February 25/First Thursday of Lent
Your right hand saves me.
Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever; forsake not the work of your hands.
~ Psalm 138.7-8
Years ago, at a fraught time in my life, a sympathetic friend noticed at dinner one night that I had tucked my thumbs firmly into my clenched hands, and gently asked why I was so anxious (proving that my “stiff upper lip” had not been convincing!). Our hands — powerful, expressive, beautiful — are the agents of our hearts and minds. They can express anger or tension; they can convey compassion, comfort, and love. In light of today’s verses, I’ve been thinking about the hands of those most directly involved in the struggle against the pandemic. The medical professionals who put to work their skilled hands to care for and heal the afflicted. The deft hands of scientists and pharmaceutical workers bringing to life the longed-for vaccines, and the capable hands of those administering it into our arms. These are the hands of kindness and healing. But we don’t have to be on the front lines of the COVID fight to deploy our hands for the good of the world. We might use them to create — a meal, a garden, a novel. Or to comfort and protect — a cool hand on a child’s feverish forehead, a wounded bird cradled in a cupped palm. And always, always, to connect — even if now, that beyond-the-pod connection must be limited to giving a friendly wave, typing up a thoughtful email, tapping out the phone number of an isolated friend. The psalmist today sees the hand of God as a tool of his creative power and loving protection, and trusts in its presence. Indeed, it is the promise of the Christian life that God will not forsake his creatures, and that he will, through his love for each of us, continue to stretch out his saving hand and deliver us from our human sinfulness into an existence of radiant joy.
O Lord of the loving embrace, Give me the courage to commend my spirit into your hands, today, tomorrow, and always. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022521.cfm
To hear the Choir of Chichester Cathedral chant Psalm 138, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQpLc46x5So
