Probably my children and and certainly my grandchildren don’t remember the time when it cost extra to call someone long distance. (And long distance meant in most cases as short a distance as the next county). I remember my grandmother admonishing me not to talk too long on the phone when we made an annual Christmas call to my cousins. She would say, “it costs money.” Long distance calls were reserved for special occasions or deaths in the family. Then AT&T came out with a campaign to encourage people to use long distance and spend money. It was the “Reach out and touch someone” advertising campaign and it tugged on your heart strings. It also played on what was good in each of us.
Of course, these days phone calls cost the same whether the person on the call is next door or California. But the premise is still there, and Lent is the perfect time to do someone a service by simply making contact — reaching out and touching someone. We don’t often think of a simple phone call, note card, or well thought out letter to an old friend or family member as a service, but it can make a difference in a person’s life. Email or texting are other ways to reach out and touch someone. Whatever the method of communication, the concept of reaching out is a wonderful use of one’s time during Lent and COVID.
Reach Out and Touch Someone.
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