Being His Hands and Feet
Hands that smelled of wonderful garlic when checking a teen's forehead for signs of fever, were hands that had had a full day by noon: preparing breakfast from scratch, getting dressed for the day, setting things in order, and beginning a pot of fresh chicken and vegetable soup. Those were hands that applied Mentholatum and a warm towel to the teen's chest; hands that cleaned the always-clean house; hands that fed the dog, and that disposed of his or her messes with old rusted shovels; hands that pruned and watered. Those were hands that saved for a time such as this. And those were hands of child-like faith that paid dues to those who compelled dues, but who thought those dues were as offerings. Those were hands that, although married, had shared the burden of work by cleaning a house across town, and by picking cotton and teaching some of the first children to do the same. Those were hands that helped set the communion table; hands that patiently drew fish from the water;