Creating Life with Our Hands

Today our priest’s sermon centered around Labor Day.  He talked about the word ‘labor’ and how most people believe it means to work.  He said instead of defining it that way he thinks about the word ‘labor’ the same way you are in labor before you give birth.  That ‘labor’ actually means giving and creating life.

Hmmm….very interesting to me.  I totally get that.  We work so we can create a life for ourselves.

He then went on to say that we labor with our hands.  He asked us to study our hands and to think back over the last three months and all the we did with them–all the labor we used them for.

Some, he said, were used for typing on a keyboard.  Some, like him, held the hand of a dying parishioner or were used to welcome a new baby by Baptism into the church.  Some were used for driving big trucks, or stocking shelves.

As I looked at my hands I thought about the hugs I gave (and the diapers I changed), the garden I planted and harvested, the animals I fed, and the things I canned.  And now that the school year has began, my hands have helped to teach children.

I realized that yes, I had labored with my hands after all.  That I helped to give life to my family and helped to {hopefully} make others’ lives better.

What an amazing concept.

And I know these pictures have nothing to do with this post.  MM played on the porch this morning before church and discovered her slide for the first time.  It’s been out there since April, but she couldn’t figure out how to use it until today.  She figured it out all by herself.  I was so proud of her!

{Also, tonight I asked her, ‘Does Mary Margaret love her mama?’ and she immediately answered, ‘YES!’  I almost cried.}

Comments RSS Both comments and pings are currently closed.