Touch (Updated and reposted from 8/5/2016)

 

"Many people are alive but don't touch the miracle of being alive."

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

Our path begins at "life" and our journey begins with a single touch.  For most of us, it will be in the gentle touch of our mother, and for others in the kindness shown by a stranger.  Is it the simple act of reaching out to someone or something?  Or, is it about how we reach out, and the emotion we put into the act?  Is it how we interpret touching?  I think one thing is certain, we are all "touched" in one way or another; we can only hope it is for the better.  

I am not big on Catholic priests, an unfortunate opinion formed from a couple of years I spent incarcerated in Catholic grade school and Catechism. I was "blessed" to catch the tail end of the Latin being used in Sunday Mass.  You haven't experienced Sunday Mass as a Catholic until you have to sit through a long, boring ceremony, presented by an older-than-Christ priest speaking Latin with a heavy Irish brogue.  I selfishly asked God to just shoot me.

“Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone's hand is the beginning of a journey. At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.”

-- Vera Nazarian, author

When I was the chaplain at a local medical center, in early 2016, I was impressed by a Catholic priest who came to perform a "Blessing of the Hands" for medical staff and volunteers.  He was all of five foot nothing and had the thick African accent of his homeland. This priest, however, was something different.  This small man had a toothy smile that lit up the hospital foyer as he entered.  He shook my hand with both of his and made everyone he touched feel special... just for being alive.  

The emotions he displayed, when speaking about doctors, nurses, and volunteers, were special.  Yes, it was his persona, but it was also his touch.  It was as if his small frame was charged with a palpable, spiritual calm; a subtle, peaceful energy of love for mankind I have never had the joy of experiencing before.  If this was a representative of Christ on earth, one can only imagine the aura of Christ Himself.  How absolutely marvelous this was.

The great lecturer, and academician, Dr. Leo Buscaglia, was capable of making one feel love and life through his energetic presentations.  He would wear me out just watching him speak, and does so today, years after his death, as I continue to enjoy his many lectures online.  Perspiring from the intensity of his lecture, he was constantly wiping his brow and face with a handkerchief.  I was so riveted by his lecture I would find myself having to wipe my own brow, and my eyes, as if listening had become an energetic activity and I was trying to keep up.  His was proof that words also have the ability to touch others.  It was proof that, for many of us, you can truly have faith in something you cannot feel or touch.  Leo had the gift, the ability to reach inside of us and flick on that switch so many of us didn't know we had or could not see.  

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

-- Leo Buscaglia

Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, stated, "Many people are alive but don't touch the miracle of being alive." How do we "touch the miracle of being alive"? And, if we know, how do we explain it to others?  I think the concept would be like explaining why we lie to people who know, that concept of anything other than the truth, or trying to explain "God" when we have never been in the presence of God.  I think the Buddhists touch on this when they try to explain the Tao:

Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, the Tao is the intuitive knowing of "life" that cannot be grasped full-heartedly as just a concept but is known nonetheless through actual living experience of one's everyday being.

Laozi in the Tao Te Ching explains that the Tao is not a 'name' for a 'thing' but the underlying natural order of the Universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe due to it being non conceptual yet evident' in one's being of aliveness. The Tao is "eternally nameless” and to be distinguished from the countless 'named' things which are considered to be its manifestations, the reality of life before its descriptions of it.

-- Wikipedia, "Tao"

Even in their own philosophy they fully admit explaining the Tao is an exercise in describing the indescribable, and even if it could be done you would have not described it.  As Christians, we learn, like the Taoists, we must be "free of desire" in order to observe the wonders of God. If we are full of desire we will only see the manifestations of those wonders, not the wonders themselves.  I see this as why many Christians focus so much on the WORD of scripture instead of the spirit which manifested it.  Even God was aware that man kept misinterpreting the written word.  This was the reason, in his second covenant with man, he embedded all the information we need in our hearts and our minds. I think there comes a point when we cross the fine line between looking upon the Bible as Holy Scripture, or as idolatry on par with God.

The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao

The name that can be named is not the eternal name

The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth

The named is the mother of myriad things 

Thus, constantly free of desire

One observes its wonders

Constantly filled with desire

One observes its manifestations 

These two emerge together but differ in name

The unity is said to be the mystery

Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders

-- Laozi 

 As humans, we live for the touch of other humans.  Barring that, we live for the touch of another living creature.  Even a loner appreciates the occasional time with others, even if those others are creatures of the woodland.  Our lives revolve around touch or being touched, whether it is physically or mentally.  We can be touched by what we hear as well as what we see and can touch others by what we say and what we do.  As spiritual beings, we overcome our fears through faith, and our desire to stand back by our overwhelming need to help our neighbor.  It is who we are; touching, hands-on, a part of God's creation.  To be anything else would weigh heavily on our conscience, no matter our excuse.  

"I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God."

-- Mother Teresa

We exist, and by existing we touch, and by touching we become a part of what was, is now, and what will be, for better or worse.

"In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes; so with present time."

-- Leonardo da Vinci

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and, finally, a senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Western Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research.

Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony: tolerantpastor@gmail.com