The power of touch

I first ran across the concept of the power of touch while reading Le Guin's Wizard of Earthsea trilogy. In the first book, Ged is placed on a small island as the wizard in residence. He has an encounter at the (mystical) wall of death and falls down (in the physical world) as if dead. The people don't know what to do with him, so they leave him in his bed in a trance. His pet otok has more sense than the people do, and begins to lick his face and hands out of love. Le Guin's observation was fascinating; she observed that the beast had more sense of the power of love than the people. Ged comes out of the trance because of that power of loving touch. Being the cerebral kind of guy that I am, I tucked that tidbit away in the dark recesses of my mind and went on being a typical no-touch Scandinavian.

A bit later, in seminary, I was doing a one month summer class. Debbie and the kids went to see the grandparents for two weeks and I was alone with the books. At that time, we were in a small Bible study group that met every two weeks. The meeting fell during the second week that Debbie and kids were gone. I will never forget the experience of walking into that small group and receiving a hug. I hadn't realized how much I missed physical touch! It was healing and reaffirming.

This concept was brought to the fore again over Christmas. I came down with a 24-hour flu on Christmas Eve and spent most of that evening and the next day in bed. While the fever was raging and I was trying to sleep, Debbie came in and gently touched my face. It was an almost spiritual experience; her touch broke through the fever and reminded me that I wasn't alone—that she loved me, others loved me, God loved me.

If we read scripture with the concept of the power of touch in mind, many of the encounters that Jesus had become even more powerful. Move to the book of Acts, and the epistles and bear in mind the power of touch. Church history talks of it, too. I am reminded of the encounter that Francis of Assisi had with the leper. It wasn't until he hugged the leprous man that he experienced the freedom of serving God from the heart.

I must confess, I am still not a hugger like Debbie—probably never will be. But, I am more purposeful in reaching out to others (literally). The power of touch is unbelievably healing.