Our Hands

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The word authentic comes from the Greek authentes. It means “bearing the mark of the hands.” This original meaning tells us that to be authentic mean being hands-on. It’s through our hands and through the life of touch and honest engagement that we learn and grow.

Our Hands

Sometimes, with no warning, we suffer

an earthquake and have to remake the

earth beneath us. Someone we love may

leave or die or think us cruel when we are

kind. Sometimes the tools we need break

or are stolen or simply stop working and

we have to invent some more. Sometimes

it feels like we can’t get through. That the

phone won’t get reception. And the com-

puter gets all jammed And sometimes what

gets through is partial and misunderstood.

It is then we are forced to go barefoot and

re-find our hands. Sometimes we are asked

to drift away from the crowd in order

to be found by what we love.

A Question to Walk With: Tell the story of one thing you learned by using your hands.