultant
1 March 2002  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
I held back, reserved opinion. I wasn't going to be fooled. But I would hear you out, let you give...continue reading
17
The Biting Dog
1 May 2002  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
I never got to know you before you killed us. I came in like a puppy, dancing - open. Thinking you wonderful, glad...continue reading
18
The Friend
1 October 2002  Author: Martha Kilpatrick
We have been together how long? Through how much? Children, projects, trouble, cooking, ministry . . . misery. Your brand of love...continue reading