A side of this that seems overlooked.
There's a whole lot of lonely ppl,
and many of them are in churches.
Not everyone has a bubbly personality
or is 'in with the in-crowd'.
Many ppl have been alone their whole life,
and may be shy, or developed an awkwardness
around ppl due to rejection or past hurts,
any number of reasons. And they often feel invisible.....
this can go on for years, and being ignored
or forgotten can become expected,
and feeling almost like that's all that they deserve.
Sometimes they just don't have the courage,
or they spend alot of time wondering
what's wrong with themselves,
often praying in tears before God
for some kind of understanding.
And many times, even though they may appear very cool,
or stoic, or maybe they seem aloof and unfriendly,
or maybe they use humor to hide in, but are overly
ougoing, and ppl misjudge them as being
crude or offensive.......but you know what? ...
many times they're sitting there cool on the outside,
but inside they're thinking,
'Gosh, maybe I'm not the life of the party,
and maybe I'm not the popular, desirable type,
but I'm a person, and I just wish
someone would notice that.....I wish someone
would give me a hug once in a while.
I, myself, don't really know what a true relationship is,
I don't really know what it's like to be genuinely loved,
Loved by another by choice, someone who forgives,
cares, and loves because they really want to, so I don't get
much human compassion, let alone touch, very often.
I try to be friendly in church, and I offer hugs when it seems right,
most of the guys shake hands and might throw in a guys hug,
and some of the women are huggable, usually ones over a certain age,
BUT! it's pretty difficult when you feel like anytime you want to hug a female,
you think they're all thinking you're the worst dirty pervert that ever lived.....
(unless you're a handsome stud in the in-crowd, then it's ok.)
All I'm saying is, don't underestimate the value
of a good, heartgiving loving hug.
It can be an encouragement, therapeudic,
healing, and you just make a lonely persons day...
or more.
Sometimes what breaks my heart more than
needing a hug and none comes, is wanting
to give someone a hug, but for whatever reason,
you can't, and that hurts. Believe me, I know.
There's ppl in this life I wish I could hug right now.
But, as bad as it would be to get to a point
where you're thinking, 'Gosh, I wish I would've
given that person a hug while I had a chance',
it would be worse to get to a point where you
just don't care.
For what it's worth, Jesus loves you,
me too, ... here's a group hug {{{CC}}}