Our hearts may be set on God, but our minds are always distracted by the different things in our lives. That is why God has always communicated to us through signs and symbols – whether they be a bronze snake, two tablets of stone, the Ark of the Covenant, or even the prophets themselves! Ultimately, God spoke to us through the Cross, a sign that he still communicates with us through, silently but powerfully.

If you have happened to pass through the Atacama desert in Chile, you may have come across a Giant hand, seemingly popping up out nowhere. Although this giant concrete hand has nothing to do with faith or God, the presence of this hand is very reminiscent of the silent but powerful presence of God in the midst of silence and desolation. Again, this is a very symbolic approach to us who are of faith – God’s hand is forever present in our lives, even in the most trying of situations. In fact, the location happens to be the most “unearthly” and “barren” spot in what happens to be the world’s most dry, non-polar desert. How much we have to learn from this monument! Something similar happened in the wilderness when the Israelites rebelled against Moses – and what healed them from the poison of doubt that they were stricken with was a bronze snake that Moses erected on a pole. May the giant hand of Atacama remind us to keep our minds on God in today’s world of doubt and disbelief.

Share this story to remind others that God is always at work in our lives, even when we can’t see it.