Have you ever taken a good look at your own hands? What stories do they tell about you? What calluses and scars do you carry? How much can you lift? And how much can you hold?
Really, the hand is an amazing instrument. Especially this whole “opposing thumb” thing! With our hands we can do so much. The question is: “what were our hands made for?”
A couple years back, a priest I know was asking a kid to help him serve Mass. “But Father,” he said, “I’ve never done it before.” Father’s reply was: “It’s easy, you just give me what I ask for and take what I give to you.” How simple.
Our hands were made to give and to receive. On a mission such as we are on this week in Haiti, our hands are often put to use. We are holding children, erecting walls for schools, painting, hammering and nailing. We are asked to give and we know that this is all part of the mission experience. We receive a lot of work from those we came to help, again, part of the mission.
Often we forget this two-fold “mission of the hands” and we try to take what we think we need. The lesson from Haiti is to remember the call to give and to receive. For me, it is a call to “empty my hands” so that I can be ready to receive or to give what is asked of me.
