By Jenna Ebener
A reflection
I had to stop at the post office the other day, and I started reflecting on the intricacies of mail delivery. The postal service is about to enter its busiest time — holiday season. Millions of people will be shipping mail and packages across the nation and the world. While there are delays that occur, we trust that our mail will be delivered. Until recently, I have never given much thought about how our mail unceasingly arrives at its intended destination.
There is so much going on behind the scenes at a post office. We effortlessly place mail in a slot or drop a package off at the post office and often do not think about it much afterwards. Yet, so much has to happen. First, the mail needs to be collected across the region. Then, it needs to be sorted by intended location. Next, the mail needs to be transported across the country and the world to get to its intended region. Finally, the mail is delivered to its specific location. Even if the mail is traveling over 600 miles, it can typically arrive within a handful of days. Shipping mail internationally can take only a week or two with standard shipping. Express shipping makes things move even quicker, taking only a day. It is mind-boggling to me that, even with human error, most of our mail gets where it needs to be in such a timely fashion.
I reflect on the first mail carriers — the Pony Express — and how innovative they were. The way we communicate was transformed, and the system in its essence has not shifted too much over the decades. None of it would be possible without the countless people who tag-team across the country and the world to ensure people can stay in contact with each other and spread love through mail and packages.
Mail is just one example of many services we may take for granted. The food we eat, the shows we watch, the phones we rely on so heavily, and so much more are all reliant on innumerable people and actions coming together. As we celebrate this month of Thanksgiving, I encourage you to reflect on a service you have never thought about before that relies on so many pieces falling into place. Praise God as you let the awe of such a complex system working fill you in prayer.
Do you trust in God to flawlessly work the way you trust in these systems? Do we take comfort in the knowledge that, unlike these human-made systems, God works without ever making any mistakes? There is so much going on behind the scenes that we may never realize, and yet God, has every cog working exactly the way as intended. Every part of our day is a part of God’s master plan for us. Do we trust in him to deliver us to his intended destination exactly when we need to be there? “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
(Jenna Ebener, a graduate of St. Ambrose University in Davenport, is a social worker at a school in Colorado for students with a combination of medical, cognitive and behavior disabilities. She relies on God every day to aid her on this wonderful, yet intense journey.)
