Handed Over . . .

In Caravaggio's "The Taking of Christ" there are four depictions of hands: in the upper left, the hand of panic; below and slightly to the right of that, Judas' hand clutching Christ; above and to the right, the hand of the artist himself (holding a lantern as though holding a paintbrush); and at the center of the painting at the bottom, the hands of Christ who -- as he is being "handed over" to those who will torture and kill him -- has already handed himself over to the Father in whom he has complete confidence.

As T. S. Eliot famously said: "Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good."