Touch

On this third day of the new year, I'm thankful for touch -- in all of its aspects. (I actually wrote this yesterday, but didn't get it posted until today, January 4th. I will post another article for Day 5 tonight.)

There is the sense of touch. We are able to take in so much through our fingertips; the rich softness of velvet, the cool dampness of earth, the soft fur of my dog Spot, the roughness of sand paper... So many textures.

Our fingertips sometimes act like eyes. We can identify a lot of objects by feel. You can put common (and sometimes not so common) objects into a sack and know what they are by simply touching them.

Our touch can comfort others with a hug congratulate someone with a pat, or greet someone with a shake of the hand.

In the gospel of Mathew we have incidents of people being healed by touching the hem of Jesus garment; the woman with the issue of blood and later a multitude of people who followed him and everyone who touched the hem of his garment was healed.

We can also heal with our touch by the laying on of hands.

We can communicate with touch. Sometimes the touch of a hand can say far more than words to someone who is hurting.

Then there are the more abstract forms of touch -- the way we are able to touch someone's heart through our words and our actions. We can touch someone's life by caring about them and by giving to them.

How many people have touched your life and your heart, and in how many different ways?