I was speaking with a friend today who is a Catholic. He is quite affected by the passing of the Pope. He told me he had met the Pope in Rome when he was a young boy. It was a very special moment to him. I asked him why. He told me it was like touching God.
I’ve been thinking about his comment. As I am not part of the Catholic church, it is difficult for me to understand what Catholics are experiencing. Do people feel that they must physically touch the Pope in order to touch God?
I believe that as God’s children, we have the opportunity to ‘touch’ God every day. I think of Matthew 25:34-40 where Jesus says that whenever we do a kindness for another, we are doing it to Him. Do I ‘touch’ God when I call up a friend who’s experiencing turmoil in her life to be that listening ear and reassuring her she is not alone? Do I ‘touch’ God when I comfort a frightened child? I believe we are ‘touching’ God all the time, whether we realize it or not.
Conversely, because the Holy Spirit lives in us, I believe that we can experience God’s ‘touch’ through our interactions with other believers. There have certainly been times in my life when I have experienced God’s ‘touch’ through other believers. There are times when I have felt God Himself holding me.
It grieves me to think that there are people who are longing for God’s touch and longing to touch Him, but don’t understand that what they desire is a possibility right where they are, that they don’t have to go to Rome in order to experience it.