From God’s hands

FROM GOD’S HANDS by St Irenaeus (2nd century)

It is not you who shape God;
it is God that shapes you.

If then you are the work of God,
await the hand of the Artist
who does all things in due season.

Offer the Potter your heart,
soft and tractable,
and keep the form in which
the Artist has fashioned you.

Let your clay be moist,
lest you grow hard and lose
the imprint of the Potter’s fingers


GOD’S HANDS by Barbara Brown Taylor

To believe in one’s own priesthood
is to see the extraordinary dimensions
of an ordinary life,
to see the hand of God at work in the world
and to see one’s own hands
as necessary to that work.

Whether those hands are
bathing a baby,
assembling an automobile,
or balancing a corporate account;
they are God’s hands,
claimed by God at baptism
for the accomplishment
of God’s will
on earth.

It is hoped that the modified and simplified format of these devotions this week has provided space for you to slow down and breathe in the midst of the hectic pace of this new year. As you reflect on the poems and prayers that have spoken about God’s promise and purpose for your life, conclude this time now by choosing the one that resonated most within you, and allow it to stimulate a heartfelt prayer of your own.