“The Lady With The Beautiful Hands”

Once upon a time there was a lady

With beautiful hands and sparkling eyes.

She possessed the precious gift of helping.

The sparkling eyes saw the needs of others

The beautiful hands rushed to help.

Those she helped will never forget:

The homes cleaned spic and span,

The artistic cakes for special occasions,

The delicious meals prepared, the clothing sewn,

The vegetable gardens planted, weeded, harvested,

And preserved, the cards and letters written,

And the friendships sealed by a kindly touch.

There was more that only her right hand knew;

Yet her family and her own spirit were not neglected.

Piano lessons exorcized the beautiful hands;

Bible classes brightened the sparkling eyes.

Then it came to pass, one day several years ago,

The beautiful hands were helping a neighbor

Afflicted with terminal cancer.  Patiently

The lady listened and tried to comfort the dying friend.

That night the lady with the beautiful hands could not sleep.

“What if that should happen to me?” she asked herself.

But it was not for herself, even then, that she was thinking;

It was of the untied ends of her daily life;

The inconvenience and embarrassment these matters

Might be to her loved ones after she was gone.

She rose and the beautiful hands began

To ‘set” her “house in order”. With the job complete,

Her mind could be at peace as her soul was at peace

About her eternal destination.  Little did she know

That in a few years she would be as her neighbor

And new neighbors would be among her comforters.

The lady with the beautiful hands loved little children.

For twelve years, every Sunday morning, she greeted

Two and three-year-olds to their Sunday School classroom.

Her Friendly banter, sparkling eyes and beautiful hands,

Calmed their fears and wiped away their tears.

One of her duties was to tell a story using puppets.

She quickly tired of the clumsy paper-bag boy and girl.

She made her own cute puppets and the children loved them.

One puppet story attempted to explain death.

The girl puppet talked to her Mom (the lady)

About her little friend who died. “I know Carol

Is with Jesus in Heaven but why did she have to die now!”

The Mom explained that those in God’s family on earth

Are like flowers in a garden belonging to God.

“Just as we pick a beautiful flower and take it

Into our home to enjoy it’s beauty and fragrance;

So God picks His flowers at just the right time,

And carries them to His perfect home, Heaven,

Where they live happily forever and ever.”

As the lady used her beautiful hands to hold

The puppets, she had no idea the story she told

Would come true so soon in her own life.

As God nurtured and cultivated the soul

Of the lady with the beautiful hands,

She became very concerned about the wild-flowers

Outside of God’s garden, especially those in her own family.

The beautiful hands were often clasped tightly

And the sparkling eyes shed many tears, as she prayed

For those dearest wild-flowers to be transplanted.

Her desire was to carry them to the only gate

In the garden wall, (It’s shape is a cross

And the gate-keeper is the Gardener’s Son Jesus Christ.)

There, the lady knew, each one has to willingly yield

To the infinite care of the Gardener.  So intense

Was her longing that there came a day when she told Him

She was willing to make any sacrifice necessary

To see those wildflowers firmly planted in His garden.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death

Of His saints”#  The lady with the beautiful hands

Led a life fragrant of faith and good works.

The Lord of the garden does not waste his harvest.

He will use the death of the lady to bring

The beloved wildflowers into His Garden.

And someday we will all be together again

In the bouquet He was gathered for His home in Heaven.

“He has made everything beautiful in His time”*

In Memory of

Judith Ann "Burelison" Harris

 March 13, 1991

#Psalm 116:15

*Ecclesiastes 3:11

-Marilyn Goodwin

A Friend