By Elder Pat Hein
During World War II, Corrie Ten Boom was imprisoned in a German concentration camp. The
gloom and rain outside added to the inmates’ despair. The prisoners were called out to stand at
attention before their captors. As Corrie waited in formation, damp and chilled, her eyes strayed
to a lone red geranium that had somehow grown just outside the fence. She focused intently on
its beauty and in the midst of darkness felt hope filling her heart. She had been kissed by God.
When my mother died twenty-eight years ago, my father asked me to drive with him from his
home in Northern Virginia to his home in Florida. On our way, we stopped to visit my mother’s
grave at the Quantico National Cemetery. It too was a rainy, dark day. Upon returning to the car,
his feet were muddy and his heart very heavy. We began to leave the wooded grounds when a
wild turkey rose upright in front of the moving car. In an instant, his sad countenance changed to
complete awe. A life-long student of nature, he exclaimed, “Do you know how hard it is to see a
wild turkey in nature?!” My father had been kissed by God.
After the horror and despair of the crucifixion, hope was ushered in by the resurrection of our
precious Lord Jesus. The empty tomb was the first of many kisses of hope and loving kindness
from God that extends to us. Today we are living in times that are definitely trying and somewhat
gloomy. Some think they are without hope. So it is important to recognize and receive the little
kisses God gives each of us. It may be something that does not mean anything to anyone else. But
to you, He knows, it will be something special that affirms His love and care for you. I think I see God puckering up…Do you?