Consider all the ways that we connect with others by holding hands:

• a mother holding the hand of her baby for the first time
• a father holding the hand of a child as they cross the street
• walking with a special friend holding hands
• holding hands as you leave the church after your wedding
• holding hands in prayer around the dinner table with family
• holding hands to reassurance a friend who is struggling
• holding hands with an elderly parent as they receive hospice care

30 Lessons for Loving, a new book by gerontologist Dr. Karl Pillemer, concludes after 700 interviews that older adults “place intimacy as a high priority” in their marriages. One recent widow, Jennie B., who was married for 47 years, says that what she missed most is holding hands.

This week I invite you to use your hands to extend the love of God to others. The touch of Jesus brought healing to many. Teresa of Avila wrote: “Christ has no body now but yours….no hands, no feet on earth but yours.”

May our hands extend the hope, love, and joy of Christ to all.

This Sunday we continue our Lenten sermon series Greater Than with the message: Community > Self. Please read Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 to prepare your heart for worship.

I look forward to seeing you in church this Sunday!

Peace,

Pastor Cathy Johns