Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

They gather fodder in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards of the wicked.
Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.
They are drenched by mountain rains
    and hug the rocks for lack of shelter.

• Job 24:6-8

Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

• 1 Peter 5:14

Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

• Romans 16:16

I could continue with comments regarding the holy kiss, but greeting customs were different then, and they are different around the world even today.  In some countries there are specific protocols as to how many kisses and which cheek to start with, and it might change by gender.  Don’t get the procedure wrong or you might plant one on the lips.

But I have always liked hugs.  I would give bear hugs to my boys and they would go limp as if I had squeezed all the air out of them.  It was our routine.

But since my wife passed away, our granddaughter, who will be eleven soon, has been yelling from across the room during my phone chats with my son – he always putting the phone on speaker mode – she yells, “Virtual Hug!!!!”

The passage of Scripture from Job is the only mention of “hug” in the NIV.  If you search for “hug” you might get 6-8 references to “huge,” but only one hug.

They will be here for the Memorial service.  I cannot wait for my granddaughter to be here so that we can hug in a real sense.  A good old bear hug, with growling like I’m squeezing the breath out of her.  Then I put her down and she giggles and runs off to bed.

I won’t have many more of those hugs left.  She might decide that she is too old for that kind of thing, but I hope not for a while.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.