Hands

I have been thinking a lot about hands recently. I am thinking about them because I have been unable to wash my hands between patients and I have been using the alcohol based hand cleaner, which I hate. Anyway, hands can tell a lot about the person, I think. I like the way my hands look to patients. Usually they’re a little damp from the recent hand washing. My hands are often dry, again from the too frequent washing. The nails are short and clean, and usually I haven’t been chewing my cuticles. My skin is generally cool to touch.

I really think about these things when I do a physical exam. I try to touch my patients with compassion and tenderness. My hands are the only physical contact I have with most people.

I have had other important hands in my life, too. My husband’s hands, that hold mine. They’re comforting and reassuring, and strong. They’re my life partner’s hands. My parent’s hands were where love, playfulness, and discipline lived. They have taught me much about life, how to live, how to love, and how to raise a loving family. My grandparent’s hands were gnarled and wrinkled with years of work by the time I got to know them. But they were patient, showing me a new, exciting world, helping me explore, and tenderly showing me the value of family.

The most important hands in my life are none of these. The most important hands are the hands of Jesus. The hands that came to earth as an infant. They started tiny, grasping, new, just like yours and mine. They were human, warm, showing tenderness and compassion, granting mercy and forgiveness to those who were sinners. These hands were sinless, perfect, blameless. A perfect sacrifice for my sins - the sins my hands commit without a second thought. The blood on my hands was washed clean because of the blood on the hands of Jesus.

This season as we look forward to the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior, we realize his humanity. We look to heaven, searching for answers. And the answers are as close as the hands of Jesus, outstretched to us.

“[B]ut the angel reassured [the shepherds]. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news of great joy for everyone! The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David! And this is how you will recognize him: You will find a baby lying in a manger, wrapped snugly in strips of cloth!” Luke 2:10-12