You Must Remember This…

…a kiss is just a kiss, on that you can rely…” Those lovely lyrics from the the classic song “As Time Goes By” have been a haunting reminder of something that’s missing in our lives during these pandemic days. I’m good and ready to take off this kiss-proof mask and spin the bottle toward the good old days of simple affections. A kiss is a rich symbol of more than puckered lips applied to other lips or cheeks, but when will we ever get to kiss even the poet’s “joy as it flies”? Or to paraphrase the Psalmist: “How long, Oh Lord, will this crazy contagion continue?”

Even if we grew up in low-on-affection households, we remember those parental kisses that put us to bed or sent us to school.  And we remember when those kisses by those same parents became somewhat embarrassing when we had grown to that inept period in our adolescence when we were sneaking around to steal a kiss in childhood innocence.  And surely we can recall those first kisses that told of a passion too wonderful for mere words.

If you check it out, you’ll find a lot of kissing going on in the Bible, and not just in the Song of Solomon. Patriarchs were always kissing their sons as part of the blessing from one generation to another. Jonathan and David kissed each other farewell. Who can forget the sensual display of passion when that nameless woman who is simply called a “sinner” in Luke’s gospel anoints Jesus’ feet with ointment and kisses them? We all remember that kiss of death which Judas used to designate Jesus to the Roman soldiers.

Paul employs a unique phrase in several of his letters to the young churches:  “Greet one another with a holy kiss.”  No biblical scholar has expounded on that phrase to a great extent, and very few churches include kissing in the worship service.  Back in the 1970’s churches went through a “hugging phase”, greeting everyone who entered the vestibule with holy hugs!  Those who were shy felt a bit uncomfortable when accosted by a hug-seeking usher.  The display of public affection just seemed out of place when carried to extreme. 

Maybe there’s a time and place for stealing a little sacred kiss if this kiss-free curse called Covid ever leaves us alone. Our hope is that the fundamental things still apply as time goes by even during times like these. When we kiss someone, there’s something almost holy about it.  Whether we are kissing away the tears of a dear friend or tucking our children into their beds, we mean by that kiss a kind of tangible prayer.  When our lips reach out to touch another, we are placing a holy hope on the tie that binds us and sealing it with a kiss.