bits from bob....

Thinking about Wholly Holy Heart Hugs!

by Robert J. Young
©, 2002, Robert J. Young
[permission is given to reprint with credit noted]

Latin Americans are huggers (and kissers)! I've never been hugged and kissed in greeting so often in just one month as on our recent trip to Honduras. My wife, Jan, is a hugger! She hugs everyone. One elder in a church where we worked accuses her of turning "non-touchers" into "touchers." I admire people who find emotion in their personal relationships with other Christians and in their relationship with God. Do you know that God hugs us just as we hug others?

Jan describes her prayer life as sitting on the lap of God. What an awesome picture--God's holy heart hug! I recently read of two children conversing about prayer. When the boy described thought prayer ("I talk to Jesus in my head!"), the girl responded, "I don't--I just cuddle with him!" Another evidence of God's holy heart hug!

I like clouds and rain. I have observed through living in several climates that clouds make the weather more temperate. Without clouds, early winter morning Michigan temps, despite bright sun, can approach -30 degrees. Without clouds, Kansas summer afternoon temps can easily exceed 100 degrees. I think of clouds as God's blanket. When it is cold, God wraps his children in a blanket of protection, and we are not as cold. When it is warm, God provides a light blanket to protect from the sun even as a mother a young child. For me, clouds are an evidence of the hugs of God.

What is your picture of God? I hope somewhere in your spiritual imagination is room for God's lap, cuddling with God, God's blanket. I hope you know the holy heart hugs of God. God's unseen everlasting arms are always around us and beneath us. Brother Lawrence describes his awareness of God: known of God and caressed by him. Whether you are strong or weak, young or old, man or woman, boy or girl, learn the holy heart hugs of God. God wants to caress you on his lap, to cuddle with you, to wrap you in his protective care. Learn to sense God's presence and protection.

Then remember, when you pass on a Christian holy heart hug, you are passing on the love of God.


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Last updated May 29, 2002.