The power of a hug
It is fair to say that the world feels like a hard place to be. Tragedy seems to be a daily occurrence and national silence a weekly event.
Yet with summer on the horizon, surely, we should be thinking cocktails and barbecues, beaches and exotic shores. Sometimes, when the world is hard, and hope is fragile, there are no words, there are no platitudes that can make it go away.
But there is power in a hug – an opportunity to offer support that is warm, strong and doesn’t require words. A hug (by mutual agreement of course) can remind a person that they are not alone, that someone cares enough to stop and hold them, making themselves vulnerable yet present.
I have been offered two hugs this past week – one completely out of the blue by someone just grateful for the work I do in general, rather than specific. Another came from someone who knew I was about to give my best in a hard situation and wanted me to feel supported.
There are healing properties in hugs done well. In the Bible, we read that God gathers his people in like a hen gathers in her chicks. Perhaps not a cuddle in the traditional sense, but I love the idea that God pulls us in close with love and protection like a mother hen.
Wherever you find yourselves this summer, maybe not as exotic as some, I hope that you find time to be restored and blessed. And may you be the giver of great hugs and may you receive them well. God bless.