He didn't move, just sat with his head down staring at his hands.
When I sat down beside him he didn't acknowledge my presence and the longer I sat I wondered if he was OK.
Finally, not really wanting to disturb him but wanting to check on him at the same time, I asked him if he was OK.
He raised his head and looked at me and smiled. "Yes, I'm fine", he said in a clear strong voice.
"I didn't mean to disturb you, but you were just sitting here staring at your hands and I wanted to make sure you were OK.
"Have you ever looked at your hands," he asked. "I mean really looked at your hands?"
Slowly i opened my hands and stared down at them.
I turned themover, palms up and then palms down.
No I guess I had never really looked at my hands as I tried to figure out the point he was making.
As he smiled and related this story.
" Stop and think for a moment about the hands you have, have they served you well through your years?
These hands, though wrinkled,shriveled and weak have been tools I have used all my life to reach out and grab and embrace life.
They braced and caught my fall when as a child I crashed on the floor.
They put food in my mouth and clothes on my back.
As a child my mother taught me to fold them in prayer.
They tied my shoes and pulled on my boots.
They held my rifle and wiped my tears when I went off to war.
They have been dirty, scraped and raw, swollen and bent.
They were uneasy and clumsy when I tried to hold my newborn son.
Decorated with my wedding band,they showed the world that I was married and loved someone special.
They wrote the letters home and trembled and shook when I buried my parents and spouse and walked my daughter down the aisle.
Yet, they were strong and sure when I dug my buddy out of a foxhole and lifted a plow off of my best friend's foot.
They have held children, consoled neighbors, and shook in fists of anger when I didn't understand.
They have covered my face, combed my hair, and washed and cleansed the rest of my body.
They have been sticky and wet, bent and broken, dried and raw.
And to this day when not much of anything else of me works real well, these hands that hold me up, lay me down, and again continue to fold in prayer.
These hands are the mark of where I've been and the ruggedness of my life.
But more importantly, it will be these hands that God will reach out and take when He leads me home.
With my hands, He will lift me to His side and there I will feel "His hand in mine." When my own hands are hurt or sore or when I touch the face of my children, I know they have been stroked and caressed and held by the hands of God.
I too want to reach out for the hand of God and feel His hands upon my face.
Please take the time to look at your own hands. Have they done all they can for the Lord?
"Thanks to all of the folks I know who have "Worn Used Hands!"
