Clenching fist and open hand

Clenching fist and open hand
A song by Brian McLaren

Sometimes we wonder whether God really does exist,
And if God’s way is of the open hand or clenching fist.
And while some preachers argue over doctrines and demands,
Their followers are making clenching fists of open hands.
Open up your hands.
So is religion killing us? Is it tearing us apart?
Does it open space to reconcile, or shrink the heart?
Two paths lie before us. One constricts and one expands.
One is the way of clenching fists; the other, open hands.
Stretch your open hands.
What we hold in mind and heart flows down through the wrist
And is expressed in open hand or in clenching fist
And so we build on solid rock, or else unstable sand;
And so we live by clenching fist or by the open hand.
Reach out open hands.
If we fight and fear and hate, our conflicts will persist
Until we trust the open hand more than the clenching fist
In church and mosque and synagogue, how many understand
The living God is the loving God of the open hand?
Join your open hands.
There were hands that blessed the children, touched and healed and fed
Hands that poured a cup of wine, hands that broke the bread
Hands that remained open even when the hammer fell
Hands that hold us and that open through our hands as well.
Raise your open hands.