Mommy's kiss

Two days ago, it seemed my little brother was not well. Today, he was rather cranky, and after my sister left for work this morning, I found him crying on the staircase for her and for his mother. I was already carrying his baby brother, but managed to carry him as well and get downstairs, where his mother was. Unfortunately, I misjudged our collective width and he hit his head on the door and wailed a little louder. Yet, when he saw his mother, he got quiet really quickly.

No doubt you've had such an experience growing up — maybe not with mommy, but with someone else — someone whose touch, whose voice, whose words — any, or all of these could calm your troubled heart and reduce even physical pain to bearable limits. Maybe even now, you still have such people around you, even though you're grown and have learned not to cry in the open (for the most part, anyway).

I never really realized it before now, but hurting people need more than just medicine. They need care. I was wondering what it would be like to have a major illness and have the best medical treatment delivered with surgical precision and in a cold, detached manner. I have no idea what it would be like, but I don't want to experience it.

The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?
— Proverbs 18:14, New Living Translation

Keith Moore, in his message series A Fighting Spirit, talks about the importance of a fighting spirit to recovering from life-threatening illnesses. I do not seek to downplay the importance of a fighting spirit, but care can stir up or strengthen a person's fighting spirit (please see my previous post, Love's Roof, for an example). That's what happens when Mommy comes with a kiss and a Band-Aid for a scraped knee — that kiss and hug will do wonders beyond what just the Band-Aid would do.

Am I advocating for dumbed-down, watered-down truth? No. NEVER, EVER compromise on the truth of God's word. But where your doctrine and your preaching, your facts and figures and proofs from scripture fail, maybe a kind word or two, a hug and a listening ear will accomplish more for healing broken hearts and bodies than you could ever think possible. And the more the hurt, the greater the need for that care.