Hymn Reflection - Show Me Your Hands, Your Feet, Your Side

Unbound text author Chris Shelton reflects on "Show Me Your Hands, Your Feet, Your Side" by Sylvia G. Dunstan and Mark A. Miller.

Easter is, of course, a glorious day for triumphant songs and glad Alleluias scattered all over the place. And yet—the first Easter, if we are honest with the tales we tell, was a day of confusion, a day of doubt, a day of bewilderment, even a day of fear; it was a difficult day. Sometimes, I think we let that get lost amidst all the triumph and trumpets. This year, as we are moving through difficult times, maybe it’s a good time to be honest about the struggles that are in the story. Maybe it’s a good year to remember the scars that are fully present in the story, too.

I’m drawn to a rich and honest text by Sylvia Dunstan that has been recently set by Mark Miller: “Show Me Your Hands, Your Feet, Your Side.” This is, of course, a rendering of the “doubting Thomas” story that many of us will hold in mind for the Sunday after Easter. And yet, it’s a story that clarifies what we see when we meet the risen Christ. He still bears the wounds we gave him. He still carries those scars.

Listen to the text: “Show me your hands, your feet, your side, I will not be deceived. Unless I see, how can I trust the news that I’ve received.”

Can’t we all resonate with that? It means something to see the hands, the feet, the wounds of the Risen One. They show us that Christ still identifies with our struggles and our pains. In the music Mark Miller gives us, there’s a wonderful (and yet not so wonderful) chord–a chord that doesn’t really belong, and it leaps out to me as I play and sing. We’re in the key of C, but suddenly we’re given this oddly augmented and out of place C/A♭ chord. In the first stanza, this chord accompanies the word “trust” — and tells us that trust has some pain in it. Later on, in the third stanza, we sing “Not even Easter takes away the marks that Jesus bears. The risen Christ still wears the wounds…” and there it is again on the word “wounds.”

The first Easter was a hard day, and though no one really knew what was going on, Christ still showed up, scars and all. Maybe our people need to hear that. As we go through the shadows of these times, maybe we all need to find ways to feel that Jesus is with us in the midst of the pains and the struggles, even bearing them with us.

The story of Christ’s rising is not a story that takes all the pain away. Instead, it gives us the assurance that the Risen One walks with us through whatever doubts and fears and pains we may face. So let us sing our Alleluias and let us sing our struggle to trust. Let us sing in the midst of hard times of the One who is with us even wearing our wounds. Happy Easter.

Here are some other hymns that hold space for the honest struggles of Easter:

“Christ Still Rises” - Text by David Bjorlin, Music by Benjamin Brody

“Morning Breaks, the World Awakens” Text by Hannah C. Brown, Music by Sally Ann Morris

“Roll Away the Stone” Text by Hannah C. Brown (RESTORTION)

“Through the Walls” Text by Chris Shelton, Music by Sally Ann Morris