In recent years Science has been doing more research into this topic and they are finding there is a lot more than expected. The research is fascinating but we only have time to scratch the surface—I don’t have time to show how much specific information is communicated just by touch or how our sense of touch changes as we age. It’s all simply fascinating, but for the sake of time we are only going to look at a limited aspect of this amazing topic, what is in a touch?
“In his book, Touch: The Science of Hand, Heart and Mind, Dr. David Linden convincingly argues that the ‘genes, cells and neural circuits involved in the sense of touch have been crucial to creating our unique human experience.’… “Drastic examples of young children who have been deprived of touch and have suffered as a result have shown the devastating consequences of touch deprivation.…‘If you don’t get touch right after you’re born, all kinds of terrible things happen, and not just cognitive and emotional,’ said Linden. ‘Your immune system doesn’t develop properly, your digestive system tends to have problem — there’s a whole rack of health problems that can develop if you don’t receive touch in early life.’…‘A parent’s touch is very crucial for a child’s development,’ said Linden. ‘It’s not optional.’ ” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/neuroscience-touch_n_6489050.html) Even as adults, touch creates bonds and helps in social circles. “In research done back in 1976, clerks at a university library returned library cards to students either with or without briefly touching the student's hand. Student interviews revealed that those who'd been touched evaluated the clerk and the library more favorably. The effect held even when students hadn't noticed the touch. “More recent studies have found that seemingly insignificant touches yield bigger tips for waitresses, that people shop and buy more if they're touched by a store greeter, and that strangers are more likely to help someone if a touch accompanies the request. Call it the human touch, a brief reminder that we are, at our core, social” creatures. “ ‘Lots of times in these studies people don't even remember being touched. They just feel there's a connection, they feel that they like that person more’…” (https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201303/the-power-touch) Yes, it’s true that we live in a “touch-phobic society…We're not used to touching strangers, or even our friends, necessarily.” Some cultures are more touchy than others. But it’s a proven fact that the human creation is dependent on touch for healthy development socially, emotionally, and physically. So what is it? What’s in a touch? Go with me to the Scriptures. The first time in the Bible that the word touch is used is found in Genesis 3:3. Here Satan, in the guise of a serpent, tells Eve that if she touches the forbidden fruit she will die. “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.” In Genesis 32:25 it tells of Jacob wrestling with the Angel. He touches Jacob’s thigh and instantly it’s out of joint. “And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.” Zechariah 2:8 says that when people do us harm it as though they are touching God’s eye. “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.” All through the New Testament we see Jesus healing people with a touch. Matthew 8:3, “And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” There’s one story I want us to spend a little time on. It’s found in Mark 5:25-34. “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” What's in a touch? Power—power for good or power for evil. With a touch we can bruise, With a touch we can cut; But also with a touch we can heal, With a touch we can love. There is power in a touch. May we use it for good.
0 Comments
|
SolominaEverything in life has meaning. There's a lesson in every object, every situation, every process. I want to go deeper, in a higher way. I want to listen, to understand, to know. Archives
June 2023
Categories
All
|