From the Pastor's Desk (May 2026)

If you have ever wondered how powerful a hug can be, consider this from a psychological and physiological perspective:

Rhonda and I have often been heartbroken at the many children we have seen throughout the years, especially at Milton Hershey School, dealing with Toxic Stress Syndrome, and often the effects of that carry over to many other aspects of their lives – fear, behavior, trust, and often serious physical issues. Toxic stress is exactly and literally that – toxic.

I did some studies and wrote an extensive paper on this in my post graduate work. To reduce that paper to a single paragraph, think of it simply like this. When a person faces a stressful situation, like being afraid, sad, angry, hungry, or hurt (to name just a few), the body actually undergoes some chemical processes. Stress triggers the body to release a
hormone called cortisol, as well as a chemical called norepinephrine (what leads to an increased heart rate and other functions that put the body on high alert). These chemicals can be very toxic or harmful to the body.

What is interesting is that this chemical release happens to everyone when they are stressed, but the reason most people don’t face adverse effects from it is
because of another hormone the body can release to counteract and basically
neutralize those effects – a chemical called oxytocin.

What is it that helps the body produce this good chemical?

I’ll give you a hint. Another name for it is “the cuddle hormone.” That’s right, a
welcomed physical touch from someone special, like a hug, can release this
hormone, neutralizing the toxic hormones, and averting a potential crisis. This crisis is simply that there is an increasing number of children who do not have this love and comfort readily available from their families, because of the types of parents they have. And in many of those situations, couple the lack of comfort with abuse, and the danger is doubled. It’s heartbreaking and gut-wrenching, but it’s reality. And for children who often don’t have that hug when they need it most, at the frequency that happens in those families, those harmful chemicals accumulate, causing many adverse effects in the long-term. Hence it literally becomes a situation of toxic stress.

This beautiful passage from Isaiah reminds us of the comfort of a loving God for those who will accept it from Him, and this is incredibly noteworthy. But what stands out to me as appropriate for this month is what the comfort of God is likened to – the comfort a mother is to her children.

When you had a nightmare as a child, fell and hurt your knee, were sad about your day at school, got hurt because of what someone said to you, or became worried about what life would look like as you grew up, many of you had the hug and love of your amazing mother (or father), and you can rejoice that she was literally the antidote to the poison of stress. If you did not have that, I pray you do now, or can find a brother or sister in Christ in the church to be that comfort for you. And above all, I hope that you know you can always count on God to do this for you. Thank God for the mothers out there who are the incredible, precious picture of this kind of care. Happy Mother’s Day!            ~Pastor Eric