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Sunday, December 19, 2021

Devotional for the Fourth Sunday of Advent



Praying Hands

I remember clearly the larger-than-life-size bronze-cast praying hands sculpture that my grandmother—my father’s mother—had sitting on the coffee table between her and my grandfather’s easy chairs. It was so heavy. The bottom of the sculpture was covered with green felt so it wouldn’t scratch the table. That seemed so elegant to me.

We often see images of Jesus praying at Gethsemane in that fearful moment before final events begin to unfold. However, as Luke 5:6 tells us, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Not only did Jesus exhort his followers to pray (over 300 times!), he himself prayed regularly. He manifested a prayer life that we can all emulate. like the praying hands Chrismon because it reminds me of my grandmother’s statue. 

I like that praying hands are a Chrismon because they are a symbol not only of Christ but of our own relationship to God. Jesus taught us to pray.

—Rebecca Glancy

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