Note: On Tuesdays and some Sundays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
Moses stretched out his hand, and Pharaoh’s army was wiped out, today’s 
lectionary first reading from Exodus tells us.
Jesus stretched out his hand, and in Matthew 12, the disciples learned that the Lord’s family is about more than blood and shared DNA.
We stretch out our hands, and… what?
- We acknowledge a stranger’s existence, maybe for the first time that day.
- We heal a rupture with a family member or friend.
- We begin to accept someone in the neighborhood, at work, or elsewhere who is difficult to love as a brother or sister in the Lord.
- We challenge that what keeps us from love, even as we remain true to ourselves and the Word.
We stretch out our hands, our souls, and our hearts… and perhaps begin to understand ever so dimly what it is like to be touched by God.
