By the work of our hands

“May the favor if the Lord our God be ours. Prosper the work of our hands! Prosper the work of our hands!” (Psalms 90:17)

Look at your hands for a moment. Consider all that they do.

Imagine the hands of Jesus who worked alongside Joseph as a carpenter. What did he build after he held a piece of wood in his hands, after he cut it, planed it, and created it into something new? Imagine the hands of his Blessed Mother Mary, who held the infant Jesus, who changed his diapers, who mended his clothing, who prepared his meals.

We spend so much time in front of a screen these days, we take for granted the value of the work we do with our hands. Our hands that prepare meals for those we love, hands that prune away weeds and overgrown bushes, hands that hold another’s when they are ill.

Sister Rose Carmel Garay, 79, a Sister of the Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence, beams with joy when she shares something made by her hands. When she is not working full time with pilgrim groups at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle – National Shrine, she enjoys cooking and making religious items and jewelry.

Her joy is contagious. Sister Garay said cooking and making jewelry give her energy. When working with beads, she finds delight in the infinite possibilities and color combinations. “Discovering what we can create with our hands are pure joy; they are God-given gifts,” she said. She added we can each experience this joy as we discover our own gifts. It also gives her joy knowing her creations make others happy and serve a purpose. The sales from her homemade salsas and the items she creates contribute to the retirement fund for the religious sisters in her order.

As I consider my own interest in sewing and mixed media art, I find my recent fixation on making aprons stems from what they represent. Yes, we value their utilitarian features intended to protect our clothing when cooking, painting or gardening. For me, however, an apron symbolizes something more. It points to the joy of undertaking such tasks, activities that require the use of our hands, that pull us away from the computer or from our sedentary habits. The simple act of putting on an apron triggers the brain to focus on the work ahead. There is a humility too that comes with honoring our role in creating something, whether it is a simple meal or a work of art.

A CBS News story that aired March 18, 2018 highlighted “how busy hands can alter our brain chemistry.” The story featured an interview with Dr. Kelly Lambert, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond. “I made up this term called ‘behaviorceuticals,’ instead of pharmaceuticals,” she said, “in the sense that when we move and when we engage in activities, we change the neurochemistry of our brain in ways that a drug can change the neurochemistry of our brain.”

The story led me to Lambert’s book, Lifting Depression: A Neuroscientist’s Hands-On Approach to Activating Your Brain’s Healing Power. In the section, “The Work/Pleasure Connection,” Lambert writes about effort-driven rewards. She notes, “Our brains are programmed to derive a deep sense of satisfaction and pleasure when our physical effort produces something tangible, visible….”

Our hands, she writes, “play a crucial role when it comes to effort-driven rewards. “Any activity that requires you to use your hands and that you enjoy, especially if it puts you into the flow zone, will energize your effort-driven rewards circuit.”

Her research explains why I am drawn to hand appliqué and crochet, and even activities that require my hands to get dirty, like gardening and mixed media. Working with my hands actually serves as a retreat from my day-to-day work. The joy of creating something by hand is certainly rewarding. There is added joy when you can share your creations with others. I find too that it connects me to the long history of women in my family, principally my mother, who taught me how to sew.

Whether at home or at work, we all have gifts God has given us. Look at your hands again. What is the work they are called to do?

As we begin a New Year, our communications team for the Diocese of Brownsville, which continually looks at the work we do and try to do it better, recommits to gathering and sharing the stories happening in the Church here in the Rio Grande Valley. We offer up the work of our hands to utilizing all the communication resources available to keep you informed. As St. Teresa of Avila said, we are his hands and feet.

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.”

(Originally published in January 2019 edition of The Valley Catholic newspaper)