The power of a Hug

I watched Boston Legal last night.  I enjoy the show but they can get politically pretty far left.  Shatner is such a hoot however.  Comic genius.  And it's encouraging for me that a man can come so much into his own at HIS AGE!

 

Anyway---

 

One of the 3 vignettes (there are always 3) was about hugging in Schools.  A teacher hugged a student and was discharged for it so she sued to get her job back.  The argument by the attorney was about the lack of personal interface in today's world.  How hungry people are for any real human contact in a world of IM, eMAIL, and all kinds of other forms of distance.   People can grow up and never get a hug.

 

I like hugs.  I particularly like them from certain people.  Jon Byrd at Faith Center gives a hug like no one else.  Gary Sebela might be a close second.  Man Hugs.  Good stuff. 

 

Last Sunday Pastor Aaron preached at the Reformed Church in Berwyn.  They loved him.  He's a hugger.  He encourages hugs.  Bob, one of the elders, a sweet man in his late  70's told with tears in his eyes how when he came to visit the E-4 church that meets in the same building he was hugged by everyone.  Not just a perfunctory hug.  A real hug.  Men to men.  And women. 

 

With tears in his eyes he related the story of feeling loved and touched.  He's alone, a widower.  Hugs matter.

 

This is a man of authority.  A good man.  A man of history.  A man who grew up in a good Dutch Reformed church but wasn't hugged much.  I guess hugging isn't a part of the normal routine of a Sunday in that Church (Pity).

 

What a gift a hug is.  What a loss if you aren't ever hugged.  A real hug.  A legitimate hug.  I'm thankful for a powerful sincere hug.  And, sometimes when I get one from Gary it comes with a Kiss on the Cheek.  First time I was shocked, now it seems like a Hug Plus.

 

Give a hug today.  It's the manly thing to do.  Even if you're a woman.