letters to God

this is a photo from LIFE magazine by David Silverman.  the caption reads:

      "Avi Yaniv of the Israeli Postal Authority sorts letters to God to be placed later in the day between the ancient stones of the Western Wall June 15, 2005 in Jerusalem, Israel. Every year hundreds of letters addressed to God, The Messiah, Jesus Christ, The Almighty, and other similar names are collected at a Jerusalem post office and are once a year given to the rabbi of the holy site to be placed in the Wall when, according to Jewish tradition, they will be read by God."

there's something very tender in this.  i'm imagining every one of those letters being held by needy or hurting or joyful or imploring hands.  each one with a signed name, as if God didnt know already who had written it.  a touchable manifestation of our childlike desire to talk with God.

i wonder if they realize He already knows what they say.  

He knew the pain that led to the thought that led to the words to describe it that led to the motion of the hand writing it.

He already knows what they say.