In this Sunday’s Gospel we meet ten human beings who have no place in the family of life; they are out of touch, physically. They are kept separate from their human family; isolated, lonely. They bear a skin disease and are judged sinners. Their bodies bear marks that have them in despair over ever being touched again. Then, they learn the healer from Nazareth is journeying their way. They imagine again their place in the family of life. They imagine being in touch. They call out, “Jesus, have compassion for us.” He does. He receives them not as sinners but as family. He demands no repentance and instead gives love, showering his compassion on their yearning hearts and soft bodies. The ten are healed. One of them, “realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God.”
How long had it been since this man or any of the others had felt the touch of another human being? How long had they yearned for the softness of another body held in communion with their own? The touch of another person is so vital to our shared humanity. We are not meant to live alone, deprived of human touch. From the formality of a handshake, to walking arm in arm, to a gentle hug; we express our appreciation, care, and love for each other. We are healthier when we are in touch. Babies who are given skin to skin contact with their mothers or are swaddled and warmly held thrive. Older children, specifically those diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, are receiving proscribed massage sessions in their schools. Incidents of inattention and conflict are being replaced with incidents of participation and happiness. Businesses are also providing massage opportunities for employees. Hospitals, homes, schools, and businesses are practicing healing touch with healing results. It only makes sense to share and expand the practice of healing touch. It is therefore conceivable for healing touch to be practiced in community relations. For example, by and for policing so as to diminish the criminality on both sides. Ken Nwadike decided to offer a healing touch to police and stepped out alone to do so. At a rally protesting police brutality, he responded with compassion, showering his love on armed police by hugging as many as he could. Not all people will shed their hardened hearts and stiffened bodies. Will we? Will we know our healing place in the family of things?
“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, … Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — over and over announcing your place in the family of things. (Wild Geese – Mary Oliver)
Prayer: Spirit of Touch, help me to live my healing place in the family of things
Question: How do I share my healing touch, especially within conflict?
October 9, 2016 Gospel Luke 17:11-19 Twenty-Eighth Sunday In Ordinary Time