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i am very much a right-brain person. the idea of a "left-brain" world tosses me off reality. recently on the postmodern theology group the idea came out about "God of the right-brain" and it got me thinking, "that is why i do not get 99% of what evangelicals are saying, i think with a different part of my brain." most churches and theologies tend to have a "left-brain" view of God and theology, and my "right-brain" view of God and theology just does not seem to fit. let me see if i can explain what i mean.
picture this (for all us right-brain people this is easy), start to talk about God is terms like "creativity" and "sensitive" and "emotional" and "random" and people in the church will freak out. most with a modern mind, like to see God as a logical expression of the left-brain, most churches are very comfortable with a "God of the left-brain" but they do not know how to deal with a "God of the right-brain." the God of the right-brain is the one that pushes us past the idea that we need "human securities" and places us in the middle of the messy, dirty, hurtful lives of others where "rules" and "order" just have no reality.
God of the left-brain:
the left-brain sees the world very different then that of the right-brain. because of this, i believe those with a "left-brain" view sees God in a very different light then those with a "right-brain" view. in the left-brain world things are logical, sequential, rational, analytical, objective and it sees the world as "parts." in that "view" the "God of the left-brain" falls into that very same reality; they see God as being a very logical, orderly, rational, objective God that fits the way they see the world. because the "God of the left-brain" is all that, the theology of a "left-brain" is seen as having a "logical order" and "rules" that govern the way we see the world; it is the structured view of systematic theology. because of the planning needed to truly live in a left-brain world, they see the world as some what safe, as long as the plan is followed to all practical levels. because of this, God is seen as "logical, planned, detail oriented and all knowing" God. the God of the left-brains is present and past, order and pattern, math and science and knows everything. in fact, theologies (like "atemporal" where God exists out of time) are created to force God into a "left-brain" reality. The God of the left-brain has a "formed strategy" that only those with great knowledge of the God of the left-brain can truly know, understand and see as an "absolute." because of this desire to have order in this world, this realization of God, humanity (those based on the left brain) thinks it can "know all there is to know of God" and then can use the words and language to define that God in terms they believe are "true." for this reality sees God as, planned and knowable and therefore explainable. this is the optimistic view of God.
God of the right brain:
but i am not very comfortable with the "God of the left-brain." to me, this view of God does not express what i see in God. in the right brain world things are random, intuitive, holistic, synthesizing, subjective and sees the world as "whole." in a right-brain world, things hold less form and have no set boundaries. now, i will admit that this is the world i feel comfortable; i am at home seeing the God of the right-brain. i like the "right-brain" world - even though the world would rather we all be "left-brain" and they try hard to get me to being a left-brain person - i love living in the right-brain, and i love seeing God as a "God of the right brain." to me, this view of God we see more feeling, it's more "big picture orientated" and it sees images and symbols as the "language" of speak. this view of God of the right-brain, encourages us to take risk, and run with the waves sent and not worry about failing. knowing the God of the right-brain, is knowing the God that creates, the God that breaths, the God that embraces, the God that goes beyond the "godly" and becomes flesh and walks with us. this God is more impetuous, more believing, more "present and future," more imagination based and far more subjective.
some interesting information:
most individuals have a distinct preference for one of these styles of seeing God. there is no one on this planet that can claim to be "whole-brained" in their view of God. In reality, one sees God as "God of the left-brain" or "God of the right-brain." this "reality" has more to do with the way the brain works then with the way people would like it to work. the problem we have is that the mind can only focus on data from one side at a time; while we can switch from one side to the other very quickly, in our world, this "battle" is almost always won (the win is forced by social pressure) by the left-brain. because of this battle "of the sides" sometimes skills which the right-brain can perform better are routinely handled, with less skill, by the left-brain - we "give-in" and allow the left side to take over. this is due more for social pressure, and fitting in then it is because the "left" side is better. if our world was centered more on creativity, then the left would have less control in general, churches, denominations and theologians tend to favor left-brain modes of thinking and therefore they like idea that God of the left-brain. in general they downplay the right-brain desires and tag them "fanciful" or "utopian" or "wishful thinking" or "unrealistic." a left-brain focus, for them, is seen as "logical thinking," and "analysis," and "accuracy." while those same people see the right-brained view as focus on "aesthetics," and "feeling," and "creativity" which they see as "dreaming."
depending on our view of God - "God of the left-brain" or "God of the right-brain," depends on how we see the world and all the possibilities that God has to offer. for me, seeing and knowing the God of the right-brain" means i get to see people as people, and i get to love people with emotions that run deep and a heart that is willing to give all i have for another person. when I see the "God of the right-brain" i get to see all the potentials, and not the problems; i get to see how we can, and not why we should not; i get to create, instead of define; i get to move forward, instead of living in the past. when we allow the left-brain to define God, we remove all that God is and make God the puppet of humanity, instead of seeing God as the creator of all there is. the two brains, and theologies that form from them, not only see the world in vastly different ways but, in our current society, the left-brain just "doesn't get" what the right-brain is all about - they "miss the boat." the "God of the left-brain" tends to dismiss anything significant coming into consciousness from its "flaky" right-brain twin. in reality, there are times when the two sides can actually disagree, resulting in a perception of emotional turmoil from the expressive protesting of right-brain.
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