These Hands

I invite you now to let your eyes close if it feels comfortable and to join me in a spirit of prayer or meditation

Breathing in
Breathing out
Feeling your inhale move breath through every cell of your body
And exhale - releasing any weight or stress that’s present for you this morning.

I invite you to bring your hands together, palms to touch
To gently rub your hands together - as we sometimes do quietly in celebration
Listening to the sounds of our hands, of your hands

Releasing your hands and feeling the textures of your palms
- the layers of work and play carved and ridged across the surfaces

We give thanks for these hands
hands that have worked hard for many years
hands that have held many tools in many settings
hands that have welcomed new friends,
held babies,
wiped away tears,
written letters,
molded pottery
hands that make music,
that design new and amazing drugs to support our body’s health and mobility.

Hands that hold other hands in times of struggle,
hands that have held protest signs,
kneaded dough for bread and pizza and pie to share,
washed dishes, braided hair

We give thanks for the hands of our spiritual ancestors, our freedom-seeking, justice-making ancestors.
Hands that risked arrest, hands that raised in celebration of love and truth and community

And we give thanks for the work we get to do today, the work of love, the work of justice.

We give thanks for the hand that reaches to hold our own - as we stumble along together loving each other into wholeness.

Amen.