"What is possible is to open your hands without fear, so that the One who loves you can blow your sins away/"
Henri Nouwen, "With Open Hands"
I absolutely love this image. Henri Nouwen talks about our clenched fists and how we desperately cling to the dysfunctional, maybe because it is all we know. We cling to bitterness and hurts and anger and negativity because it is familiar, certainly not because it works well for us. All of this we cling to with clenched fists. He talks of coming to God, trusting God and slowly, opening our clenched fists, exposing the yuckiness we may want to hide from God. But, as in this quote, exposing it gives God the chance to blow it away, off of our hands and out of our lives. Try this if you have a moment today...close your eyes and clench your fists around your shadows--the anger you may still feel after all this time, the bitterness, the fear, even the disappointment you may feel in another. As these things come to mind, slowly, prayerfully, open your hands. Imagine God, so present there, seeing your hurts and gently blowing them off your hand. Imagine God taking your hands and caressing them. Just sit there, basking in God for a time. Love, heidi
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