A Left-Handed Friend

During that big snowstorm last month I was looking for a pair of gloves to wear while shoveling. I did not want a good pair since I was also spreading salt or a really heavy pair which would make gripping the shovel difficult. I went to the pile of gloves beside the kitchen door and all I could find were gloves for the left hand. I suppose I should not be surprised about this, being right-handed I tend to wear out the right glove before the left. My wife joked about I needed to find a left-handed friend so we could swap gloves. It became a bit of a mantra around the house when I could not find other things (which seems to happen more and more often these days). It also reminded me of people I have known. One was the story of several left-handed friends who had attended Catholic schools. They  were required to use their right hand. Some even told of having their left hand hit with a ruler if they forgot and used it. Another story is of a person who was a member of one of the previous congregations that I served. She told me that she would not let a left-handed person check her out at a store because you could not trust them. What a strange prejudice that is, I thought.

We all have prejudices and preferences. We develop them to help us navigate the difficulties of life. We use them when we have to make a decision. They are most usable when that decision has to be quick although all of our decisions are shaded by them. The problem comes when our prejudices are based upon opinion and not truth. Plato talks about this. Opinions, he says, come from persuasion and not truth. He uses the example of a horse. If you had never seen a horse, I could convince you that it crawled on the ground and had iridescent scales. But when you saw a horse you would know the truth. If I had made the horse out to be extremely dangerous, you might even go to extremes to avoid horses and then never experience the truth nor the joy of riding one.

While our prejudices can help us make decisions and oftentimes are beneficial when a quick decision is needed they also prevent us from new experiences and meeting people who could become new friends. More importantly, prejudices may also prevent us from answering God’s call. During the season of Epiphany we have been reading from First Corinthians. In that letter Paul is guiding the Corinthians to see the world in a different light than they had in the past. While they were deciding which gifts were the best and who was the greatest Christian, Paul encouraged them to work together as one. He encouraged them to accept each other’s differences so that, together, they may share the love of Jesus with all.

This Lent as you follow the discipline of prayer, repentance, and alms giving, I challenge you to take account of your own gifts and prejudices. With Jesus as your guide look to find new avenues where you can share your gifts. Let Jesus be your guide. He who gave up what it meant to be God, emptied himself, and took on the form of a slave and, being in human form, humbled himself and was obedient to death – even death on the cross (Philippians 2:1-11). Humble yourself before God, ask for forgiveness and give your gifts so that the world may know and experience God’s love.