By Jack Wyman

She wrote him a letter.

Carefully taking a quill pen in her delicate hand, and in exquisite script, she began to share her thoughts and hopes.

Julia was confined by ill-health to her home, a young woman in her 30s. She didn’t know Chet; he didn’t know her.

She told him she believed in him. She had confidence in him. She let him know she understood he was in a hard place. He was facing enormous pressure—and not inconsiderable temptation. This would not be easy, but he could do it.

Julia balanced her expectations with her sympathy; her prodding with her encouragement. She didn’t nag, criticize, or attempt to shame Chet. She wasn’t cynical or demanding. She didn’t condemn him or mock him. Instead, she encouraged him to be a better man, and said she was sure he was, and could be again.

Julia wasn’t negative. She was positive.

Her letters—she wrote several over that summer—were beautiful affirmations. They were also entertaining. She thought Chet had gained a bit of weight and urged him to exercise. She spoke her mind, but always with humor and kindness. Julia was determined to build Chet up, not to tear him down.

Julia knew that Chet was very sad and anxious. He was uncertain of the future and of himself. Julia was sure he wanted to do the right thing, but it would take courage and boldness. Chet’s father had been a minister and Chet had once been a young and ambitious idealist and a teacher.

Greed and moral corner-cutting had overtaken him throughout the years of his career. Julia wrote to remind Chet of his noble past and the exciting opportunities of the future.

Julia could have been a cynical critic. Instead, she saw the good in Chet, and she decided to persuade him to also see that good—and to embrace and follow it.

We all need to be encouraged. To be affirmed and appreciated. Personal affirmation and praise, sincerely expressed, are like water to a dry plant. People spring to new life, enthusiasm and commitment when they are noticed and appreciated.

A single word of encouragement can do more to bring change and improvement, and renewed joy and determination, than all the carping criticism ever uttered by those who sit safely in the stands of life, far from the arena.

Today, events, technology and the secular spirit of our age conspire to make us critical nick-pickers. It is far easier and more tempting to tear others down than to build them up. Too often “the better angels of our nature”, as Lincoln put it, are closeted behind the hardened skepticism and unbridled negativity of a downcast and apathetic culture.

We seem to be a nation without heroes and without hope. Even patriotism and honor are derided by those who find it easier to find fault than to recognize anything good or great. Joe Biden’s approval ratings in the polls are as low as were Donald Trump’s.

We find too much easy pleasure in attacking others, including our leaders. We raise our false expectations unrealistically high and then are swift to pile on when they are not met. Disagreements on policy, issues, and national direction are one thing. Personal attacks are not the same.

Jesus Christ took every opportunity to offer hope, forgiveness, and a new beginning for some of the most marginalized and despised men and women in society. He lifted them up to new heights of purpose and possibility. Jesus continues to do that every day for those who have given up—for those on whom others have given up.

Jesus is an encourager. His followers need to be the most encouraging people on earth.

The author of Hebrews exhorts us:

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works . . . encouraging one another . . . “(Hebrews 10:24).

The writer of Proverbs reminds us:

“Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad” (Proverbs 12:25).

Encourage. Build one another up. What greater blessings we could all be to those who, like us, struggle in this thing called life.

In her first letter to Chet, Julia wrote:

“Great emergencies awaken great generous traits which have lain dormant half a life. If there is a spark of true nobility in you, now is the occasion to let it shine. Faith in your better nature forces me to write to you . . .” Don’t quit, she told him. “Do what is more difficult and brave. Reform.”

Julia had invited Chet to visit her sometime, since they were both New Yorkers. She lived near Central Park. “You could easily go for a ride in the park and just stop by and see me.”

Several months later a knock came on her door.

Her caretaker answered it. She returned to Julia with a startled look of amazement.

“I’m not positive, of course, but that well-dressed, distinguished gentleman at the door looks exactly like the President of the United States! He says he’s here to accept your invitation for a visit!”

Chester Alan Arthur, America’s twenty-first president, had come to visit Miss Julia Sands. He’d come to thank her for those 23 letters of encouragement she’d written.

Arthur had been the mediocre machine politician the Republicans had put on their ticket for Vice President in 1880. When President James Garfield was assassinated after only four months in office, Chester Arthur agonized through the summer over his destiny and his ability, while Garfield clung to life until September.

Encouraged by Julia’s correspondence, Chet Arthur rose to the occasion—and the Presidency.

Arthur championed civil service reform and signed it into law as one of the most significant government reforms in our history.

Chester Arthur ended up being a surprisingly honest and good president

He saved all of Julia’s letters.

Encourage somebody today. You’ll never know the difference it might make.

To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.

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