'Audio version of this story' about 1 hour in 14 tracks.

The Cricket Story

Hand hugs are sometimes mistaken for holding hands. Parents hand hug their young children quite often to keep them from wandering off, teenagers hand hug in school, well anywhere for that matter, and church greeters hand hug us every Sunday morning when we walk in the doors of the church. Some people mistakenly call this shaking hands but it's really hand hugging.

One caution here. Don't hand hug someone if you have dirty hands, unless of course their hands are dirty too.

I suppose we must address The Great Hugging Plague here. It was an excerpt from the book, It Was On Fire When I Lay Down on It, by Robert Fulghum, which appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, Nov/Dec. 1990. It talks about a church's crusade to welcome everyone by giving them a hug. It addressed the should we or shouldn't we issue, or how should we and how can we get out of it if we don't think we should problem. I think his bottom line is evident in his last remarks:

"People in that church still hug each other, but they are more careful about it now. The purpose of their hugging has changed. Once it was a statement about the liberation of the hugger; now it is a statement of caring abut the huggee. A shift from getting to giving. A shift from Look at Me to I Am Seeing You. A shift from knowing What I Want to noticing What Someone Else Needs. You might not learn this just from watching two people hug each other. You'd have to put your arms around somebody to understand."

We had a local newspaper columnist address this same article on January 3, 1997. Isabel Wolseley titled it, Keep arms off my turf. Unfortunately she had been subjected to numerous people who overstepped her personal boundaries. She didn't appreciate another female hugging her husband and she was right. We hug promoters must be careful and discrete.

Most of you have been quite familiar with all the hugs I've described about so far. Now I'd like to introduce you to some not so familiar hugs,those that stretch the definition a little more than I already have. Be patient, God isn't finished with my hug story yet.

Thing Hugs

One of my favorite thing hugs is the Blanket Hug. Most mothers have had the experience of one or more of their children dragging around a special blanket, one that must go everywhere or what's left of it even if it's only a few shreds. I have an example of a very well-hugged blanket from my house which belongs to my oldest daughter. It's quite tattered and torn with a big whole in the middle but it's probably one of her most treasured possessions.

Now I need you to use your imagination a little. You can't close your eyes and read at the same time so just stir it up a little as I describe a few more hugs.

Puppy hugs are often soft and wet.

Fish hugs are very cold and seldom returned. Usually performed by proud fishermen.

An octopus hug involves the entire body.

Fraidy cat hugs make you feel safe when you watch a scary movie.

Piggy back hugs sometimes mistakenly called riding piggy back are a great way for small children to travel.

Owie hugs such as an ice bag hug to make the pain go away.

Winner hugs where the whole team hugs for joy.

Loser hugs when the team says we did our best.

Sandwich hug-child between parents or other adults.

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