Not a Hugger
Moment for Stewardship delivered October 28, 2018, at First Presbyterian Church, Urbana, Illinois Immediate family excepted, I don’t consider myself a big hugger. So, imagine my surprise when at the last PrideFest as I was standing by our booth handing our rainbow stickers, a young person approached and asked for a hug. I obliged as best I could. A few more people approached for the same, and then before you know it, yet another person wanted a hug. Finally, I realized that I was standing under a sign hung by Cindy Ottemann that read, “Free Hugs!” I stayed put for a while and was asked for a few more hugs. These were good hugs, not awkward man hugs. Rather with each person I felt the intensity of their hug and tried to match it with an equal and opposite reaction: Newton’s third law of hugging. Hugs, good hugs, are not given, but are shared. There is no giver, no recipient, just a joint affirmation of each other’s presence. I guess I...