In the courtyard of a quaint little church in a French village stood a beautiful marble statue of Jesus with his hands outstretched. One day during WWII a bomb struck too close and the statue was damaged. But the people loved their statue and though it was not the work of a renowned sculptor, they gathered the pieces and put it back together. The cracks in it were like scars and made their beloved statue even more beautiful. But there was a problem—the hands of the statue could not be found. “This won’t work,” some said. “What’s a Jesus without hands? Hands with scars, yes, but we can’t have a Christ without any hands.” They were about to replace the statue completely when someone got an inspired idea…so they inscribed a line on a brass plate and attached it to the base of the statue. Years later someone saw the inscription and expanded it to this poem: I have no hands but your hands to do my work today. I have no feet but your feet to lead men on the way. I have no tongue but your tongue to tell men how I died. I have no help but your help to bring men to God’s side. [Robert Schuller, Self Esteem, pp 102-103.]
