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Good Morning.

I have always thought of myself as a little accident-prone, a bit clumsy. I sometimes have trouble hanging on to the change a shop assistant gives me. And if someone helps me put on a coat, I often end up tangled in the sleeves and need to start over. If any of this sounds familiar, we might have something in common: you might be left-handed too. Apparently, because most people – around 90% - are right-handed, the way we interact with each other can result in mishaps. When a right-handed way of doing something meets a left-handed way, dropped coins and twisted coat sleeves can be the result. Today, August 13th, is International Left-Hander’s Day, and there are a surprising number of ways that it is being celebrated, with festivals and events devoted to what in the Irish language is called "Cithog", which also means "awkward". Indeed, in most languages, the word for left-handed often also means clumsy, crooked or even stupid. Superstition about people who are different in any way probably is behind that, as well as the fact that tools, kitchen utensils, school desks, and even computer keyboards are designed for right-handed people.

However, as a ‘life-long-leftie’, I have, over time, learned a little more about other left-handed people, who include the composer Mozart, the artists Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, and the actor and humourist WC Fields, who put it this way: "If the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and the right side of your brain controls the left side of your body, then left-handed people must be the only ones in their right minds."

Lord of all, help us remember that you made all of us to be a unique reflection of your existence; each of us different, all of us loved unconditionally by our creator. Amen