Big Hands; Big Heart?

My Daddy had the biggest hands most folks had ever, ever seen...how I wish I had a cast of Dad's hands.  They were a mark of his manhood.  Not that I hold every man to that standard...men are unique just as are we...but something becomes the hallmark of our personhood, and with Dad it is his hands.  

Dad's hands managed employees with some firm expectations.  And his daughters with some firm instruction.  I recall how gently those big hands touched my Mother.  Dad made big money; had a big personality; had a big circle of friends who respected him; carried very big responsibilities on his shoulders.

And Dad's big hands carried over the theme of 'huge' to his very big heart.  Dad always had a heartfelt way of handling his daughters.  He never yelled; never scolded; never displayed any temper.  He reasoned with his very big intellect.  He was a teacher...could draw reason from the most everyday things at hand,  I recall once when Dad found out about the speeding ticket I got while driving home from college one weekend...in his very big car, which I had borrowed for the week.  He said nothing all weekend long, as Mom had taken the ticket from me and insisted on presenting it to him 'at the right time.'  

What agony...BIG agony...to know he knew but treated me sweetly, just as always.  There had to be some consequence coming!  And as we packed the car for him to drive me back to college, it happened.  Dad knelt beside the left rear tire and motioned for me to kneel too...and there it was...a completely bald tire!  One that would not make a sudden escape from a close call on an Interstate.  He turned his face to mine and said, "Do you know what would happen to your Mom and me if something had happened to you?"  He had just paid my semester tuition in a private university and needed to wait a week or two to purchase new tires.  Big...big lesson; big humility; big forgiveness

Bigness is very important in a man. Being big enough to honor commitments to people. And big enough to walk away from bad commitments. Being big enough to teach big lessons to a daughter with a common clump of rubber. Being big enough to be faithful to the one he chose and promised to be committed to. Being big enough to work honestly for all the big money he makes.

Big is good...and has many shapes and sizes...one size doesn't fit all. I guess that's because it is the loyal heart of a big man that makes him big. Short men; tall men; fat men; slender men; handsome or not...it is the thing of absolute loyalty and faithfulness that makes the man big...only the heart trained with purpose becomes the big heart.

Big hands are more visible than the heart. I notice a man's hands and how they hold a child or a woman. Over the one he protects with his loyal protection. It shows .... a dead giveaway, if a man holds hands over rather than under because he wants to lead; if they are gentle, rather than brusk and harsh; and if they abstain from images obscene when someone irritates them. The silent folded hands of a big man say, "I disapprove," or "I'm resolved".... much more powerfully than the ugly tongue lashing of angry words.

Big it is...heart and hands. Love and devotion. Faithfulness and compassion. Big enough to accept when change is required to save a commitment. Big enough to gently confront one he cares about. Big enough to hold someone until the tears stop. Big enough to applaud the successes of others. Big enough to just be the steady, faithful companion every woman needs.

Big is as big does....

[Post Script:  Hands in the photo are not my Dad's, but belong to another big man.]