It was something going through a global pandemic that did not allow us to touch one another, or even get within six feet. Before the pandemic began, a dear woman hugged me in the hall before church, almost lost in my robe. It was such a warm hug, I thanked her for it and looked forward to it each week. She said it is one of the only hugs she gives and receives in her regular week, as she lives alone with no family nearby. I thought of her all year through COVID. We were made to touch, and there is power in human touch. Jesus rarely healed without touch. Peter reached out and took the lame man’s right hand. Human contact can be misused, violent, painful, risky and traumatizing. But in Christ and in the community of faith there is a pure and holy touch