A Time to Embrace

 Most people see me more as a Grizzly bear than a Teddy bear. Rought and rugged. Hard and harsh. Bull dogged determined. Fiercely competitive. Getting close to me for a hug may feel more like hugging a porcupine than a cuddly stuffed animal. 

People think they know me. They know the tough hard-nosed persona. What few people really don't know is the soft and tenderhearted part of me. The man who can be moved to tears especially when it relates to a husband and his wife and a father and his children. I love deeply. So deeply I often feel the pain of others. 

I am not known for being a hugger. Many times, I instinctively put my hand out to shake rather than open my arms to embrace. I hug Brenda. Even though our sons are grown I still hug them. There are few others. 

In Eccl 3:5 we read there is a time to embrace. To put that another way, there are appointed seasons when hugs are appropriate and needed. Like with a parent and child. Hugging children as infants actually enhances their cognitive, emotional, and physical development. As I write this I am looking back through a plethora of memories from my childhood. I cannot recall one clear memory when Mama hugged me. I am not saying she didn't do it. I just cannot remember any instances. Nor can I remember my maternal grandparents, who we lived with for most of my upbringing, ever hugging me. That is not something I have ever noticed before. I did not grow up in touchy feely family. 

To open your arms and let people come close to your heart can be hard for some people. Especially if those people have experienced rejection, abuse, and neglect. It can be hard for such people to open their arms wide welcoming people to get physically and emotionally close. That is just one side of hugging. 

There is another perspective. When you hug someone, it communicates love. Hugs can also comfort people in times of stress and fear. Like a child being held tight by a parent in a thunderstorm. Only adults live through different kinds of storms. They need to be comforted too from time to time. 

I am thinking of a song by Dennis Jernigan. Part of the lyrics of that song sung to God are, "When I cannot feel. When my wounds don't heal. Lord I humbly kneel hidden in You. If I could just sit with you awhile. If you could just hold me. Nothing can touch me, though I'm wounded and have died. I'd need you to hold me moment by moment until forever passes by."

Sometimes we need God to hold us. To give us a hug through His word, moving music or a powerful message through a teacher or preacher. God gives hugs to those who are distraught, depressed, and down and out. Sometimes He does that through other people. Such hugs communicate the compassion and love of God through the arms of one of His followers. 

There are times for hugs. Keep your eyes open and your heart sensitive to the next opportunity God puts before you to be his arms and heart for a hurting soul, an abused child, or someone the rest of society overlooks. One little gesture as simple as a hug could make a world of difference.