THE HANDS OF GOD

“But while [the son] was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.”  (Luke 15:20b-24 NIV)

Henri Nouwen wrote a beautiful book in 1992 called “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. It is a sustained reflection upon what Rembrandt did with Jesus’ story in Luke 15. The painting, which hangs in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg, portrays an aged, nearly blind father embracing his ragged son come home. The left hand is strong, muscular. The right hand is soft, tender, like a mother’s hand. The light is focused on those hands, which Nouwen describes:

“From the moment I first saw [the painting], I felt drawn to those hands. I did not fully understand why. But gradually over the years I have come to know those hands. They have held me from the hour of my conception … They have protected me in times of danger and consoled me in times of grief. They have waved me good-bye and always welcomed me back. Those hands are God’s hands.” …

All of us are like that son, needing more desperately than anything else the strong and gentle embrace of the hands of God. We must be those hands for each other -- not someday, but today.

--  James C. Howell in “Yours Are the Hands of Christ”


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