Desert Reflections: The hug lady

Elizabeth Laird earned the name “Hug Lady” for giving out approximately 500,000 hugs to soldiers deploying or returning home at Fort Hood’s air terminal for 12 years.

Fr Jim tells the story of Elizabeth Laird, the “hug lady” of Fort Hood, who for 12 years greeted deploying and returning soldiers with a hug.  The soldiers stood in line to receive that hug. Like the hug lady, Christ, as St Paul writes to the Colossians, waits for us at the right hand of God to give us a “hug” –  a hug so deep and so filled with love that it turns all our hurt into joy.

Today’s Readings

Seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
COL 3:1-11

“Blessed are you who are poor … who are now hungry … [and] now weeping… Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!”
LK 6:20-26