Symbols on Sunday

It's time for Sunday symbols! I am fascinated by symbols and anything that stands in for something else. It's so fun to try to figure out the symbol or to find symbols in obscure places (or in movies and books). Today's symbol is one of the more familiar ones. It fills a small section of Leonardo da Vinci's Sistine Chapel painting, and it is called "The Hand of God."




The hand is such a curious symbol. Here, it reminds me of Isaiah's repeated phrase (the same phrase that Nephi chooses to highlight in the Book of Mormon): His hand is stretched out still. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much. He is always reaching out to us. Are we reaching back? As da Vinci understood it, all we have to do is lift a finger to touch His hand and access His power. It is so simple and yet we think it is so hard. This week, find a way to "lift a finger" by putting forth that extra spiritual effort.