Speaking in the Light – 8-11

Just the Right Touch!
I look at all the lonely people. I wonder somberly in my spirit, where do they all belong? And I look up towards the heavens and question my Creator, “Oh Father – do they really “all” belong? Does every “body” matter at least to one some “body” at least some time?
Being alone again naturally should never be considered a healthy location to settle in. I need not only somebody to be my neighbor, but also “need” my neighbor as that somebody who will always be there with me!
Belonging! It is a word that we much too often take for granted amidst our busy bump and run lifestyles! Maybe if I just stay active enough, I will never have to slow down long enough to notice that there is no “one” really there who genuinely cares.
And even more intriguing to me is the fact that “belonging” is such a key essential ingredient of the human spirit that it must be a part of our daily existence in some way, shape or form, if we are to internally properly validate our reason for being alive.
Would you miss me if I was gone? Do you even notice me now that I am standing right here under your very nose? Are you afraid to grab my hand or touch my shoulder in an act of friendship? Do you avoid any physical contact with the people around you at all costs? Do you know me enough to love me?
If I know you, will you let down your guard long enough that I may come in and make myself at home in the company of your presence? How do I know that this is true? Am I only important to you because of what I do for you, or are you content in having me around just because I am, and just because I can?
I have spent the last week living here with my spiritual family in the Dominican Republic. As many of you know, The Lighthouse Church back in 2005 planted a daughter church here in the neighborhood of San Marcos on the North Coast of Puerto Plata.
In the past I have come to do and help with the actual labor in assisting the believers here to have a functioning and available place of worship in the center of their community. But this time I held no hammer.
This time I never picked up a shovel. This time I never once reached for a paintbrush. This week I reached down and picked up countless precious children and held those amazing dear ones close to my heart. There are too many boys and girls dwelling in this barrio who must be cherished for simply being the little young ones that Jesus loves.
They need to experience being held as the receiver of affection with no expectation of anything in return. Safely in the arms of one that adores them. We all need that no matter where we call our home.
This trip I daily hung out with the young boys and girls who probably have never felt their father’s gentle touch. The only touch that many of them know is the angry slap resulting from a drunken stupor that was brought on by the desire to numb the pain that comes from never “belonging.”
You can’t pass on what you do not own yourself. But because I know what it is like to “belong” to a loving Father who actually likes having me around, even when I don’t do a thing for him- I was able to truly be with the kids as they would regularly jump all over me as we played baseball again and again in the street.
Games, that I must tell you- that were actually played where we hit the ball quite regularly into other peoples’ homes- but no one was ever angry when we retrieved the baseball from their living rooms and kitchens. You see when it comes down to mattering all about “belonging”- the things that we might have called “belongings” in the past don’t matter all that much.
I look at all the lonely people and wonder who will touch them today to remind them that they are special after all. I also realize that within my own touch, I have the privilege of being the very hands of God in making holy contact from heaven to earth to remind us that our true value is discovered in who we are and not just in what we do.
I want to hold you accountable today to holding someone else in a manner that amounts to that one knowing that they are the one. Love in any language begins with the just the right touch. And the right touch turns loneliness to loveliness and it begins right at the tip of your fingers…
If you would like to see some videos of our recent trip to the Dominican Republic, check out the website mountainviewchapel.net and then get your hands on somebody who desperately needs to be in the right hands – right now.
Write Pastor Rudy pastorrudytlc@comcast.net
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