My wife and I have been holding hands for more than 26 years. And I can still remember being a scared college student, reaching for her hand for the very first time. Would she grab it? How would she react? What would it feel like?
For so many young people, holding hands is their first experience of intimacy. Before a hug, or even a first kiss, the simple act of holding hands usually happens first. For it is in that grasp, as Isaiah states in his reading today, that we just may find the foundation of the most sacramental of relationships.
God is reaching out and wants to be in relationship with each of us. God is constantly making his presence known in our lives and is waiting for us to respond – to take hold of his hand. And when we do, that is when our faith life begins. That is when we are converted and transformed.
This Advent, let us take the time to experience the God of love in our lives. Let us truly see his presence at work around us and within us. And let us feel the touch of his hand in ours, so that we too can be in relationship with our Lord and Savior.
