March 19, 2010

My Journey to God

Stretch Out Your Hand

Jesus said, “Stretch out your hand.”
To receive the miracle, I must trust
and reach for the gift offered
even though the task is lowly and humbling.
Even though I may endure the pain
and sorrow of another and shed tears
that my heart may stretch and grow in love.
Even though I stand at the side of the dying,
and hold on to shaking hands and broken hearts
that I may understand your loving gift.
Even though the challenge seems too great,
and fear grips my heart as knees quake at the task set before me.
Even though I stretch out my hand at
a time of my own failing and self reliance.
Jesus stretches out his hand
and opens my heart to receive the miracle
of his strength and love,
the only real protection there is.

By Trudy Bledsoe

(Trudy Bledsoe is a member of St. Christopher Parish in Indianapolis and the chairperson for the parish’s Spreading Hope in Neighborhoods Everywhere (SHINE) ministry. She wrote this poem as a reflection for a bulletin column. In the column, she also noted that, “Jesus is asking for us to be good servants, and sometimes we respond by grumbling. Where are the soft hearts that we as Christians are asked to have? What happened to nonjudgmental behavior that marks us as Christians, making us different from the secular world? I think of the many times that Jesus stretched out his hand to the poor and hurt without hesitation, and then I am humbled by my own grumbling.”) †

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