Put Your Hand In The Hand

     A few weeks ago a friend came into my office that I had not seen since before her birthday over two months earlier.  I always enjoy our conversations as we share many similar struggles and joys in life.  That day, I saw an almost bubbling over excitement in her demeanor, as if she had a secret to share.  Her secret tumbled out as she reminisced about her birthday on June 30^th.  Often she has had a significant dream on these pivotal occasions but not this time.  Instead, she awakened from a sound night’s sleep, singing!  It was a song that she had not heard or thought of for 44 years.  It was the first gift of her birthday.  The words to Put Your Hand In The Hand burst forth from her depths as she stretched and put her feet on the floor.

      

         Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water

         Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea

         Take a look at yourself, & you can look at others diff’rently

         Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee

     In all of our conversations about spirituality and church, the topic of Jesus had not been common.  This birthday gift had visibly changed my friend.  She had that glow of someone in love – giggling about how she just holds his hand all of the time now.

     After she left my office, I flipped on YouTube and found the song which was written by Gene MacLellan and first recorded by Anne Murray and made popular by the Canadian group Ocean.  I,too, had not heard it for about 44 years.  Tears welled in my eyes as I listened to the words about this man whom I follow.  Jesus’s name has been so misused in the past few decades that I am very careful in saying it.  I know that many have been hurt by the name.  Maybe I have been too careful?  But, He is why I do what I do.  He is the reason why I love the church – without him, we would have no church.  He is the reason that my life has been transformed and continues to be.

     Maybe we all need to take the hand of this man from Galilee this year as we explore life together. Not only was it her birthday gift, but our greatest gift as well to move through the day knowing that we are holding on to the hand of Jesus.