Feeling Touched

After several days of opening boxes and sorting through the many items that needed to be put away in my new home, I looked at my hands and nails, and realized they needed some TLC. I headed to the nail salon and proceeded to get "my usual". The manicurist was one I had never met before but she seemed intuitive to my weariness because, rather than just proceed with getting the job done, she would stop to hold and caress my hands periodically. I had my head down and then looked at her. I said, “You’re making me cry.” She said, “I get that often. I’m just giving you some of my energy.” I didn’t sit there and analyze what that meant. All I knew, I felt so loved and revived by the touch of this little Vietnamese gal. She was touching me with love that I needed.

We all know the power of a caring touch. The doctor who treated us, the teacher that dried our tears, the hand holding ours at a funeral, the hand of our sweetheart reaching out to hold ours, or a handshake of welcome at an event. But it seems that lately I’ve noticed the power of touch even more. My sweet granddaughter, Ruth, is a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse and she told me how important it is for those preemies to be touched. All babies seem to do a little better when they're held, caressed and hugged frequently—but for those born prematurely, it is especially true. In fact, how much a preemie is touched can make a huge difference in their overall well-being and ability to thrive. Infant and preemie touch and massage are "a powerful means of teaching children, from day one, that they are loved and deserving of love."

I have dear friends who recently gave birth to their twin baby girls – two months early. I’ve followed their progress daily via their FB updates that are filled with faith and optimism, though it's been touch and go with many ups and downs on this journey. I learned something I didn't know before. This precious couple embraces their daily opportunity for kangaroo care where the babies are placed skin to skin with their mom and dad. I understand that kangaroo care improves bonding and closeness to their babies, and the babies sense how loved they are.

Like my little manicurist yesterday, shouldn't we be reaching out and touching others also? Many of us do. We use our hands to pray for the sick, or to reach out with a congratulatory high-5 or even to write a letter or make a call or bake a pie for someone who needs us.

Let's make the difference in someone's world today....by reaching out and touching them. They'll know they are loved, and appreciated when we do! Diana Ross sang it so well: "Reach out and touch somebody's hand -- make this world a better place, if you can!"

Reach Out and Touch Someone

We all know the power of a caring touch. Our mother's touch that could calm the worst fears, the teacher that dried our tears, the nurse who treated us, the hand holding ours at a funeral, the hand of our sweetheart caressing ours, the kind man helping us out of our car, or just a simple friendly handshake from a friend. That "touch" made us feel "Everything's gonna' be alright!"

Shouldn't we be reaching out and touching others also? Many of us do. We use our hands to pray for the sick, or to reach out with a congratulatory high-5 or fist-bump, or to shake someone's hand saying "Peace be with you", or to hug someone so tightly that they know they are loved.

In the 90s, I remember when my nephew, Mark David Lawrence, a Skilled Nursing Facility Administrator, opened an 8-bed AIDS unit in his facility. That was still at a time when healthcare workers and the general public were uneducated about the disease, and the rumors ran rampant as to how AIDS was spread. Mark and his medical team spent hours teaching and training. They opened the unit and were full within a few weeks. One day, during his daily rounds, he learned a valuable lesson about the power of a simple touch of his hand. He shook the hand of a new patient and held it for a moment. Tears welled up in the patient's eyes and he uttered the words, "You are touching me, and you're not wearing gloves." Out of all the classes and seminars he attended, the most valuable lesson Mark learned in caring for people, was simply the touch of his hand on someone who was hurting.

We had a large statue of Jesus in our back yard and when we purchased it, the hands were missing on it. Obviously, we got it at a very good price. Someone saw the statute and said, "You know why Jesus has no hands? Because WE ARE His hands on this earth!" That made sense to me, especially when I read St. Teresa of Avila's words.

“Christ has no body now but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which He looks compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good.
Yours are the hands through which He blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
~ St. Teresa of Ávila

May we reach out to someone today and show them God's love by our touch.