By The Rev. Randy Fossum

St. Peter’s Lutheran Church

There are certain dates during the year that give or should give a person cause to pause and reflect; Dec. 31 and Jan.1, birthdays and anniversaries to name but a few examples.

It’s true, isn’t it, that the days leading up to these dates often bring more intense reflection of the past, present and thoughts of the future? (I am while writing this mindful of the all-too-often forgetful husband and the lack of any reflective thought regarding birthdays and anniversaries.) This time of year is just that time for me when memories and reflection become more intense. As I write, it will be tomorrow, Aug. 17, eight years now since Jesus wrapped His loving arms around my wife and took her to be with Him in Heaven. She was 45.

Can I share a memory or two with you? I promise not to get too schmaltzy. We were high-school sweethearts. We met at our synod’s boarding school in Wisconsin. She had a quiet gentle spirit about her, not flirtatious at all, and so it was not particularly obvious that she had any liking for me until a classmate noticed my initials written in pen on the palm of her hand. I thought about that this week, just one memory among countless others. I miss her.

My pen inscribed initials are long gone from the palms of her hands but they are found elsewhere and more importantly with permanency engraved on my Savior God’s hands, “See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.’ Is. 49:16. Who haven’t used the palms of their hands to write down a name, a phone number, an address, a measurement in order to bring to remembrance later? Our hands are in plain sight every day! What comfort God extends to His children through faith in Christ, that our lives and what we experience (“your walls are ever before me.”) are not hidden from Him. Our heartaches, the trials and disappointments, the anxieties, the uncertainties of life, all these and more are before Him and He assures His own of His constant attention.

The open hands of Jesus displayed on the cross have your name and mine engraved by nail and blood…no names are left off of those precious palms. Those hands speak to us of One who earnestly desires to establish a long-lasting relationship, an eternal one, at great cost to Himself. Don’t ignore those initialed palms! They are a wedding invitation, Rev. 19:9.