Palms up.

Dear Epiphany,

 Palms up.

 A posture of prayer. An approach to life. An opening to what is and what is yet to come.

Its not a phrase I came up with on my own. I’ve borrowed it from a blog I follow periodically. (https://www.jennysmithwrites.com/my-blog/categories/palms-up) The writer, the Rev’d Jenny Smith, talks about it as her inspiration for a way of life grounded in faith. I keep coming back to it these days when there is so much unwell in the world, so much change and so much that is different about our lives, both individually and as a community.

Palms up.

Hold out your hands. Turn your palms up. A gesture of surrender. Maybe instinctively, you gave a little shrug of your shoulders. As if to say: God, I have no idea anymore, but you do so take what is I am carrying.

 When our hands are open, we aren’t clinging too tightly to things that are not ours or are not good for us or are out of our control.

Palms up is a posture of hope. There is more to come. More than what I see right now. More than what I could hope for. More than what I fear. God has yet more healing grace to give us and more goodness to show us.

 Open hands can also grasp another’s. They can link us into a web of connections and love and prayer.

Palms up draws our gaze to heaven, toward our Creator and Redeemer.

 Try it. Palms up. Breathe, slow down. God is with you.

Yours in Christ,

Rev’d Jen