The Gift Of Our Hands
Our youngest grandchild is now six months old, and I have been reminded each time I hold him of how quickly these little ones grow. He is learning to reach out to grab objects, his bottle, cup, new foods being introduced to him, his brothers' faces when they get too close and our hair if we get too close! I was studying his sweet little hands the other day as I watched him playing and it reminded me what special gifts we have in our hands. Hands can tell the stories of our lives. We are made in the image of God, but how we use our hands to give back to him is our choice.
When we are young, we have to learn how to use these hands, just like my grandson is doing now. They are accomplishing things that help us to grow. Sometimes we feel clumsy and frustrated but we have to keep trying so that we can enjoy the special gift hands can be in our lives. As we grow, our hands help us to enjoy many things. Just as the brothers of this little one did, he will be pulling up, grabbing fingers to support him as he takes his first steps and feeding himself with success. Although we enjoy watching these stages, we can quickly forget how blessed we are to have our hands.
As we grow we learn to use these hands to write our names, play sports, fix meals, and countless other things. I think of hands that have defended our country, built the house we live in and farmed the land where our food comes from each day. Hands folded in prayer, joined in marriage, reaching out to help those in need and giving the medical help needed. Those little hands reaching out to us for help, the reassuring hands that hold ours when we need them and that great “high five” we receive in times of celebration. I will forever remember a group of teenagers who give up a week of their summer to offer their hands to help repair homes, which I witnessed when I was blessed to be doing youth ministry. I think of the hands of my husband, who is a Deacon, as he greets people or takes their hands and reassures them he is praying for them. But most of all I think of the beautiful hands of a priest at Consecration, used to absolve us of our sins, the countless blessings we receive from them and the comfort they give us each time we call upon them. And we can never forget the hands of Jesus as he did his work on earth.
I think of those who were born without hands, who have lost the use of hands from an accident, in combat or from a stroke. God has given these people special challenges but has not abandoned them. And they show us how when you trust in him, you can accomplish anything.
I am incredibly moved and blessed each time I serve as a Eucharistic Minister. Offering the gift of Jesus is sometimes overwhelming but it always reminds me of what my hands can do in serving others. As we grow older our hands change, they can lose their strength, become crippled from arthritis and falter in what we would like to accomplish. But we can never forget in our daily lives, the gift our hands are from God. The good deeds done by our hands do not go unnoticed. We can be examples to others, using these special gifts we have been given to help them see how they can be inspired to give glory to God. Take a minute to look at your hands and then give thanks for all God has allowed you to use your hands for in his name.
