There is a little baby.  It may be a baby girl, it might be a baby boy.  It might be a family member, or the baby of a friend.  Regardless, you kiss this baby!  On the head, on the cheek, and often on the mouth.

When and why does this ever stop?  At what age do we stop doling out kisses?  There are few more powerful and lovely signs of affection than a kiss.  When I kiss, I feel love and a strong bond.  It is a great thing.  Our adolescent or adult selves are not needing less love than a baby.

“But, Jacob, a kiss is an intimate thing.  You don’t just go giving them out to anybody.”

But we give them out to babies?

“Babies are babies.  They are so kissable and they can’t say no.”

Every baby becomes a man or woman.  What makes a man or woman any more or less “kissable”?  Do they not deserve the same love?  Would the same love not help and strengthen them?  And wouldn’t the fact that the baby can say no be a reason not to kiss them?  They have no say in the matter and cannot resist.  Is that not unfair?  A man or woman can accept or decline the kiss.  Is it maybe that we are afraid to give out such love to people that may reject us? That may be something to think about.  Remember, Love has no fear.

“Well, now that I think of it.  Different cultures do kiss on the mouth.”

So then it seems your belief may be one that has been the result of conditioning.  Let us always remember to think for ourselves.  My beliefs might not be the same as yours, maybe it is not you to give out kisses.  But, we must always examine ourselves and why we do the things we do.  In this matter and all others, I implore you to look within for answers.  History has shown us that what has been socially accepted or unaccepted has not always been right.

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I describe myself as spiritual but would not describe myself as religious at all.  I was baptized as a Catholic and went through the Catholic school system, but have never practiced on my own (I have read the Bible once).  However, Jesus is definitely someone I really look up to.  When I was pondering this last night, I suddenly wondered, “Did Jesus kiss others on the mouth?”

After doing some research, I’ve found that Jesus and early Christians did greet each other with a “holy kiss”; a kiss on the mouth!

These findings are in no way confirmation of a view.  It was merely a question that came to me (strange, because I can’t remember the last time the thought of Jesus came to me) and felt compelled to answer.