As babies, the first sense we develop is the sense of touch. Just think…we envelop our tiny ones in a universe of soft fabrics and plush toys. We touch everything before we even think of it coming into contact with a baby. This carries over into our daily life. Just think about the clothes you like to wear, the blanket casually thrown over your chair or couch. We live in a very tactile world.
I touch everything. From the time I was a child, I have petted, cuddled, and soothed animals, run my hands over their soft coats of fur and rough hair. I’ve rubbed my warm nose against warm and cold wet noses. I’ve cuddled piglets and rabbits and hugged and rubbed calves. All of this touch soothed my soul, brought me peace and pleasure, but for the animals that I raised on bottles (the piglets, the rabbits, the calves), it gave them a sense of love and family. Touch is healing, soothing, and loving. (Mark 5:28-32)
Touch is vital to our world. I didn’t realize how much until I began writing this. We process so much just by touch—hot, cold, soft, hard, sharp, the list continues. We feel with our hands, our feet, really every part of our body. Just sitting, we feel the heat or the cold. The nerve endings in our skin are a remarkable interconnected system relaying information throughout our body to be processed by our brain.
So, as I sit here with my early morning girl, Dazey, and stroke her smooth, warm body, I’m so very thankful for the sense of touch. It allows me to explore and experience the world in amazing ways.
p.s. even Dazey likes soft, plushy textures.
April 4, 2025
