The Value of the Human Touch

So as I sit at my desk after a two day hiatus enduced by an aweful germ I caught while merrily putting up our office Christmas Tree, I am currenlty cursing "the human touch" or at least the germs that manifest and spread thereof, but I think this holiday season there is something that we should remember about the human touch.

Over Thanksgiving, my sister and I pretty much solved the world's problems over mexican (at Ole Mejico as we often refer to it) and did a follow up analysis on our brilliance over coffe at Barnes and Noble. She told me about her experience going to jail house ministries with my mom. She realized how sad it was that those women would not be going home to their families for Thanksgiving, they would not have the embrace of families that love them, really every one would be so busy spending time with their families that they would be virtually forgotten. She said that it was amazing how the women there just wanted a hug and were so grateful for someone to just take time out of their lives to care about them. It is amazing how reassuring just a simple hug and an open ear can be.

We then expounded the conversation by talking about my Dad. My father is, among his eighteen jobs, a pastor. He preaches at two small rural churches each Sunday. There are many elderly and lonely people who attend his church. My father makes a point to shake each person's hand and actually make that human connection. If they see no one else all week, they will get a hug or a handshake on Sunday, rest assured. There is something about that human touch that is a transfer of energy and life. You know some people that go to his church go for days and maybe even all week without human touch or interaction.

It is hard for we city dwellers to imagine going all week without some one bumping into you in line at the grocery store, reaching across you in the lunch line or breezing past you as you walk through the door, all of these things though subtle, and sometimes unwanted, are human touch.

This has really come to my attention over the past few days. I work five days a week and interact with people closely on a daily basis. The past two, I have been quarintined in my house, fearing my illness has been contageous, and have spent the past two days without human touch or interaction. I must tell you, it is quite an experience to be without it and to be conscious of the fact that you are without it. Taylor came by last night with my two favorite things, a cheese danish and chocolate brownie (never too sick for either of those...not even on my death bed!), and when he came in, he gave me a great big old hug. Even though I was knowledgable of the effects of the human touch, and I could prepare myself for how good that hug would feel, you can never really prepare yourself. The only similar experience I can compare it to is that of running outside on a beautiful fall day with the sun shining down warm on your face and the world spinning around you in an orange, brown and yellow glow. That is what it feels like...and it is a sensation that I think most of us either don't have the awareness to realize or are so busy that we igore it.

We have the choice, as I did this week. We can be very negative on the (at times GERMY) effects of human touch or we can embrace them and spread that energy and love to other. Think about it when you see someone that you think may not get out much, or some one you know has been sick or even just your friends and relatives that you love and care about..what better way to show them you care than by taking the time and care to extend to them the human touch.

The most expensive thing that we as people can give of ourselves is our time. By giving minutes and hours of your life to listening and visiting and helping others, we are giving life, and that is greater than any other gift we as humans can give. Please remember this during this wonderful holiday season!