Why Don't You Feel Kinship Over There?
Churches suspend customs that involve contact during flu season
By MIKE TUNISON
Updated 2:24 PM EST, Thu, Oct 1, 2009
Fellowship is a big part of the churchgoing experience. People need to feel intimacy with their fellow worshippers as they have their communion with God.
Fellowship, however, often requires physical contact, such as hugging and handshaking, and that plays right into the menacing hooves of the swine flu plague.
So much like NBA, the church is keeping its touching to a minimum, the Gazette reported.
Many area congregations are temporarily doing away with hugs, or at least taking precautions like replacing the holy water with hand sanitizer, which is what Christ Church Parish in Kensington did after Rev. Virginia Gerbasi came down with the H1N1 virus.
"It makes it kind of hard because we want to be about hugging, about love," Davis said. "But now, we'll just, say, look at someone and tell them ‘I love you and there's nothing you can do about it.' We just need to be aware of how not to spread germs."
Yes, the pig death continues to encroach upon our everyday way of life. We may not be able to hug, but the love is still strong. Without love, the pig death has already won.
First Published: Oct 1, 2009 10:37 AM EST
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