When I woke at 5 this morning, I knew my wife was still awake and had probably been awake all night. I reached out and held her hand. Five minutes later she was sound asleep. My wife has suffered from insomnia for years. She starts thinking about stuff and can’t turn her mind off. Lately, she has had more to think about. She is recovering from breast surgery and faces radiation and chemotherapy. That’s a lot to think about. We are never so alone as when we are lost in our thoughts.
She needs to hear from me. She needs to know I am still here. She is still my baby and we, and Jesus, got this. She doesn’t need to hear words, not after fifty years of love and faithfulness. She needs a touch and knows all that it means.
The art of touch is becoming lost. In a world of electronic communication, many of us are losing the wonder of face to face communication and the power of touch. Touch, in fact, is now viewed with suspicion, a likely “violation” of personal space.
Surely random and isolated touch isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a silent communication that repeats and summarizes years of prior touches, and helps and hurts.
I pray for each of you a relationship that is so long and deep that touches matter and are meaningful. If you lack that now, it won’t suddenly appear tomorrow. It requires years of devotion, work, and grace. Better get started now. Time is wasting.
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