The Spiritual Gift of...Huggiing?

The Prodigal Son -- Charlie Mackesy

Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. They knew they would never see him again—he had told them quite plainly. The pain cut deep. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship.

Acts 20:36-38 The Message

First there was news this week that Ontarians can return to worship if there communities of faith choose to do so. As it turns out the United Church recommends that worship not resume until the Fall.

Then yesterday's news that we can "bubble up", create circles of up to ten people with whom we can associate. Yes, that was the sound of grandparents across the land weeping with joy. In our case we've been able to do so already with one family. We strictly quarantined for two weeks so that we could be with our 2/12 year-old granddaughter while her parents spent time in hospital for the birth of her brother. Lots of hugs and cuddles occurred during that far-too-brief time together.

Now we can have contact with the other household with grandchildren who, fortunately for us, have been very careful about their contacts. We never took the proximity to these families and our daughter in Toronto for granted before COVID-19. Now we are thrilled at the prospect of warm embraces and want to get in as many as possible before getting hugs from grandparents becomes anathema. 

This time of physical and social distancing has been a reminder of the importance of appropriate and consensual touch, and the ways in which it feeds our souls and expresses affection and love.

While in ministry I learned to be incredibly careful about physical touch, including hugs. Still,  during my longer pastorates I became a surrogate family member for some elders and when I was younger some of them regarded me like a son. I knew that a few had no physical contact with loved ones and I would give a hug when I departed a visit. A number of them observed that they hadn't been hugged in months. There were folk I embraced in the midst of grief, often at graveside, who I wouldn't consider embracing at any other time.



Joseph embracing Benjamin.-- Yoram Ranaan

The bible is surprisingly huggy, when you think about it. There is the moving story in Genesis of Joseph revealing his identity to brother Benjamin after years of separation. Probably the best known of Jesus' parables is the Prodigal Son in which a loving father hurries out to embrace his alienated son.  

I never think of the apostle Paul as a warm/fuzzy guy but in the Acts of the Apostles he says farewell to the fledgling congregation in Ephesus. After the intimacy of prayer they shed tears, embracing and kissing. Who knew?

Are you ready to get your hugs on? Are you willing to confess that you've been engaged in illicit embracing during the pandemic restrictions? Have you thought much about scriptural hugging? 

We need to address environmental racism during these turbulent times. My Groundling blog today
https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2020/06/environmental-racism-and-justice.html



Paul Departs Ephesus ( halo intact!)

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