This week, I’ve been fortunate to spend afternoons with my three week old grandson. At this point in his life’s journey, all he really does is sleep, eat, poop and cry. Yet, it is so fascinating to watch him as he lays in my arms. He has long thin fingers, like his Mom. Watching his fingers and hands and arms in motion is quite entertaining! I can’t help but wonder how those hands will be used, many years from now.
Today, I am thankful for wonder.
Will his hands play the cello like Mom did, or perhaps the piano or the clarinet? Maybe they will be used for dribbling a basketball or pitching a baseball. Perhaps they will be skilled in delicate brain surgery or careful lab research. They might be used to shake the hands of voters as he runs for office some day.
Maybe they will be used to write letters and numbers on a blackboard and wipe the tears from little boys and girls who are starting school for the first time. Maybe they will deftly fly across a computer keyboard and he will create stories of all kinds. Perhaps those hands will provide meals or medical care or education to the poor in far away places.
Those hands might be the hands of a skilled craftsman; woodworking or pottery-throwing. They might hold a paintbrush someday, creating masterpeices for others to enjoy. His hands might spend a lot of time outdoors; planting crops, building homes, or catching fish.
Who knows how those hands may ultimately change the world? For now, they have already changed our world as they have inspired the wonder of possibility in all of us.
.
