LIVING WITH A LEFT-HANDER

Yup.

"The Hub" is a proud left-hander.

A southpaw.

And I can always tell when he's been out-and-about in the house.

My just-cleaned blouses are hung up in the opposite direction.  Dusted decorative elements on our shelves are replaced backwards.  The TV remote is on the left-hand side of the recliner.

I find it kind of endearing.


Here's some fun facts about lefties:

1. Only about 10% of the population is left-handed.  And women, by a margin of 4%, are more likely to be right-handed.  (Interesting sidenote, though: Women, by a margin of 100%, are more likely to be right...ahem)

2. August 13th is "Left Handers' Day."

3. In Latin, the word for left is sinister, related to the noun sinistrum.

4. The word left in English comes from the Anglo-Saxon word lyft, which means weak or broken.  The Oxford English Dictionary defines left-handed as meaning crippled, defective, awkward, clumsy, inapt, characterized by underhanded dealings, ambiguous, doubtful, questionable, ill-omened, inauspicious, and illegitimate.  (Poor lefties – they have really gotten a bad rap throughout history!)

5. The German for "left-handed" is linkisch, which means awkward, clumsy, and maladroit.  In Italian, the word is mancino, which is derived from "crooked" or "maimed" (mancus) and is also used to mean deceitful or dishonest.  In Russian, to be called a left-hander (levja) is a term of insult.

6. Although approximately 90% of all humans are right-handed, cats, rats, and mice that show handedness seem to be equally split between right- and left-pawedness.  (I think Marty's a rightie...)

7. Studies have suggested that left-handers are more talented in spatial awareness, math, and architecture.  ("Honey, where are my keys?")  Right-handers tend to be more talented verbally.  ("Oh, here they are, on the etagere.")

8. Many people who are left-handed draw figures that face to the right.  (Which explains all the right-facing cartoon figures that "The Hub" draws for me!)

9. Researchers postulate that the proportion of left-handers has remained constant for over 30,000 years.

10. When placed on their tummies, right-handed babies tend to turn their heads to the right.  Left-handed babies usually turn their heads to the left or they don't show any preference.

11. Mothers who are over 40 at the time of a child's birth are 128% more likely to have a left-handed baby than a woman in her 20's.  (And, 128% more tired...)

12. Left-handedness runs in families. Lefties in the British royal family include the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Prince William.


The list of famous "lefties" reads like a very eclectic "Who's Who" – including such "baddies" as Jack the Ripper, John Dillinger, and Osama bin Laden, but also the following "goodies":

Benjamin Franklin, Alexander the Great, Thomas Jefferson, Aristotle, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Julius Caesar, Mozart, Beethoven, Albert Einstein, Madame Curie, Mark Twain, Helen Keller, and Gandhi.

Not to mention celebrities like Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Whoopi Goldberg, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and Robert deNiro.  And money-makers like John D. Rockefeller and Bill Gates.

Our current president is a lefty, too!

I have heard it said that handedness is largely controlled by the opposite side of the brain.  So, if you consider that, lefties are actually the only people in their right minds!!

(But don't tell "The Hub" that…)


If you recall, I earlier said that I find my husband's *leftiness* endearing.

But, I also have been known to point out to him that he does things "backwards."

Yes, that"s my "right" perceptions talking!

But honestly, I've been thinking about this whole issue of *differentness* – and our bias against those who do indeed think, act, speak, behave, look, dress differently than we do.

How easy it is to pass judgment on others.

Now, I'm not talking about matters of right and wrong here.

God is quite specific on certain matters.

I'm talking about differences that don't, and really shouldn't, matter.

In a world where tolerance is touted as an all-important value, it's interesting to me that at the same time there seems to be more and more hatred brewing.

An interesting juxtaposition, but so human.

Even in the Garden of Eden, there was trouble brewing.

Once Adam and Eve introduced sin to the world, I'm sure they started arguing over their differences.

Adam probably refused to ever ask for directions, and Eve most likely bought too many shoes…

And didn't Cain kill Abel out of jealousy?  And doesn't jealousy have its roots in comparing and judging another person by how they're different than you?

Look at the Pharisees and Sadducees arguing over religious disagreements – and yet, they completely missed Jesus.  

(Hmmm, a modern-day observation, too???)

And who could forget the family feud between the Jews and the Samaritans?


Hatred, judgment, prejudice, intolerance, bias.

How is it that we have become so "modernized" in our technology, so "refined" in our cultural sophistications, and yet, remain so banal in our innate human tendency to judge and dismiss those who are different?

And honestly, isn't this tendency most tragic when it occurs within the Body of Christ?

Have we lost Christ Himself in the short-sighted habit of picking apart our brethren?

Oh, we must stop!

Many of you will remember a song with lyrics that said: "They will know we are Christians by our love…"

Friends, this is not just a kindly suggestion.  This is a direct command!

Jesus Himself stated, "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other.  Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." 
(John 13:34-35, NLT)


So I'm taking a good long look at the relationships in my life – family, friends, fellow believers, acquaintances, strangers – and asking myself how I'm doing…

Am I accepting differences in others, especially when they rub up against me and my ways?

Am I learning how to judge less, and extend grace more?

Am I refusing to dismiss sin, while at the same time determining to embrace sinners?

Am I reaching out to the marginalized, the ostracized, the detested?

Am I loving like Jesus did?


Yeah, I've been thinking about "The Hub" and his left-handedness.  And the sometimes tongue-in-cheek, and other times what-is-wrong-with-you way that I deem his behavior "backwards" and "wrong."

When the truth of the matter is this – we're both evenhanded in our need for each other, and our deepest need of the Savior.

So this…

Might we all become more mindful of our tendency to judge and malign differences.

Might we all become more open to embracing the joys of every individual’s uniqueness.

Might we all strive to look like Christians by our love for one another, and our unity as we pursue the Author of our Faith.

Might we all endeavor to look more like Jesus.

Whose arms stretched wide open, as His hands (both left and right!) were nailed to the cross, in order to demonstrate what true love looks like.


Those precious scarred hands still reach out today…

…to every single person alive on this earth.


Let's do the same.

 Seeing
eye-to-eye
starts
with the
heart.

"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.  For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:20, NIV)

"For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus…There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female.  For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:26, 28, NLT)

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." (Galatians 5:6, ESV)

"But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For He Himself is our peace…by abolishing in His flesh the enmity…" (Ephesians 2:13-15, NASB)

"My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory." (James 2:1, ESV)

"So Peter opened his mouth and said: 'Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.'" (Acts 10:34-35, ESV)

"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?  Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3:16-18, NASB)

"'Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.  For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.'" (Luke 6:37-38, ESV)

"You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister?  Or why do you treat them with contempt?  For we will all stand before God's judgment seat…Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.  Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister." (Romans 14:10, 13, NIV)

"Believers, do not speak against or slander one another.  He who speaks [self-righteously] against a brother or judges his brother [hypocritically], speaks against the Law and judges the Law.  If you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.  There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy [the one God who has the absolute power of life and death]; but who are you to [hypocritically or self-righteously] pass judgment on your neighbor?" (James 4:11-12, AMP)

"Therefore you have no excuse…every one of you who judges.  For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things." (Romans 2:1, ESV)

"'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye…'" 
(Matthew 7:3-5, NIV)

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you fed me.  I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.  I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave me clothing.  I was sick, and you cared for me.  I was in prison, and you visited me.'

Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you?  Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality?  Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'" 
(Matthew 25:34-40, NLT)




Do you struggle with differences?  Are you prone to judgment?



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