Still Misses Nature Cover
Every day our mailbox brims with personal bills, business bills, magazines, advertisements. Bills go one place. The ads are easy to dispose of. Then there are the magazines, each with cover picture and design to silently shout, "Read me now!"
Years ago the magazines with the hype covers got set aside, just as now. But when the GLEANER came, it was different. Its full-cover nature photograph spoke of peace. It drew me in. I'd lay the other magazines aside and, if at all possible, sit down right then and be inspired by the stories of how God was working in our beautiful Northwest.
A few years ago, that changed. The nature photograph went inside. The GLEANER became just another hype cover. It gets set aside with the rest. The difference in reaction went unnoticed for several years. Even after I realized what was happening, I hesitated to bother anyone with my observation — I am only one person. But I'm possibly pretty near your "average" reader. Might others be similarly disposed? I'm realizing I've lost some of the closeness I felt to the churches of the Northwest. Could the same thing be happening to others?
Helen Heavirland, College Place, Wash.
GLEANER Editors respond: Helen, you are not alone, although the current covers you mention do appeal to others who also consider themselves, we suppose, "average" readers. And some, who used to collect those nature photos, actually appreciate having them on the inside where the GLEANER logo does not intrude on top of the pristine image.
