Free Hugs! Spread the Love

Well, since this is such a well-read and well-received blog (that is partially a joke - I am obviously not going to be getting any writing awards anytime soon!), I sometimes have people writing in to me. In these emails (or phone conversations too, I guess), they give me feedback and even ideas of what I should write about. So today's blog is actually a topic recommended by one of YOU reading this! Isn't that amazing? I thought you'd be excited. Maybe those of you who haven't given me a topic idea should send me one. Then one day a blog can be about YOUR idea. Sounds exciting, right?? (I better watch out though, cause pretty soon this could turn into "Dear Abby" column - and that is NOT what I want (what's even sadder, is that a lot of you reading this are probably too young to even know what "Dear Abby" is))

Anyways, back to the topic. Watch the video below - I'm sure some of you have seen it before - and then I'm going to reflect on the video in the post below…



Ok, so I went and did a quick Google search to find the OFFICIAL website of the "Free Hugs Campaign." Now, way back in 1999, my friends and I and other random strangers would always put duct tape or masking tape on our shirts saying: "FREE HUGS" when we went to festivals with our youth group… So this guy (Juan Mann) isn't the first to come up with the "free hug" sign concept…however, he obviously reached a lot more people than my friends and myself did.

Juan started this 'campaign' when he returned to his hometown and felt like a stranger. He says this regarding that day: "Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me."

He began the campaign after feeling this - and went to the busiest intersection in the city - armed with his cardboard sign that read: "FREE HUGS"

He says this about his first attempt (I think it's very moving): "And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me. The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling."

Sometimes, even a small thing like a hug can truly lift someone else's spirit. However, our culture has made us to become so engrossed in ourselves, that we usually are not paying enough attention to anyone around us to even recognize who may need help or need that hug for support. Think of how different our society would look if everyone paid attention to the feelings of others - to genuinely see the other people around you. I'm not saying that you should see another person's problem and try to fix it (since lots of times that only leads to more problems), but support is really what others need. It's the whole "Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime" sort of mentality - if you solve other people's problems, they're not going to know how to deal with them, but if you give them the support and guidance they may need - then they will grow stronger and be able to face their problems.

Everyone we meet is always fighting some type of battle. We can't always see it, and some people are better at hiding it than others. Like the woman in Juan's story, she was probably holding herself together pretty well that day out in public…she probably didn't look too distressed, she probably wasn't crying…she may have looked a little upset, but I'm sure that no stranger would have known that her dog had just died and that it was the anniversary of her only child's death…but Juan's actions changed all that. His simple cardboard sign - that was just a scrap of cardboard and a permanent marker - made a difference in this woman's life. He was a bit of that support that she needed to get through the day - and he was a complete stranger!! It shows that there WAS someone out there who could give her what she needed - a hug. When she woke up that morning, she knew she could use some support, and boom - Juan was there - offering something as simple as a hug, and it brightened that woman's day just a bit. It helped her to get through the day, and couldn't we all use that?

I'm guessing that the fact that the hug came from someone that was a complete stranger made it all the more significant…because Juan had no reason to offer her a hug, he was simply doing it out of the fact that he wanted to break down those emotional walls that most people put up to protect themselves from the outside world. And those walls people build worked pretty well for the first 15 minutes of Juan's 'free hugs' attempt - since no one even stopped to accept his hug! No one! I'm sure most of the strangers walking by just looked at him like he was crazy - but I can guarantee that a lot of those people were probably thinking: "I could use a hug, just not from him" (which could put me into a whole new tangent about judging by appearances) - and these people's fears about this stranger held them back from something as innocent and uplifting as a simple hug… These strangers walking by could have brightened their own day as well as Juan's if they would have simply taken a "chance" and gone against whatever fear was holding them back and gotten their "free hug"…and/or if they would have gotten over what the strangers around them would have thought about them hugging this man…

So today I urge you to open your eyes up to those around you - and to see beyond yourself and only those who you know and/or love around you…open up your eyes and see what needs there are for those strangers that are around us. Sometimes just a "hello" and a smile can make all the difference…or as Juan demonstrated - maybe even a simple hug. Go check out the official site if you would like to investigate the "Free Hug Campaign" more! http://www.freehugscampaign.org/

A quote from Jesus in Matthew 25:31-40
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"