Put your hand in

A child was walking ahead of us today by the Ohio river. She was walking with her grandmother along a ledge over the grass slope leading to the river. For an adult the ledge was wide and the slope wasn’t that much of a drop but for a small child it must have seemed narrow and a great height. She walked in the middle of the broad ledge at first walking slowly and nervously  Then she reached out and grabbed her grandmother’s hand. Then began to walk with more confidence and less hesitation.

What is there about that simple human interaction of hold the hand of another? I know when Nancy has asked me what I like best about being married to her I have often and honestly answered “Your smile and holding your hand!”  There is something strengthening, something reassuring about it. It communicates on a deeper level than words for me.

And there ahead of us was another human, a child, whose whole attitude shifted when she placed her hand in the hand of one who cared and loved and wants the best for her.

And in that is another image – of what we can do when we seem near the edge in our life; when the world seems scary or hostile; when we are alone and unsure. To borrow the lyric of a song I heard many years ago “Put you hand in the hand of the man who stilled the waters… put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.”

Don