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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Touch (the sense of touch) (08/05/10)
“wonderfully made.” That’s how David described himself and, presumably, he is speaking for us. More than the remarkable framework of bones, muscles, and flesh, God also provided for every need we’d encounter while living in our house of clay. The furnishings in our bodies compare to the luxuries of the finest mansions. To name only a few of the marvelous mechanics we are supplied with: we come with electrical wiring reaching every cell and the power system to go with it; communications at the speed of thought, communications without thought, air conditioning, self-repair, plumbing, garbage disposal, self-sustaining life fluids pumped automatically into every point. Deprivation or destruction of just one element magnifies its importance, and, individually, most of them are necessary to life itself.

Dwelling in the shadowy rooms of this habitation of flesh, unseen and secret, is the soul and its spirit, and for the Christian, the Holy Spirit. These are the actors and reactors that make the entire thing move. The whole kit and caboodle of the creation of man was purposely designed for fellowship with God. Everything else was created for God’s pleasure whose pleasure it was to benefit man. The need for fellowship was the heart of human fabrication and God saw that the affection of animals was not enough. God had installed the powerful need for human touch; the fellowship instinct. Declaring that it is not good for man to be alone, God divided his image in half to make a matched set. Together, the man and his wife would make the image whole.

Of all the senses our incredible body is equipped with, it is the sense of touch that points to the reason for our creation. How deeply satisfying it is to walk hand in hand with a companion. When two walk together, there is someone to help the one who stumbles to get back to his feet. But then, it is impossible for two to walk together unless they agree, and we must not be joined together as believers and non-believers. If we gather together with groups of like mind as ours, we multiply our functions and power.

In contrast, without contact with other humans, the mind becomes susceptible to aberrations in thinking. Having no stimulus to remember, the memory begins to atrophy and the mind begins to confuse reality and fantasy. If this confusion opens the mind to fear, the reactions can become paranoid and aggressive. Parts of the body begin to deteriorate from grief.

As long as we live, our hunger for friends and companions never goes away, and the aging process has no point at which the fellowship instinct fades. Loneliness afflicts the soul and spirit with black dread that has no other cure but the company of another human. What a wonderful, medicinal change can be accomplished by the longed-for appearance of another living soul; one who reaches out with warm arms to embrace a quivering, lonely person in their distress. The core need for the touch of another human is our part of the Divine desire for fellowship with the ones created in his own image.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Ivy Strader
08/13/10
Wow, good job. It's true that touch is one of the greatest gifts God has given us.

However, I'm not sure if I agree with this sentence: "But then, it is impossible for two to walk together unless they agree, and we must not be joined together as believers and non-believers." It seems like you're talking about mere companionship here, where he Scripture in question was referring specifically to marriage. I think it's great when people who disagree are friends; when you disagree with someone your own thinking on the matter is clarified as you try to convince them, rather than just comfortably believing something because all your friends do. "As iron sharpeneth iron, so one man sharpeneth another."

I loved your last part about loneliness. I feel it sometimes and it's so good to know I have people who love me. And of course, even if nobody did, I still have my Father there.

Sorry for the super long comment. :)
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
08/16/10
You made some excellent points. In the beginning it seemed like you had quite a few run-on sentences. But I like the lesson you gave. I agree, God knew just what he was doing when he created us.