We feel the world before we think it. This is why the human body has a belly button, showing our bodily connection to another. This is also why a child, deprived of physical affection, cannot properly develop. Babies need to be held. Adults need to be embraced.
Touch is central to who we are.
We need to be touched.
Consider all the times Jesus allowed people to touch him—his circumcision and baptism, Mary’s tears and the leper’s clasp. Christ’s most potent encounters were bodily—a kiss, a wash, a spit, a wound, a tear…
God heals through touch.
But we’ve lost our grip. We’re out of touch. What we cling to, kills us. We’re always grasping and gasping for the wrong hand to hold.
We need to reach out for the love of the Lord and the good of the world.
That’s what this issue is about. We must sanctify movement, touch, sensuality, and poise without our shared experiences feeling strained, ridiculous, or inappropriate.
Why?
Because our touch has power. And until we feel at home in our bodies, we can never truly be at home anywhere.
LEARN TO APPRECIATE YOUR BODY
Our bodies are not something we have, but something we are. And we can use our bodies to do the work and the will of God--to heal, to redeem, to restore, and to minister. These tasks require we have an appropriate understanding of who God made us to be and how we're meant to maneuver in God's good Creation. Learning to touch--both figuratively and literally--is essential to living well and being wholly alive.