I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.—Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)
When my husband Lynn spent his first night in ICU following surgery to remove most of a malignant brain tumor, he couldn’t sleep. In spite of some strong medication, he appeared agitated, especially as he tried to absorb the meaning of the news that he had brain cancer. I kept talking to him, gently trying to calm him, but in listening and responding, his blood pressure kept rising.
“Why don’t you go home and get some sleep,” a nurse kindly suggested at about 11:00 p.m. “Then he might fall asleep too.” Reluctantly I left.
The next morning Lynn seemed much better. “I couldn’t fall asleep after you left,” he told me. “I had too many frightening thoughts running through my mind. Finally, a nurse came in.”
“What did she say to you?” I asked.
“I don’t remember that she said much. She just held my hand.”
Over the next several days I learned about the holiness of that simple gesture. Sometimes, in our adjustments to difficult realities, we get all tangled up in words, trying to fix each other’s pain. Sometimes, in those hard moments, the most profound way we can comfort each other is by simply, silently, holding hands.
Father, You express Your love and mercy by holding us in Your hands. Help us to communicate love and mercy as we hold each other’s hands.
