Hand In Hand

Perhaps the highest compliment one person can give to another is the willingness and trust to share a thought, a dream, a hope. The act of sharing one’s self with another human being, opening my mind and my heart to you, is a blessing to the receiver and to the giver. At one level, sharing simply means talking about the weather or who’s going to win the Super Bowl game. But, deep sharing is to open the door and invite someone to walk into your heart or your mind. The deep interior of one’s self is a sacred place and only the trusted are invited to come in. And I think this same idea of deep sharing with a friend applies to prayer, also. Prayer is more than chit-chat, more than asking God to make the lottery numbers work this time. The power of prayer is felt when I share my most profound sorrow or hope or joy with The One whose love, acceptance or forgiveness invite me to come in, sit down for awhile, and lay the burden down. So often we think of God as being remote, inaccessible when in reality God is as near as my next thought or emotion. God’s hand is always extended to me and, like the couple walking along the beach holding hands, to take God’s extended hand into mine means our Creator and Friend is just that close. In another sense, Jesus, the Christ of God, is God’s hand reaching out to take mine. So, the next time you take a walk for exercise or refreshment, to ponder something or to pray, know that there is Someone beside you whose hand is extended to yours. Take it.