Touch Them, They Hurt

In our suffering we may face gloom at dawn, and dawn after dawn, on and on, it stays. Grieving pain is longsuffering, expanding, lingering. It keeps on keeping on, reduces curing to schemes of preservation; ignores the total healing potential. Bodily aches require pain relievers, salves, creams, and rest. Pain of loss needs equal kinds of attention.

First of my strategies in soul-trauma was to eliminate downward-turning advancements toward the mind-emotion-conscience etc. especially feelings. This exercise was simply “wound protection,” accepted since making peace with the loitering wound was considered a normal function. I became acquainted with just how much my wound would endure, which was not that much. I nursed it; after all, it assumed a prominent place in my soul.

Woundees are a particular breed. As one of them, I didn’t really savor being around negative people. I craved love and attention; it was easy to discern skeptical or insincere folks. These kinds were like a tinkling symbol or sounding brass. No offense, but a wounded soul is a discerning one.

On the positive side, friends and people who really were genuine helped so much. A person who recognized my pain, had sensitivity, empathy, or at least sympathy; they had something precious about them. These seemed almost angelic and drew love and admiration out of me from somewhere down inside. These had the love of God, in spite of being just human.

Some may have called me an egotist and that could be accurate. Injuries expose ego, however, my hurt was not phony, but real. Needy and self-centered, I was not other-wise motivated; it was a sincere hardship, that’s all. Did I seek attention? I sought love.

Have you been the hurting one? If you have, often you can’t really find sweet words of comfort and healing from God in heaven. People must bring the words; words which have also been shared by love through others. Jesus, the greatest sufferer, sought comfort from his disciples in the garden.

As the gospels reveal, Jesus in the garden of agony was forsaken of His Father for a brief moment in history. Jesus asked His disciples to join Him in prayer. They failed, but the need was shown apparent. Yes, even Jesus sought the comfort of His fellows. This is touching.

We are so wired that support, even physical touch, yes, is still very valuable to us. We are not referring to illicit touch or sexual advancements, but we are thinking of the deeper, pure, compassion of one human being toward another — A feeling of identification, of sharing pain, of sensing in empathy the pain of a friend.

Finally, has a person ever released you from ultimate pain which pain never returned? Not with me. Friends are born for adversity, loving at all times. This means that pain can be ongoing without a final deliverance from it, but perhaps healing comes after many years. For us, we learn the great value of standing by a loved one, of understanding their attention seeking, of looking deeper at their real and unmassaged hurt. Self seekers and deprived people often do not love themselves. They grope for a deep-seated heart satisfaction and rest.

The heart of God cares to meet them, to sooth their aching, to heal their broken heart, to set their soul free. He came and touched many; then passed the ball to us to stroke them with His compassion, with words and touches. We hug some, we kiss their cheek, and we tell them about what Jesus did. Yes, Jesus died for them, yes He gave His life on purpose, it was love, it was for all of us.

Friends, lets not be so hyper-spiritual that we fail our great opportunity to walk with the Healer. Our little hand-shakes, love-words, hugs and caresses go much farther than we think. Care with Jesus, and find His gentleness. Let it overtake you, saturate you, love you and overflow with it. It hides the fault and sees the poverty. Love Ya

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