Why is it called Dominie Hands?

From my About page

I had wrestled with what to call this Substack for some time. My wife, our five children and I live on a dairy farm in the North Okanagan of British Columbia, and I help on the farm occasionally with milking and other odd jobs. We keep a few goats as pets and have a flock of chickens in our backyard. We enjoy the rhythms, smells, sounds, and views of farm life. However, I spend most of my hours holed up in my basement study reading, writing, attending Zoom meetings, listening to lectures, and doing student/pastory-type things. It is an interesting combination of lifestyles.

A few months ago, my in-laws visited the Netherlands for vacation. My father-in-law works on the farm where we live. He jokes with our kids that he doesn’t need gloves because his hands are so calloused from work on the farm. When he was in the Netherlands, he commented to a relative that his hands were going soft from not working for two weeks. The relative commented in a Frisian accent, “Ah, you are getting dominie hands.”

A ‘dominie’ is a Dutch word often used for minister or pastor. Living in the Dutch Reformed tradition all my life, I appreciate the roots of our Christian Reformed heritage. There are still a few seniors every Sunday who call me ‘Dominie’ as they shake my hand after the worship service. And that is what my hands are: Dominie Hands. I live on the farm and enjoy farm life, but my hands are more accustomed to turning the pages of a nice book and plucking away at my keyboard than milking cows or welding something back together.

So here we are, at the beginning of an adventure, full-time studies, farm life, a busy family, and a place to write.

For the Glory of God alone,

Curtis Meliefste