Blogworthy Weekend, Act 2

My experience at the concert this weekend got me thinking about worship services and styles. I had to ask myself why I often have such a hard time getting into the whole "sing worship songs, have announcements, offering, sermon, go home" routine on Sunday mornings? Some days I can enter into true worship while singing, others not so much. Despite the fact that our pastor is a very good speaker and delivers solid messages, I don't long remember most of what he brings us each week. On the other hand though, the concert Saturday night was incredibly engaging for me and I expect I'll remember it for the rest of my life. 72 hours later many of the lyrics, melodies, visuals and the overall feeling are still very vivid to me. Why is it so much easier to remember all that?

I think I arrived at an answer on Saturday night... and it started like this: I'm left-handed.

As you probably know, lefties tend to access the right side of their brain more and this side of the brain is where we get our creativity and, well, it's our artistic side. So lefties tend to be more artistically expressive than their right-handed oppressors (err, I mean "counterparts"). Many of the most famous artists in the world were left-handed: M.C. Escher, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, Lewis Carroll, Leo Tolstoy, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, H.G. Wells, J.S. Bach, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, David Bowie, James Brown, 50 Cent, Billy Corgan, Phil Collins and Charlie Chaplin, to name a few. It's an impressive list considering only 8-12% of all people are left-handed. We're disproportionately represented in lists of artistic talents.

I could go on for some time about all this, but I digress ... the point is: though I do not sing, play an instrument, paint, compose or anything of the sort, I'm somewhat inclined toward the arts, and I believe that my heart wants to express itself and be spoken to in artistic forms. Hence, a well-written song might have more of an impact on me than a well-delivered sermon. Now if that same sermon were performed theatrically somehow, it might capture me more. Likewise, music can have varying degrees of artistic value. Some people play songs, some people create art and others lead worship -- a small few lead others into worship through their art and these are my favorite people of all.

Bottom line: I think I'm a bit of an artsy type, even though I do not look or act the part. Maybe that makes me a closet artsy type. And maybe it's time for me to come out of the closet and embrace my inner artsiness. It is, after all, God-given ... just as being left-handed is!