An Inkling
There is an extra joy in our family gatherings these days, as a new generation is making its appearance. Jack, who turns three this month, and Hilton, who is six weeks old, were very much at the center of things at our Thanksgiving gathering. And I’m sure they’re still seeing stars from the camera flashes.
The picture attached here is of my hand and Hilton’s. It’s fun to see a hand fully formed, yet tiny. And the tiny-ness is most apparent in contrast to the big hand.
It’s a visual image of how much the little needs the big. Little Hilton needs big hands to provide virtually everything for him – food, clothing, protection, cleansing, and guidance. His hand, though fully formed, is not yet fully able. And it is very satisfying to be on the big hand end of things, caring in such important ways for the little one. (Of course it’s also exhausting! But I’m the grand dad now, and so the satisfaction is more mine and the fatigue more his parents’!)
But in fact the big hands need the little ones too. Jesus thought so. He once set a little-handed child in the midst of his big-handed disciples. They had just been having a big-handed debate about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God. And Jesus said, “Unless you become as children, you will never enter the Kingdom.” Big hands posture in power and feign competence. Little hands can’t even pretend to such. And thus they are more ready to receive the Kingdom that comes only as a gift, not an accomplishment.
The picture is actually a bit deceiving. Most of us would see it as the big hand guiding the little hand, but Jesus saw it as just the opposite. May he give us grace to follow such guidance, and to see just how tiny our hands in fact are.
In his grip,
Keith
