Lenten Journey - Day 23 (Touch)

I wanted to give her a hug, but instead I squeezed her hand and we each went our separate ways. I wanted to embrace her and share that portion of God's love that we experience through these small acts of touch and connection. But I did not heed that small voice inside of me telling me to reach out and defy social conventions.

I grew up in a loud, noisy church where the love of God was expressed in concrete ways, where healthy and healing touch was as much a part of the worship as music and preaching. Babies were passed from lap to lap, likely to fall asleep in the warm comfort of anyone's arms. Children were caught up in bear hugs, enveloped in the smells of bath oil and peppermint candy. Kisses were placed on the elders' cheeks, on skin that was still smooth and unlined despite old age.

But those days seem long gone. Steeped in the reality of abusive, uncomfortable, and violent physical contact, we have created sterile places where no touching is preferable. We err on the side of caution, but in doing so, I fear that we lose the fundamentals of real human connection. The "laying on of hands" did not simply commission the early church; it equipped those men and women with a powerful reminder of a real, tangible, and loving community that supported their bold work.

As I continue this Lenten journey, I am confronting those places where I have conformed, those times when prompted by the Spirit, I have refused to act out of fear for how I will be perceived. It is an act of risk to offer a hug, when a handshake is the convention. But real love requires that risk. I commit myself to the power of transformative love, where healing and comfort can be known in the form of a godly embrace.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—God's good, pleasing and perfect will.