St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1906-03-07
Right Hand of Fellowship.

shaking hands. one OF the commonest OIL
sights. Yet when you think of it, the
church of Christ offers very simple things
for it's most important ordinances: a
few drops of water on the forehead, for its
baptism; bit of bread and a sip of wine.
two OF the most familiar articles of food
in Palestine, and chosen because they
were the most familiar, for the supreme
sacrament of the Lords Supper. After
all, these common things make up the
most OF life, and to believe in their sig
nifcance.is only another form of faith in
the worthy and satisfying meanings of
life.
Take the hand, for example; how
closely it is connected with all mans do
ings, and how its range of capabilty
measures the breadth and variety OF
mans labors. Here is man able to
handle a shovel, and able to do nothing
higher or better; we call him hand.
And here is the hand OF Abraham Lincoln,
that signed the proclamation setting free
a race. The space between these two
practically includes the whole of human
activity. Whatsoever thy hand 6nde h
to do, do it with thy might; what is
left out from this injunction !?
Establish thou the work of our hands
upon us"-this prayer is obviously
meant to be all-inclusive.
And since mans hand represents his
power to work, when two men put their
hands together it means that they are
ready to work together, ready for
friendly cooperation. Shaking hands
thus has a most practical significance.
We dwellers in New England, knowing
well the impregnable selErespect of our
kith and kin, can keenly enjoy Fitz Greene
Haleck's picture of the Connecticut
| Yankee, who
Would shake hands with king upon his
And think it kindness to his majesty"
Curiously enough, shaking the hand
does not have this sense in our Bible
English, the phrase standing for one
hand shaken in hostile fashion, as when
the foreign invader is said to shake his
hand at the mount OF the daughter of
Zion" But to "give the hand" is a
friendly deed. There is the notable
picture OF James and Peter and John,
called OF God to work among the circum.
cision, and Paul and Barnabas sent Of
God to the Gentiles, agreeing among
| themselves to work apart, but with cor.
dial sympathy and cooperation, and
giving to each other "the right hand OF
fellowship" the one place where this
phrase occurs in the Bible.
Furthermore, since a mans best work
is that into which his enthusiasm is
poured since manly man finds bis high.
oct a1 ~ 40, b;e -,
the objects of that work, hand and heart
inevitably go together. How naturally
the school. boy thrills to the great words
OF Webster: Sink or swim, live or die,
survive or perish, give my hand and my
heart to this vote" And how vivid the
details OF that scene in the Old Tesla.
ment where Jehu meets Jehonadab, the
son Of Rechab. "1s thy heart right, as
my heart is with thy heart" asks the
king, and the Rechabite answers 1T is"
"lt it be" is the swift response, give
me thy hand" And Jehonadab is taken
into the kings chariot, as friend and ally,
| to witness the zeal OF Jehu for Jehovah
But there is another and equally i'm.
portant connection between hand and
heart. We do not need to have the
PSYCHOLOGISTS tell US how sensitive are
the nerves in the hand. or how quickly it
responds to changes in the circulation
No one has watched the love affairs of
the world, and remained in ignorance as
to these patent facts. And the world
would be much poorer il there were no
adoring Romeos. signing for "the white
wonder of dear Juliet's hand" II there
were no loyal lovers ready for loves
highest pledge, no true pairs standing
before the minister OF the gospel and
| joining right hands as they vowed to live
| together after Gods ordinance in the
holy estate OF matrimony,-no one cares
to picture the world with so deadly de-
| icieucy.
And in the wider reach of the worlds
interests, as we follow the charity that
begins at home but does not end there
because true charity cannot end there,
how surely we connect service, ministry
with the hand. Well may Tennyson call
upon the bells to
ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand"
And Spenser could not better put his
thought. when be presents the great
Arthur seeking his Red. Cross Knight in
the foul and noisome dungeon, the mag
| ni6cent prince utterly careless of soil and
stain il only he may deliver his friend,
because
Entire affection hateth nicer hands"
And so the hand, standing for mans
labors and his loves, easily stands for bis
whole character, and to describe the
hand is to describe the man. The Free
mans oath in Vermont is a striking de-
mand for high public spirit in her citizens,
and reminds one of Holmes lines:
THE freeman, casting with unpurchased
hand
The. vote that shakes the turrets Of the
land"
And what more striking contrast could
one ask than that between Lady Mac.
beth in her nightmare of guilt, her totter-
ing senses all concentred on her crime
Here's the smell of the blood still
all the perfumes Of Arabia will not
sweeten this little hand"-and the sacred
beauty of the psalmst's picture:
"Who shall ascend into the hill of Jehovah:
And who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands"
And since the hand is thus associated
with all that is strongest and sweetest
and noblest in man, it naturally is used
in our thought OF God. When the psal-
mist would gloriiy the Lord, he sings,
1.-THE right hand of Jehovah doeth
valantly, the right hand OF Jehovah is
exalted" When he would remember his
matches grace, he testi6es: "Thy right
LIZ l.. 4 1. 4. II ~