Hand to Heart Meditation

October 18, 2009
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Laity Sunday

Hand to Heart Meditation

Today was Laity Sunday in The United Methodist Church
- as an aside, did you know that in the UMC, clergy and laity have equal representation and vote in the official business of the church?

Four people took vows of membership today.

The following meditation (not original) was shared by Mr. John Reed:


Now I’d like to share a hand meditation with you.
Listen closely and follow along and do as I say.

Sit as erect as possible; feet flat on the floor,
with your hands on your lap with your palms up.
This works best if you close your eyes.

Think of your hands.
Become aware of the air at your fingertips...
between your fingers and the palm of your hand.

Experience the fullness, strength, and maturity of your hands.

Think of the most unforgettable hands you have known...
the hands of a parent or grandparent, a neighbor,
a friend, a spouse, a child.

Think of the oldest hands that have rested in your hands.

Think of the hands of a newborn.
Hands with incredible beauty and perfection;
the delicacy in the hands of a child.
Just think. Once upon a time, your hands were the same size.

Think of all your hands have done since then...
so much that you have learned has been through your hands...
feeding yourself, turning yourself over, crawling,
walking, coloring, writing, driving, working, loving.

Remember at one time, your greatest accomplishment
was tying your own shoes.

Think of all the deeds your hands have done...
deeds we’re proud of and deeds we’re ashamed of.

Our hands are not just for ourselves but for others;
how often were they given to help another.

Remember the tears they have wiped away...
your own or someone else’s.

Remember how often they were folded in prayer,
both a sign of powerlessness and of power and love.

Now, raise your right hand slowly and gently place it over your heart. Press more firmly until your hand picks up the beat of your heart, that most mysterious of all human sounds, one’s own heartbeat... be aware of your heartbeat. A rhythm learned in the womb.

Press more firmly for a moment and then release and hold it just a fraction from your clothing.

Experience the warmth between your hand and your heart.
Very carefully, lower your hand to your lap as if it were carrying your heart.
For it does.

When you extend your hand to another,
it is not just skin and bone...
it is your heart.

Think of all the hands that have left their imprint on you...
heart prints that can never be erased.

Now without opening your eyes, extend your hands on either side of you and find another hand.
Do not simply hold it
but sense the history and mystery of this hand.

Let your hand speak to it and let it listen to the other.

Try to express your love and gratitude for this hand stretched out to you.

Now bring your hand back again to your lap.
Experience the presence of that warmth and love lingering upon your hand.

The afterglow will fade but the heart print is there forever.
Whose hand was that?

It could have been any hand and it could have been Christ’s hand... for it was!
For Christ has no hands but ours!


- Pastor Kerry

This Sunday: 76 in worship.