This is Hug an Australian Day.

You’ve had a rough day. According to your teachers, you couldn’t do anything right. Then, one of your best friends got mad at you for something you didn’t say. And to top it off, you can’t find your favorite CD and are afraid it’s lost. So you walk in your house, head down, frustrated and discouraged. Dropping your books on the kitchen table, you slump into a chair.

Then your mom comes in, sits next to you, and gives you a hug. Now don’t you feel better?

Hugs can do that. Of course, you still have to do your homework, call your friend to make things right, and look for your CD. But, for a while, your spirit would rise, and you’d feel like your old self again.

Hugs work. When we hug people, we let them know that we care and that we will stand with them. Hugs also say, “I like you—you’re OK” and “Welcome! We’re glad you’re here.”

Guess what? Hugs are biblical too. Our verse today says to “greet one another with a holy embrace”—a hug!

You don’t have to look for an Australian (although that would be fine). Almost anyone will do. You mom, dad, brother, sister, friend, teacher, classmate, new student, neighbor, and many others would love it.

Greet one another with a holy embrace (2 Corinthians 13:12, The Message).

To Do

Hug at least three people today.

Also on this day . . .

1514—Copernicus made his first observations of Saturn.

1607—The British established an American colony at Cape Henry, Virginia. It was the first permanent English establishment in the Western Hemisphere.

1803—Thousands of meteorites fell on the town of L’Aigle in France.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.