Daddy’s Hands in Prayer: He truly possessed the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
This week, the photo challenge has been hope. I can think of nothing that expresses hope more than my father’s faith.
Alzheimer’s is slowly taking our father away from us. This once brilliant man who could calculate board feet in his head now struggles with the simplest tasks. These hands designed kitchens and built beautiful furniture. These hands worked in factories, farmed, fished, built, cultivated, and created. These hands loved, played, and comforted. These hands and his keen mind provided for his wife and 10 children. Now this horrendous disease is stealing his mind and these hands are mostly idle. He is an honorable, gentle, good, and kind man and I hate it that he is fading away before our eyes. His HOPE is in his unwavering faith in God, in the Bible, in the Catholic Church. As he loses his mental acuity, he still holds on to his daily Mass, Rosary, and Bible readings.
Ramblings 
Touching photo…
Thank you, MDphotography… Because I respect your photography, I appreciate this comment.
I just nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Check out my post at monahoward.com
Perhaps as we consider the mystery of suffering, we come to realize that our connection with the Divine is so very concrete and sometimes so very painful, bringing us to the foot of the cross as we stand next to His mother who has become our mother. It is in being a witness to hope, as was our Blessed John Paul II, that your father and all who suffer in this way show us the path to salvation.
Thank you John, for your comment. You sum up my father’s path quite clearly. I believe that he is truly a child of God. He has always been my role model, although I have fallen short far too many times. Tonight, as my mother recovers in the hospital, I believe that my father’s child-like faith is speaking to Jesus for her healing.
What a beautiful picture! I know a little bit what you are meaning: my father, age 82, worked sooooo hard his entire life, and now we see him struggling with the fact that he cannot do all the things he still want to…Fortunately his mind is still very clear I am so gratefull to that!
Cherish the moments you have with your parents
with my love Joanna
Joanna, thank you. You are so right that we must cherish our time with them. Because I live 2000 miles away, I do not see them often, usually twice a year, but the time I get with them is precious. ~Mona
Sometimes hands are enough. From these hands I can imagine the rest of the man. The Bible under them is symbolic – we never give up hope. Thanks for this photo, Mona.
Thank you. This is one of my most favorite images of my father.
Thank you. That is exactly what I was trying to achieve.
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