I work in a faith-based healthcare system that very much lives a mission rooted and growing in faith. I enjoy that. Nurses Week carries a stronger significance as chaplains throughout my healthcare system host special, voluntary services or even one-on-one moments to bless the hands of nurses who, as one chaplain explained, “were blessed by Someone far greater than I long before this moment of blessing.”

I had the privilege of participating in a blessing-of-the-hands ceremony this week alongside some of the very nurses I work with. It was a humbling moment – a sacred moment – as the chaplain physically touched, anointed, and prayed over our hands.

It meant a lot to me as I embraced the care another professional was giving to me, acknowledging hands that make the intangible – care, knowledge, and experience  – tangible.