Tell Tale Signs

You can tell one thing I did this weekend by looking at my arms and my hands. I helped my sister paint a bathroom, and whenever I paint a room one might guess that I had accomplished the task by finger painting if you saw me afterwards. I have no idea how to paint neatly. Luckily for her, I tend to pay more attention to cleaning up the floor than I do my arms. There are still traces of primer on my hands 24 hours later. Even in gardening I have to get my hands into the dirt and then I spend the next few days trying to free all the dirt beneath my nails. The only gloves I care about are the ones that keep me warm. I never minded the days of photographic darkrooms when I used my hands to turn the film over and over in the bath of developer. My husband might say from time to time that my hands smelled of chemicals, but I had to feel the film with my fingertips. The fix stains on my clothes, like the paint, again gave clues to the work I was doing, and that I wasn’t necessarily the neatest kid on the block. On the way home from painting I wondered if there were any external clues, like the paint or dirty fingernails, that might allow someone to guess that I try to follow Christ. On Ash Wednesday I usually go straight home instead of making a stop to get groceries. What kind of hints do I leave? How often do I get my hands dirty and engaged in the work of the church and the community?

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You are the first to engage and create. I imagine you in the center of the chaos, dirt flying, hammers pounding, impulsively singing, and making the work more joyful and complete for those you have drafted to complete the task. There is evidence of your hands at work. Let us answer your call, willing to get our hands dirty, to sweat and to learn so that there may be evidence of our bodies at work. Give us opportunities to jump boldly into the pit alongside you, and listen quietly as a confidant; to launch daringly a new program and pray earnestly for peace; to challenge ardently the world’s teachings and to live faithfully to your call. Let us be aware of the hints and the clues that follow us, and whether they are clues of a life following selfishness or a life following Christ. Let us be marked by your love. Amen.