The word “touching,” of course, has two meanings. One can touch a shoulder, or one can be touched emotionally. Let’s face it, this is an emotionally touching time of year. Traditions create memories. Family time is both refreshing and stressful, sometimes at the same time. The memory of Christmases past creates a warm heart, and sometimes a sense of melancholy.

This post is the last in my holiday series focusing on the five senses. We have heard, smelled, seen, and tasted the uniqueness of the Christmas season. It’s time for the fifth sense…as well as its emotional counterpart.

Here are five ways Christmas is enhanced by the fifth sense:

1. The tacky touch of a hand held candle being lit in church on Christmas Eve.
2. The poke of pine needles as you’re putting up the tree.
3. Sitting in the glow of the lights holding a baby who’s wearing “footy” pajamas.
4. Smoothing the table cloth one last time before the guests come.
5. Christmas morning’s cool floor under foot as you make your way to the tree.

Here are five ways Christmas is enhanced by emotionally touching moments:

1. A dark church lit only by candles, sitting closest to those you love, worshiping a newborn King.
2. Memories flooding your mind as you unpack ornaments to decorate a bare tree.
3. A father holding a baby in the glow of the lights, cherishing the all-too-short time that this child will be this small.
4. One special night to sit around the table eating dinner with family  (and without other distractions) …never mind the stains on the table cloth.
5. Exchanging gifts on Christmas morning that mean so much more than just items and objects.  They are an expression of love for one another, and a reflection of the Love born into the world to bear our flesh and be our Savior.