Helping Hands (continued)

WowCoach(tm)
DeskTopCoaching
August 7, 2001

Please note that this message is being sent out early.  I will
be away for the next two weeks.  Our regular weekly 
message will return on Monday, August 20, 2001.

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Welcome to the weekly edition of DeskTopCoaching. This
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My Brother's Hands

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg,
lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely
to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of
the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen
hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find
in the neighborhood.

Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer's
elder children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent
for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be
financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at
the Academy.

After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two
boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser
would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support
his brother while he attended the academy.

Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies,
in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy,
either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring
in the mines. They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church.
Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.

Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four
years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost
an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his
oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by
the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees
for his commissioned works.

When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family
held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's
triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal,
punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his
honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast
to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had
enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition.

His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine,
now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your
dream, and I will take care of you."

All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table
where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his
lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over
and over,

"No...no...no...no."

Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He
glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then,
holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly,

"No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me.
Look, look what four years in the mines have done to my hands!
The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and
lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right
hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much
less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or
a brush. No, brother...for me it is too late."

More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's
hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches,
watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang
in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great
that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of
Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with
it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your
home or office.

One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed,
Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands
with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He
called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire
world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great
masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love -

"The Praying Hands."

The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take
a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one,
that no one, no one, ever makes it alone!

                     ~ Author Unknown ~


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Copyright 2000. All rights reserved. Permission is
granted to reproduce or distribute this newsletter as
long as this copyright notice and full information about
contacting the  author is attached. This newsletter is
produced by Dr. Janice Hughes B.Sc., M.Sc., D.C.

Dr. Janice Hughes is a Chiropractor who focuses on
health and wellness. She runs a private practice,
Whole Body Health, in Brantford, Ontario. She has created
an integrative health model which provides a group of
professionals partnering to provide lifestyle coaching
and education. Dr. Hughes is also a Coach who works
with individuals, teams or organizations who are
committed to getting ahead, changing direction or
simply growing.

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