THE POWER OF TOUCH

Our skin is the most powerful of all the sense organs. A person may be blind and deaf or completely lack the sense of smell or taste, but it is impossible to survive without the function of the skin. More than a half million sensory fibers flow from the skin through the spinal cord to the brain. This giant communication system brings the signals and messages of the external environment to the attention of our internal selves. When you touch some one, the skin surface informs you not only about heat, cold and pain, but also literally about how they feel, and how you feel about them.

The hunger for touch and recognition is universal. It is the swiftest and most direct form of communication. Infants will not grow normally without the assuring touch of others. At birth the mother's breast is the physical and emotional supply line for a child's well being. Medical science terms it "bonding." As the child grows older, this primal hunger for actual physical touch is changed to recognition hunger. A smile, nod. frown, word or other gesture eventually replaces some of the touch strokes necessary in human development. Like touch, these forms of recognition, whether negative or positive, stimulate the brain of the person receiving them and serve to verify the fact he is alive and accepted as a person.

While studying the gospel of Mark, I was struck by the number of times Jesus touched people: the blind, the lame, the leper, the deaf and dumb, the demon possessed and little children. In this series of vivid pictures Mark portrays Jesus ministering to people as a true Servant: "the son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45), thus, modeling the characteristic qualities of authentic Christianity. If our faith cost nothing perhaps it is worth nothing! "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (James 2:17).

When Jesus met His disciples by the shore of Galilee after His resurrection, the true motive for service became the main topic. Three times Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?" Striping away all superficiality Jesus seemed to infer: "tell me what you love and I will tell you what you are!" The proof of love must go deeper than mere human affection. Service motivated by agape love needs no law to impel him to action. The man who loves righteousness will do right; law or no law. St. Bernard of Clairvaux put it this way: "the true measure of loving God is to love Him without measure."

Each time Jesus asked Peter "Do you love Me?" He concluded with a command:" feed my lambs; feet my sheep." The nature of love is to give. "God so loved the world that He gave." When the Spirit of God inflames love He inspires courage. That is why Peter was able to serve faithfully and die courageously.

The ultimate proof of agape is whether or not we are reaching out to others. The "great commission" is the mandate of agape. If we claim to be His, then agape love must flow from our lives as we reach out to the sick and lonely, the poor and the dying, the orphans and widows in distress, the heaven-bound and the hell-bound. We simply can't remain silent while claiming to love Him. Jesus was busy touching other lives. Involvement is not a choice. It is a command! "Do not merely listen to the word, do what it says" (James 1:22)

The power of touch is at our disposal. For Jesus' sake, let's just do it!