Kiss of peace

David Cunningham writes, “What was one a ‘kiss of peace,’ uniting bodies in an almost frighteningly intimate way, now often consists only of a tentative handshake and a mumbled greeting.  Of course, this does still provide an opportunity to meet the other face to face, body to body; and so even the most minimal forms of this practice are preferable to its complete omission.  But even when the handshakes become hugs and the ‘peace’ becomes a fairly lively affair, it rarely brings us into contact with anyone other than those who are seated closest to us; and this is unfortunate, for often these are not the people with whom we most need to be reconciled.”