touch

I used to go to the Kingdom Hall. In my final days there, I came to know a man named Jim Salda. He was an intelligent man--the first person I ever met who carried a programmable computer in his shirt pocket, a device he talked about with pride.

Brother Salda designed highway construction for the State of Oklahoma. Took a lot of high level math to do his job--I politely got lost every time I listened to him tell about the latest highway he had a hand in. He had his quirks and they did not mesh well with God's People.

One of his quirks was that he hugged people. He hugged everybody--man, woman... boy, girl. He was always in his own peculiar world and, for whatever reason, saw good in every person he met so deemed them huggable.

This quirk of his bothered some people and he got in "trouble." It's sad, I think, but most people are not comfortable being hugged. Some fellow Kingdom Hallers reported him to The Elders®. I understood why they did.

His hugging made me uncomfortable too. I grew up where "I love you" was never heard and hugs were never felt. My upbringing was probably a lot like yours. That's just how it was back then.

Over time, Brother Salda broke down the wall that Life had made for me. I had an epiphany. I came to love Brother Salda. One day I came into the Hall, Brother Salda was there with his usual hug, and it didn't bother me any more. He had passed on his unique gift I will carry with me from now on.

The gift of Touch.

Here's what I know:

1. I will not touch someone I don't like. I keep a distance of at least 2 feet from them. (Normal human beings... like Brother Salda.... are wired to do this naturally. I just never knew.)

2. I cringe when someone I don't like touches me.

3. People who touch me are sending me a critical message. It most likely means they care about me in some special way. To them I am not just another glob of chemicals.

4. If I touch you, I care about you. The act of touching, simple as it is, represents a huge leap for me in the area of personal development.

Brother Salda... may he rest in peace... taught me it's alright to touch.