Praying Hands

PRAYING HANDS

(Preached June 1996)

I am sure that the Queen wishes she had kept her gloves on during her six sittings for the portrait artist, Anthony Williams!

Judging from the press coverage following the unveiling of her latest portrait to mark her seventieth birthday, the eyes of most reporters have been focused upon her hands.

One headline asked the question, 'Are they really the Queen's hands?' Brian Sewell suggested that, "the swollen fingers and fat wrists, the worn and ill trimmed nails, are those of Murphy's men, relieved of the pneumatic drill ready to grasp a pint of Guinness."

Sandra Barwick was much more sympathetic when she suggested that the Queen's hands revealed her " as a country woman, with decades of horse riding, gardening and dog walking to her credit." She therefore excused the state of her hands by suggesting that "like any other dog lover, rider or horticulturist, hands can sometimes be ragged and the cuticles torn. Her fingers have been bitten by corgis and injured in riding accidents."

Under the headline, "Gentlemen won't reveal a woman's age....but the hands always will" she proceeded to examine the hands of other celebrities.

She suggested that Bridget Bardot's hands show that she is no longer a sex kitten; that Nancy Reagan's show that a First Lady has no power over the years, and that Barbara Cartland's show that all the vitamins, gloves and romance in the world cannot keep age at bay.

But the Queen's hands were not the only royal hands in the news. We were also told that Cecil Beaton recorded in his diary in l937, after photographing the Duke of Windsor, "He has common hands - like a little mechanic - weather beaten and rather scruffy and one thumb nail disfigured."

With all this publicity, including the corgis’ alleged misbehaviour, I am sure Her Majesty is sorry she did not keep her gloves on.

However, my attention this week has also been focused upon the hands in that famous picture called "The Praying Hands", a copy of which I have in the front of my private lntercession book.

I have it there, not just to remind me of those words in the Gospel, "Ask and you will receive", but also to help me to plan my prayers of asking.

The trouble is that if I am left to my own devices, my prayers of asking tend to focus only upon my own particular needs and wants. I find I quickly get bogged down in my own little world. I therefore need some simple form of help which can enable me to focus my asking prayers away from myself.

This is where the picture of the "Praying Hands" comes in useful, as I have pointed out to Confirmation candidates in the past, and which I think is worth repeating for the benefit of all.

The first finger on my hand is my thumb. It is the nearest finger to me. And so I pray first of all for those who are nearest to me - my wife, my sons, my parents and of course my personal friends who support and encourage me, in good times as well as in bad.

The second finger on my hand is the finger which I use to point. It is my pointing finger. This reminds me to pray for those who point the way. These include clergy, teachers, godparents and even journalists. After all, those who work in the mass media have the power to influence the hearts and minds of many for good or bad. It also includes artists, writers, playwrights, all of whom have the ability to open up my mind to new horizons waiting to be explored. Similarly, I include all those engaged upon research as they seek to discover more and more of this created world in which I live.

The third finger on my hand is the big finger. So I pray for the big people in life - those who hold positions of power and influence and who often come in for so much criticism. These include local councillors, Members of Parliament, the leaders of commerce and industry beside trade union leaders. They also include those who are responsible for the maintenance of law and order whereby I am enabled to live in relative peace and security. So I remember the police, magistrates, and members of the armed forces.

The next finger is the weakest finger on my hand. So I recall all the weak people of life - the sick, the aged, the infirm, the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, the hungry and those who are marginalised by society. I remember children from broken homes, those who are unloved and unwanted besides those frightened and tempted to take their own lives. I also recall those caring agencies which seek to bring hope and relief to those who suffer and to raise my awareness of their situations.

Having prayed for those who are nearest, those who point the way, those who are important and those who are weak, I come finally to the last finger on my hand - the smallest finger of all. That represents me.

Now is the time to turn my attention upon myself. Somehow, my own particular needs and problems, my own particular fears and anxieties appear to be of little significance when compared with the other people for whom I have prayed. I find I am able to get everything into perspective, to discover the things that really matter in my life and to forget the trivia which so often cloud my perception.

I therefore suggest that our hands can be a valuable tool in our prayers of asking. And what is more, they are always there at the end of our arms.

Whenever we find ourselves sitting idly on the train commuting to London, or in the doctor's surgery waiting for our appointment, or just sitting comfortably at home, we can use our hand as a method of prayer. All we need to do is simply to take hold of one finger at a time and to focus our attention upon those nearest, those who point the way, those who are important, those who are weak and finally, upon ourselves.

We don't need gloves to cover up the appearance of our hands. Hands are there to be used. So let us use them in prayer.