Church

62 The West Dorset Magazine, July 15, 2022 Church Don’t be afraid to reach out and touch

By Canon Deb Smith, Team Rector of Bridport

In my first parish I often would meet a homeless man when I went to lock the church at the end of the day. He was quite scary looking at first, although he was not aggressive and was in fact a very vulnerable person. But he was the sort of person we might all shy away from – because he was often in dirty clothes, he could be worse for wear after a drink in the middle of the day and because he was unpredictable. Sometimes I helped him with bus fares or something to eat and he became more familiar to me, and I began to forget how I once found him intimidating. Then one day I found him on the church porch in a terrible state. He couldn’t even walk very well because he’d been drinking, and it was hard to understand what he was saying. He wanted a cup of tea. I knew there wasn’t much I could do for him. All I could do was make him a cup of tea and buy him a bag of chips and sit with him for a while. As we sat on the church steps, I imagined what it would be like to be in his shoes. As people walked past and looked at us and hurried on it gave me just a tiny glimpse of what it is to really be on the outside, someone nobody wants to touch. Somebody on the edge. He was shut out. He was almost unseen. I often walk past people in the street who are in that man’s shoes. We all do. Many of us are afraid to touch other people, even by meeting their eyes. This is especially so if they look strange or if they are dirty, if their bodies are twisted, if they are very old and gnarled, or if they are young and frightening, because of the image they want to project, if they are smelly, or if they are different from us.Perhaps sometimes we are faced with someone begging on the street, and find that we want to make sure there is no contact between us, not even eye contact. At times strained relationships can mean to touch somebody in our own family can be difficult. At times we are afraid to touch others through fear of rejection, in dread of being misunderstood, because of the vast distances between us. And yet we all long to be touched, accepted and seen. Studies have shown that if children are not touched –with hugs and kisses, or with the attention of their parents and carers – they grow up damaged, unable to relate to others and the world. Being seen, being touched, is precisely what gives people, especially sick and wounded people, a sense of warmth and joy, of life and love. By the very act of touching another person, we accept that person exactly as they are. Just as we also are accepted. Jesus didn’t stand off, he didn’t keep his distance. He wasn’t afraid to touch others and he didn’t disdain their touch. He touched lepers, sinners, sick people, those who were never touched by others, the powerful too, the unclean, even the dead. In being so willing and ready to reach out and touch others – even the untouchables – Christ shows us the power of his love which encompasses and includes all, even those on the outside.

Services

Friday, July 15 Sherborne Abbey 11am Remembering the Fallen Sunday, July 17 Sherborne Abbey: 8am Holy Communion, 9.30am Parish Eucharist. 6pm Evensong. St Martin of Tours, 10am Family Service. Longburton 10am Village Communion. The Gryphon 10.30am Morning Worship. Castleton 11am Mattins Beaminster, St Mary: 8am Eucharist, 9.30am Eucharist B’dwindsor: 9.30am Eucharist Drimpton St Mary 11am Eucharist Melplash 9.30am Eucharist Mosterton: 11am Eucharist Netherbury: 6pm Evening Prayer Toller Porcorum: 11am Eucharist Bridport Catholic Church 10am Mass Swyre 6pm Evening Prayer Burton Bradstock 9.30am Family Worship Chilcombe 6.30pm Evening Prayer Dorchester United Church 10.30am Morning Worship and Junior Church Corscombe: 10am, Morning Worship West Chelborough: 9am Holy Communion Evershot: 10am Holy Communion Maiden Newton: 9am Holy Communion Chilfrome: 11am Morning Prayer Sunday, July 24 Halstock: 9.30am Breakfast Church Melbury Osmund: 9.30am Holy Communion Cattistock: 10am Holy Communion Frome Vauchurch: 11am Holy Communion Sherborne Abbey 8am Holy Communion 9.30am Parish Eucharist 6pm Evensong Lillington 10.30am All Age Worship Longburton 11am Village Communion The Gryphon 10.30am Holy Communion Castleton 11am Mattins Toller Porcorum 11am Eucharist South Perrott 11am Eucharist 11am The churches of the Bride Valley Benefice will join with Langton, Portesham and Abbotsbury for a service at St Michael and All Angels in Littlebredy followed by a picnic next to the lake. St Mary’s Church in Litton Cheney has wifi and every Sunday, organist and lay worship leader Paul Cheater, leads the Morning Prayer which is broadcast to St Gregory’s Church in Boca Raton, Florida. You can join him: facebook.com/SaintGregorys