memorial – Salt

“Let the beauty of the Lord be upon us and prosper for us the work of our hands.”
Psalm 90

Hands.
Kindness dwells in some people’s hands.
He and I shared few conversations.
No matter.
Words fade over time,
ink evaporating off of impermanent paper.
Hands leave gift-marks that linger
And kindness lived in his hands.

You could see it in them.
They were strong.
Nimble-strong
and wise.
Playful too, sometimes.
Hands trusted
by puppies
and people
and plants that welcomed their touch.

How beautiful,
those calloused fingers
so accustomed to the soil’s shifting seasons.
Prickly cucumbers,
delectable tomatoes
and feast-famous green beans,
all coaxed from the earth
and offered with a generous spirit
to family and friends.

Kindness lived in his hands
and those fingerprints are etched forever
on loved ones’ souls
who laugh
and weep
and remember.

The hands of a fisherman
hands of a carpenter
hands of a gardener
hands of a husband and father and grandfather
brother and uncle and friend.
Wise hands
Caring
grace-filled
hands. In his hands,
we glimpsed
the hands of God.

Let your beauty be yet upon us, O God, and prosper for us the work of our hands.