Who is the last person you kissed? Was it your wife, your husband, or maybe your child? How about it kids, was the last person you kissed your mom or dad? Or, maybe your sister or brother? Typically, in this part of the world, we only kiss the people we love or are close to. Kissing is a sign of friendship and affection.
Mature Couple Kissing. Dreamstime. All rights reserved 2009.
Of course not all kisses are the same.
In some parts of the world, kissing, particularly cheek kissing, is used as a ritual or social gesture to indicate friendship, perform a greeting, to confer congratulations, to comfort someone, or to show respect.*
In our part of the world it is customary for people to kiss when greeting or parting (especially if they haven't seen, or won't see each other, for prolonged periods of time).
Romantic kissing is what people do who are in love. They usually kiss each other on the lips and sometimes forget to breath! Or, so it seems.
Kissing has played a significant role in religion.
* In the gospels of Matthew and Mark (Luke and John omit this) Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss—an instance of a kiss intertwined with betrayal. This is the basis of the term 'the kiss of Judas'
* The holy kiss or kiss of peace is a traditional part of most Christian liturgies, though usually replaced with a handshake today in Western cultures
* The pope will kiss the ground on arrival to a new country.
* Visitors to the pope traditionally kiss his foot. (The ring of a cardinal or bishop, hand of a priest.)
* Jews will kiss the Western wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and other religious articles during prayer such as the Torah, usually by touching their hand, Tallis, or Siddur (prayerbook) to the Torah and then kissing it. Jewish law prohibits kissing members of the opposite sex, except for certain close relatives.
* Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians often kiss the icons around the church as entering, they will also kiss the cross and / or the priests hand in certain other customs in the Church, such as confession or receiving a blessing.
* Catholics will kiss rosary beads as a part of prayer, or kiss their hand after making the sign of the cross. It is also common to kiss the wounds on a crucifix, or any other image of Christ's Passion.
* Hindus sometimes kiss the ground of a temple.
Is it possible to kiss crosses, rosary beads, and holy icons and not mean anything by it? Of course. We call this hypocrisy?
Is it possible to kiss someone and not mean anything by it? Of course. Sometimes people kiss each other in romantic ways but they don't really love each other. A number of years ago Tina Turner sang a popular song that asked the question, "What's Love Got to Do With It?"
What`s love got to do, got to do with it?
What's love but a second hand emotion?
What`s love but a sweet old fashioned notion?
What`s love got to do, got to do with it?
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?
This describes people going through the motions of being in love, but it's all make believe. Instead of truly "making love" they are "making believe they're in love."
Running Away From Love
When I was sixteen years old I didn't know very much about love. If you asked my wife today, she'd probably tell you I still have a lot to learn. But when I was in the ninth grade I decided I didn't need my parent's love, or the love of my church, so I run away from both.
A friend and I boarded a plane in Orlando, Florida and flew to San Antonio, Texas where we stayed for a couple of months. I can assure you we didn't kiss our parents goodbye. In fact, ten days went by before we even told them where we were. Foolishly, I believed I could find happiness apart from my family and God. Unknowingly, I was singing the song, "What's love got to do with it?"
The last person I wanted anything to do with was Jesus Christ! In my mind He symbolized everything I wanted to be liberated from. In essence, I kissed Jesus goodbye, but not with a desire to ever see Him again. Fortunately, He didn't hold me to it.
In one way or the other we are all kissing Jesus. The question is, what do our kisses really mean?
By Rich DuBose, Director, Pacific Union Conference Church Support Services