Hands of Time

I had seen this picture many times but it always stops me. The caption "Have you looked at your hands lately, I mean really looked?" Here are five generations of one family; wish there was a picture of the male hands of five generations too.

Hands are our tools in life. We start off reaching to touch the face of one we love, or learn to use a spoon to feed ourselves, or a pencil to write as we practiced the old Palmer method of circles and strokes so we could put our thoughts on paper . . . now the hands are texting and never seem to stop. Right now I'm typing and that has been a blessing as the fingers move over the keys and I can tell you what is on my mind this morning.

The hands grow to grab and embrace, wipe a tear, scrub a floor and best of all, hold a new born. Years of living goes into the hands and each hand tells a tale all its own. The hands of a worker, or a gardener, or an office worker all tell a story of their very own. Some so beautiful with tapered fingers, or piano fingers as we used to call them. Pa's hands that are ingrained in my memory banks because they were so gnarled from his work as a gardener but with the softness of a loving heart. And when you are old and your hands move more slowly, they still move with the touch of love and caring as they brush a child's hair, linger on the face of a loved one, wrap a surprise or bake something special for someone well loved . . . ah, hands, how lucky we are to be able to 'reach out and touch someone'. the mind controls the hands so be sure you use your hands gently, unless you are angry and go around banging them, bruising them and then find that without them you are useless. Our hands tell a tale of how we lived our lives, so look them over carefully and see what all those lines tell you. My hands are etched with many deep and new crevices, wonder what they are trying to tell me.

So today, I am sure you can think of a dozen more idea of what your hands can do. Look at them carefully, think back to your beginning and trace the lines as you remember what your hands have done over the years. Best of all think about what they can do in the coming years. Lift your hands to your face and close your eyes and feel my touch as I wish a day of calmness and peace. Hugs to all.