No argument when clasping hands.

What can you do for the spirit of the one you love who you fear and yet recognize as an approaching loss to you? Your prayers for peace are essential. We also suggest a reaching out that is a truly physical gesture, for even when one is weak and preparing for a new life, the sense of touch is a powerful and direct way to transmit your love for another. A touching of the hand, a touching of the head, a touching of the heart are all deeply felt. The meaning is clear. No words need be said. The true expression of faith, the true expression of love is not with words, for words are at best a representation of something far deeper. The touch communicates far more.

Think for a moment of individuals who are in conflict with one another—conflict of ideas, conflict of emotion, not an emotion that leads to fighting physically but clearly a condition that sets one in opposition to another. There is no touching. You cannot have an argument with another when you clasp their hands in yours. You cannot have an argument when you embrace the head or touch the place of the heart. Such gestures break down barriers that separate, and they only mean one thing—that you are united, that you are one with another.

Think of times when others have grasped your hand in compassion and love. That has a very profound effect on the unity that is felt even more than the words “we’re thinking of you.” Of course those words are comforting, and they should not be withheld, but when an individual’s sense of environment become diminished, that sense of touch remains.