Hands

There is a song by Jewel called Hands. I know this probably sounds cheesy, but I think it is one of the most profound songs. It is all about serving the world through what you’ve been given. She says that we should not be idle with despair, but rather gather yourself around your faith serve with your hands. Because “my hands are small I know, but they’re not yours they are my own and I am never broken.”

This reminds me of my little brother’s favorite scripture. It’s Mosiah 2:17, which states that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God.” When we serve those around us, we are serving God. And it doesn’t take super-human powers to serve with our heart. Just by using the hands, talents, and compassion given to each one of us, we can better someone else’s life.

“Poverty stole your golden shoes
But it didn’t steal your laughter”

We have all been so blessed. We have all been give hands to serve and laughter to chase away the worries. No matter how hard a situation seems, or no matter how much “poverty stole,” we still have our soul, we still have our laughter, we still have our hands.

Fasces

In Humanities, I just learned a lot fasces and they are surprisingly fascinating. They are used a lot in Roman architecture to symbolize power or unity. I was learning about little devises Napoleon or Jefferson used to show he was in control and wanted the society to support him. One of the tools he used was sculpting fasces into pillars of buildings, statues, etc.

A fasces looks like a bunch of while rods tied together with a red leather ribbon into a cylinder. It is meant to show the many coming into one. This makes better stability, persistence, unity, and strength. It reminds me of Moses 7:18 where he states "the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind..."

Zion is the ultimate form of unity, strength, and stability. And if Zion was created by being of one heart and one mind, then the fasces symbolize Zion too. fasces are a physical mirror of what Zion is in the hearts of saints or citizens or communities that feel unity.