SOMEONE TOUCHED ME

MAKING CONTACT WITH ONE ANOTHER IN CHRIST

And all who touched him

were healed.
Matthew 14:36

Touching begins something.
When one touches another,
some connection is made in that contact
that creates a relation between
the one and the other.
A power goes out from us to others
in the common yet precious miracle of touch.
To touch another person is a priviledge
that carries with it certain responsibility.
Initiating contact creates an expectation
on the part of the one touched:
What next?
Who touched me?


Part of one stays with the one touched,
part of one is passed on to the one who touches.
Strangers keep their distance from one another
for closeness begets intimacy.
Once begotten, this new relationship
demands continued attention.
Attending to one another
is the responsibility that comes of touching.
It is involuntary.
One may choose not to give on'e further attention,
but that choice is made of one's own volition.

The priviledge of being a stranger
is that one may ignore other strangers.
But, strangeness is fleeting -
we cannot remain strangers for long
in the presence of others.
We may play at being strangers
and, for pretense sake,
ask evasive questions:
What is an acceptable distance
for strangers to keep?
What does one do
if that distance is breached?
How may one move away
without giving offense?

It seems humans must

reach toward one another

or move away.

We cannot really keep our distance.

Impersonal touch is a myth.
All touch is personal.
The impersonal is
a conscious rejection of another person,
and all rejection
implies a personal choice.
One decides to accept the chance for relationship
or deny it.

Continual rejection of others

denies much more than those others

- it denies oneself.

We become ourselves
only in relation to others.
Touching and being touched,
we consummate our relationship to others
in the fellowship of creation.
Reaching out to or accepting
another person created in the image of God,
we begin to sense some contact with
the Person who created us.

Without others

to touch and to touch us,

we become desensitized,

unable to give or receive

those signals of humanity

that communicate personhood.

This desensitization

is the root of bitterness,

apathy,

cynicism,

tyranny,

treachery,

blasphemy,

and sacrilege.

The touching moment,

just as it is followed by

a decision for or against continuance,

is preceded by the intention

to touch or not to touch.

One may or may not be aware

of the particular tendency

that moves or inhibits a touch.

However,

if that tendency is informed by a mind

that actively considers

what is good and acceptable,

then one may be confident

in initiating contact with others.

There is, of course, risk involved in touching,

for the one who is touched

may refuse further contact.

It is hard when one's touch is ill-received.

the risk is well-taken, however,

if one is already in contact

with some other or others

who, one is confident, will remain in touch.

This is essentially the Gospel message:

God reached out by His Word

and touched us first in the beginning

by creating and breathing life into humanity;

yet,

rejection was our response.

The truth is,

all of us have rejected God's friendship

and are in need of reconciliation.

Through Jesus Christ,

God's only begotten Son,

we finally know and are able to

respond rightly to that gracious touch of God.

Jesus, filled with the touched of God's Spirit,

reaches out to to us and calls us

to be his friends,

revealing that

enmity with God was our choice,

not God's.

Confident then in this renewed friendship,

we may reach out and touch others

who are yet enemies of God,

thought they still may think themselves

to be merely strangers.

God knows us though we may ignore Him.

He already established relationship

between Himself and us

in that it was He who created us.

In Him we live and move and have our being.

We live in breach of that relationship

unless we touch the one point of contact

whereby we may be reconciled:

the Lord Jesus Christ.

He it was that came to live among us.

"That which was

from the beginning,

which

we have heard,

which

we have seen with our eyes,

which

we have looked upon,

and

our hands have handled,

concerning the Word of Life;

that which

we have seen and heard

we declare to you,

that

you also may have fellowship with us;

and

truly our fellowship

is with the Father

and

with His Son,

Jesus Christ."

Thus are we assured in Scripture

concerning our hope of reconciliation.

We need not fear touching others

for we know

God is faithful to keep in touch with us.

Touching others and being touched,

we sense,

if only for a fleeting moment,

the very touch of God.