September 14, 2025,
Think about this short poem:
Hold hands with your life.
Look it in the eyes.
There, in the stillness,
God is revealing the miracle
of knowing who you are.
But life can be hectic, can’t it? You might not have time to just “hold hands”, right?
Don’t you sometimes feel like Indiana Jones, running ahead of that huge boulder, trying to keep all your responsibilities from overwhelming you? Or maybe you feel as if your life has run so far ahead of you that you’re racing to catch up to it, watching it turn into a dot on the far horizon.
Life wasn’t intended to be like either of these images. Our lives are meant to be savored and lived in a deep awareness of our “present”. NOW is the only time we have. The people we are with, the challenges and joys we experience in this moment – this is our life. So many of us, running from the boulder or chasing the dot, let the beauty of our lives evade us.
When I see people holding hands, I am reminded to be still and to appreciate my life in the present. It’s beautiful to see a couple walking hand in hand, breaking a new pattern in the fresh snow. They might be young, just beginning an unimaginable journey. Or they might be elderly, having walked beside each other through miles of love and sacrifice, joy and sorrow.
I love to see a parent holding hands with their child. The child may be small, reaching up for security, protection and comfort. Or the parent may be old, reaching over for the same things. What a blessing to be beside someone whose touch can sustain your life!
Prayer is a kind of holding hands – God reaching for us, and we for God. I tried to capture the experience in a poem I wrote many years ago:
Poem: A Long Faith – Renee Yann, RSM
This is the way of love, perhaps
near the late summer,
when the fruit is full
and the air is still and warm,
when the passion of lovers
no longer rests against
the easy trigger
of adolescent spring,
but lumbers in the drowsy silence
where the bees hum—
where it is enough
to reach across the grass
and touch each other’s hand.
So hold hands with someone you love today, human or divine. Slow each other down to a deep appreciation of the gift of life in this present moment.
Music: Holding Hands – Creative Commons Instrumental Music
For Your Reflection
- What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
- Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ?
- What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?
Suggested Scripture: Psalm 139:1-10
Lavish Mercy 