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A kind of riddle for children is to give a description and then ask them what is being described. It is not difficult, you might think, to describe the word 'hand' but my dictionary, using very small print, takes almost three quarters of a page to deal with the various uses of the word and the meanings of these uses, beginning with the purely physical "the extremity of the arm below the wrist"; the forefoot; the extremity of the hind limb when it is prehensile; a measure of four inches; a division of a bunch of bananas..." and so on. Which doesn't take us very far as a description to give e.g. to an alien but it does illustrate the protean uses of hands.
One use of hands, which may be an old use, dropped (in Victorian times?) but now sometimes used, is to shake hands as part of the Communion Service - perhaps always in some churches. It might well be intended to promote what is called 'bonding'. Another similar use in some countries is for a policeman on patrol meeting another policeman on patrol to shake hands - another form of 'bonding'?
Instances of one way or another that hands are used could be multiplied but I was reminded recently of a way in which Jesus used his hands. One of the best known of these is, perhaps, the incident in Mark's gospel where Jesus touches a leper. This incident and its result can cause endless debate among sceptics and believers, agnostics and members of non-Christian faiths. What is not often thought about is the purely physical contact of human beings and the effect that even a small touch can bring.
People of my (rather old) generation were almost discouraged from touching people outside their immediate family and that, in turn, has tended to obscure the way in which touch can more than replace words and certainly Jesus was very aware of this. There are times when mere words may not be able to reach the conscious mind of a sick person but the touch of a hand may bring great comfort. What we may or may not know does not matter but in some circumstances a touch may give something well beyond our understanding
Bob Mclean
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