A Show of Hands

I remember hearing this story once, in a sermon, and it has stuck with me ever since. Apparently, there was a village in Germany, that have a large statue of Christ, arms outstretched, in the town plaza. During WWII, the village was bombed, and I suppose that many, if not most, of the people fled. Upon returning, they found that the statue still stood, but that its hands had been destroyed by the bombardments. At the conclusion of the war, the people were determined to repair the statue, and formed committees with the purpose of raising the funds to do so, but then a local priest stood and made the following argument: Christ taught us that we, the church, are his body - that we are to do his work here on earth, because he is not here to do so himself. In this light, I propose that we leave the statue of our Lord as it is, without its hands, as I constant reminder that we are the hands of Christ, and that it is our duty to do his work here on earth.
Terri Schiavo, even in her diminished capacity, had meaning to her life. She provided those around her, her parents, her husband, her siblings, the opportunity to be the hands of Christ. She also touched a nation, stirring it to look deeply into its soul, and inspiring many others to act as they perceive that Christ would want them to - doing the work of Christ here on earth. Terri is gone now, but she can still inspire us.
Good Night, Terri. Godspeed.