David Van Kley, Journal columnist

One of the five basic senses given at birth is touch. Of all the senses, touch is most universal. Some people are unable to see or hear at birth; many experience a decline in sight or hearing with age. Our sense of smell or taste may also be compromised. But nearly every person can feel the touch of another.

Too often, touch is used to hurt or abuse! When touch is used as God intends, it brings comfort, communicates love, empowers, unites.

In the Bible, people suffering from various skin diseases were judged unclean and quarantined out of fear of contagion. When Jesus healed lepers, he brought them back into community, enabling their return to families and friends. To touch and be touched once again.

The synoptic gospels tell the story of a desperate woman suffering from hemorrhages. She winds her way through the crowd and somehow manages to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment. Incredibly, in that moment, she is healed.

In the gospel of John, Jesus sees a man born without sight, spits on the ground, works the earth into a paste of mud, and spreads it on the man’s eyes. Miraculously, he sees! Perhaps Jesus’ touch had as much to do with this miracle as anything else. Reading the text, you can almost feel his hands and the dirt mixed with warm saliva on your own eyes.

Studies of premature babies in isolation have shown the value of human touch. From birth, we need to be held by another, comforted by someone who loves us. The touch of a mother is as basic as an IV drip to the wellbeing of an emerging life!

During the coronavirus pandemic, this common experience of touch between persons has become scarce. We have avoided contact with others, standing six feet apart, covering our face with masks, washing our hands repeatedly. For the most part, touch has been limited to the people who live with us, if we are fortunate enough to have a partner or family at home. Or perhaps to family members whom we feel safe enough to visit.

Certainly, the isolation has been necessary! Yet, there is no question that living in a no-touch world has been extremely difficult. Have you, like me, missed the sensation of another’s hand pressed into your own? Longed for a warm hug from a dear friend? For the sweetness of another person’s breath, less than six feet away?

Thankfully, we are emerging from the no-touch world. Of course, caution is needed; right now, restrictions remain in place. But as more and more of us are vaccinated, the risk of disease will decline and we will be able to once again shake the hand of a colleague, embrace a friend, or if nothing else–bump the elbow of another with your own.

The touch of others may feel–indeed, may actually be–heavenly. For in a real sense, we are the lepers, the blind men, and the suffering women Jesus is restoring to community. And God is surely present in every healing touch.

Editor’s note: The Rev. David Van Kley is a retired pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.