REACH OUT AND TOUCH (SOMEBODY’S HAND)
Reach out and touch
Somebody's hand
Make this world a better place
If you can
If ever there is a time that we need to heed that message is now but how do we “reach out and touch somebody’s hand” when we are even scared to shake?
In 1987, the late Princess Diana stunned the world when she touched a gay man dying of AIDS with her bare hands. “You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it,” she remarked. Two thousand years earlier, Somebody who came from heaven knew a leper needed it and “reached out and TOUCHED him” (Mt. 8:3 GNT).
Jesus could have healed the leper from a distance but He chose to touch him for He knew the man needed it after being deprived of human touch for God knows how long. And that’s the thing. Being God, He knew how long the man not only suffered from the skin disease but from loneliness brought about by physical isolation. Being God, He also knew that leprosy, like AIDS, “cannot be caught by touch but through droplets of moisture.” Hmmm…isolation…droplets…sound familiar?
I am no medical expert but as I was doing research for this article, I noticed something that I had overlooked before. In the sea of advisories against handshakes including by the Department of Health, the World Health Organization does not say anything about it. Same goes for the Center for Disease Control and the NHS. So we go back to the question, at a time when a handshake is to be feared, how do we “reach out and touch?”
First of all, let us not give in to fear and paranoia and discriminate against those with monosyllabic names. They are not the virus. WHO has assessed the spread to a “very high” level infecting at least 49 countries in less than a month. It is no longer a Chinese virus but a global one that chooses no skin color.
Let us not give in and hoard face masks that don’t do us much good if we are not sick. Save them for those who are (and not necessarily of COVID-19) and the people in the frontlines. Let us observe preventive measures.
Lastly, let us not give in to fear and paranoia especially when we claim to be children of a God who heals and protects. Yes, we are to be cautious but let us not scream, “It’s the end of the world!” louder than those who make no such claim.
If ever it would be understandable for believers to be in a state of panic, it would be those in Wuhan but a church based there believes that “(i)f Christians are more afraid of death than the world during a disaster, then the suffering they have endured would be in vain. God wants us to overcome difficulties through Him. This epidemic provides an opportunity for us to introspect our faith, reflect on ourselves, strengthen our spiritual life and to depend on God.”
Indeed this is a time for great witnessing. When people around us are fearful, let them see our testimony of faith and make it a springboard to reach out and touch them for eternity.
Reach out and touch
Somebody's hand
Make this world a better place
If you can
If ever there is a time that we need to heed that message is now but how do we “reach out and touch somebody’s hand” when we are even scared to shake?
In 1987, the late Princess Diana stunned the world when she touched a gay man dying of AIDS with her bare hands. “You can shake their hands and give them a hug. Heaven knows they need it,” she remarked. Two thousand years earlier, Somebody who came from heaven knew a leper needed it and “reached out and TOUCHED him” (Mt. 8:3 GNT).
Jesus could have healed the leper from a distance but He chose to touch him for He knew the man needed it after being deprived of human touch for God knows how long. And that’s the thing. Being God, He knew how long the man not only suffered from the skin disease but from loneliness brought about by physical isolation. Being God, He also knew that leprosy, like AIDS, “cannot be caught by touch but through droplets of moisture.” Hmmm…isolation…droplets…sound familiar?
I am no medical expert but as I was doing research for this article, I noticed something that I had overlooked before. In the sea of advisories against handshakes including by the Department of Health, the World Health Organization does not say anything about it. Same goes for the Center for Disease Control and the NHS. So we go back to the question, at a time when a handshake is to be feared, how do we “reach out and touch?”
First of all, let us not give in to fear and paranoia and discriminate against those with monosyllabic names. They are not the virus. WHO has assessed the spread to a “very high” level infecting at least 49 countries in less than a month. It is no longer a Chinese virus but a global one that chooses no skin color.
Let us not give in and hoard face masks that don’t do us much good if we are not sick. Save them for those who are (and not necessarily of COVID-19) and the people in the frontlines. Let us observe preventive measures.
Lastly, let us not give in to fear and paranoia especially when we claim to be children of a God who heals and protects. Yes, we are to be cautious but let us not scream, “It’s the end of the world!” louder than those who make no such claim.
If ever it would be understandable for believers to be in a state of panic, it would be those in Wuhan but a church based there believes that “(i)f Christians are more afraid of death than the world during a disaster, then the suffering they have endured would be in vain. God wants us to overcome difficulties through Him. This epidemic provides an opportunity for us to introspect our faith, reflect on ourselves, strengthen our spiritual life and to depend on God.”
Indeed this is a time for great witnessing. When people around us are fearful, let them see our testimony of faith and make it a springboard to reach out and touch them for eternity.