“Hands across the Altar,” Ensign, March 2016, 61
Hands across the Altar
The author lives in Utah but is currently serving a mission with her husband in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Strong, unblemished, untried hands
clasped across the altar—making a promise.
Unknown challenges will stretch tendons;
tragedies will break bones;
tasks will wear calluses
and scar fingers.
The hands promised support, protection, love,
comfort, compassion, trust, and
righteousness.
They tilled gardens, blessed heads, paid bills,
fixed water pipes, drove cars, and
wiped tears.
Now they are large-knuckled and blue-veined,
with skin like parchment.
The parchment of a promise kept.