Touch

Description

Charlie is a 25-year-old who has recently lost his sight. He has lost all hope, all sense of purpose and is unable to imagine a future like this. Charlie's sister persuades him to attend a computer class for visually impaired students. There, he meets Daisy, a woman who's been blind since birth and is utterly accepting of this. She is charismatic and funny. Charlie is immediately charmed by her. They become friends and Charlie discovers Daisy is finding it hard to get work, most employers unable to see past her disability. Charlie - formerly a law student - begins researching what Daisy can do about this, investigating her rights and encouraging her to fight back. He begins looking forward to seeing Daisy every week. He has sense a purpose again, a glimmer of excitement about his future. He finds himself daydreaming about Daisy - dancing with her in a field, in the rain - his lack of sight irrelevant to the joy of this moment. A moment which is all about touch and smell and human connection. It seems Charlie may have rediscovered the thing he needed all along - hope.

Biblical Connection

In the ninth chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus restores the sight of a blind man explaining ‘this happened so that the works of God should be revealed in him.’ In TOUCH, Charlie rediscovers his ability to daydream, to use his inner eye, which in the context of Charlie’s life feels like a miracle. He rediscovers the joy he used to feel about merely existing, remembering the ways in which life can feel worthwhile and fulfilling, all of these a metaphor for God. It is through the character of Daisy that Charlie is able to do this and to him it feels as though she has granted him this miracle. Charlie’s journey - from despair to hope, from depression to elation, from shame to joy - is representative of Jesus restoring the blind man’s sight.