¡Sí! to the Incarnation Story

As La Navidad is here, I'd like to share a glimpse into the hidden moments of holiness that I've encountered along this incredible, challenging, and spectacular experience in Mexico.

These are the hands that have held me along the way...

"Her Hands"

Hers are the hands that embrace, encourage, and empower:

Domitilia and I meet in the market and share the weight of a bulky bag until we reach her house. At the doorway, Domitilia offers me a ripe, yellow banana. Take it, she says.

Hers are the hands that create radical wholeness:

Agustina sits outside with her hands in her lap. Glancing down at her malformed knuckles and fingers due to arthritis, she asks almost emphatically, And my hands? How can I make my tortillas? Later Agustina groans in pain and prayer, Virgin of Guadalupe, Lupita Mamacita, she cares for me. And God cares for me. Christ, he accompanies me.

Hers are the hands that reveal and bring forth awareness:

Esperanza’s grip squeezes my three fingers. Both hands meet as we enter into her dimly lit home. By the faint light that pierces through the roof, I notice that her frail hands and thin fingertips are stained by palm dye. Mine are stained, too – except by food coloring from a birthday party earlier in the day. Inside, I'm horrified. Our differences mark us in such a real way.

Hers are the hands that weave together imagination and hopeful promise:

Lucia’s fingers interlace and cross pieces of palm - requiring skill, creativity, and persistence. By the end of the hour I manage to finish my small canasta. I’m so in awe of the more complex and colorful basket that she’s also completed in that time. A piece of imagination is delicately woven into a day's work.

---

In beauty parallel to the vulnerability of the incarnation-mystery:

Hers are the hands that receive in faith God's promise of embodied Love; pointing to the presence and activity of God's being. 

Clapping and rejoicing in God-with-us:

Hers are the hands that welcome the life and light of Christ into the world.

---