Baptism of the Lord

ISAIAH 42:1-9, MARK 1:4-11

Reflection for Friday, Jan 9th by Father Joseph Diele

“I have taken you by the hand and kept you;”

When I was little I remember, crossing the street by my father.  I remember his big hand and my little hand in it. I remember those walks to school and my father being there taking my hand and I remember feeing safe and secure.  I remember feeling nothing bad can happen to me as long as I hold daddies hand.

What if it is God who is walking us across all life’s dangerous ways? God is with us leading us, beside us, holding us so that we would know we are not alone.

I remember a story I heard from a Franciscan Fr. Bede Abrams at a preaching workshop back in the early 90’s.  The story goes this way:

There once was a train and it was speeding and speeding. It soon became clear to the riders that the train could not stop. As it sped through city and town, it did not stop at any of the designated stations it just kept on barreling through, faster and faster.  People were screaming, some were calling their families on their cell phones and some were sobbing. On a seat in the first car was a little girl of five or six and she held her doll and was combing her hair. The people around her were in a frenzy and some looked at her with pity.  Through it all, she simply combed her dolls hair.  She was not scared, she was not perturbed she was confident and happy playing. As she combed the dolls hair some of the adults screamed and said little girl don’t you realize we are all going to die?  She just kept on combing her dolls hair.  Someone yelled why aren’t you upset kid?  She looked up for a second while stroking her doll’s hair and said my daddy is driving this train.

Yes, God is driving this train, holding our hands of what should we be afraid? We hear Jesus saying do not be afraid.  We heard in a song from the early 70’s, “Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.” God has taken us by the hand so what should we fear?

-Can we imagine our hand in God’s hand?

-What does it feel like to be held by God?

-Will we allow God to hold our hand?

-Do our communities invite us to trust God enough to allow God to lead us?