Losing Touch?

OK, here is something wierd chemo did almost right from the beginning of my treatment. It took off the top layer of skin from my fingertips. Bizarre. This last round of chemo added the treat of a nice rashlike redness on the back of my hands complete with a nice swelling. Then my skin dried up into something that resembled Incredible Hulk scaley texture and completed the cycle with some very ugly peeling. Nice touch so to speak.

I mention this bacause my trip to the doctor this week resulted in two more prescriptions. I had to smile as I thought that you can tell how rough the health waters are for a person by looking at the number of 'white caps' (prescrition lids) by their bed. I've lost count at this point but I'm somewhere around 15 different medicines at one point or another during this treatment.

Peripial neuropathy is also a gift of chemo- losing feeling in your fingers and feet. My symptoms were really pretty light (compared to last time) until this last go around but now I have a nice case of both which I hope will recede again as I get further and further away from treatment. So this past month hasn't been a great one for my mitts but we're hangin in there!

Maybe we don't give it much thought, maybe we take it for granted but our sense of touch is so important. Losing even a partial sense of touch is disconcerting. Take it from me, periphial neuropathy isn't much fun. Which got me to wondering if we as a church, maybe as individuals are suffering from a case of spiritual periphial neuropathy.

Of course Jesus had a wonderful touch- almost all His healing miracles involved a touch. Leprosy, bleeding, blindness and even cut off ears were healed by His touch. And I wonder if we have lost that healing touch today as a church, if in our spiritual neuropathy we back away from or ignore opportunities to help a hurting world that so badly needs our touch.

I saw a commercial last night for a TV show about life after people on earth where a statue of Jesus loses His hands. Not sure what that has to do with the show but it reminded me that there are a number of stories about statues of Jesus without hands. The point is that today we are to be the hands and feet of God. But are we losing touch with our mission? Casting Crowns wonders about our lack of action in their song 'If we are the Body':

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?

And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them
There is a way? There is a way?

This week I hope you and I see and sieze an opportunity to touch a life for Jesus by giving or helpig in some way. Let's be touchers. I'm counting on my rash and neuropathy to diminish with time and hoping the same thing happens for us as Christians and as a church as well.

Blest Regards,
kp