THE BILITIES
"Give the pencil back to your sister."
"But she took my MP3 player and won't tell me where she put it."
"Sir, I need to see your driver's license and proof of insurance. Where are you going in such a hurry, today?"
"I wasn't going any faster than anybody else. Why didn't you go after that Camero? He passed me while you were chasing me. This isn't fair!"
Recognize them? They're the Deniabilities."
"Don't forget to take your clean clothes up to your room. We're having company tomorrow!"
"All right, Mom, right after this program is over. Hey, bubba, I've got something for you to do. . ."
"You'll need to set up an appointment for an interview so your father can get on the waiting list."
"Sure, I'll do that after this big corporate shebang is over in two months. I don't have time to do it, right now."
Recognize them? They're the Irresponsibiities.
"Your assignment for this week is to find someone you've hurt and apologize. I'm sure there's someone out there who needs to hear those words from you."
"You're right, there is. I'm not sure I can do it, though. The wound I left is pretty deep."
"Then you'd better ask for the right words to say before it's too late."
Recognize them? They're the Accountabilities.
We live in a society where it seems nobody wants to take the responsiblity for doing anything wrong. There's always the finger pointing at the other person, the excuses and rationalizations to make oneself look good and another look bad. We lie, we deny, we bend the truth to fit our need, and we don't bat an eye. We let others take the fall for something they didn't instigate, and we close our eyes and bury our heads in the sand so we don't have to take a stand.
The two Bible studies for this month deal with Law and Gospel, as it turns out. They hint at the possibility that maybe we think justice is deserved by those who are being punished (as long as it's not us!), and that we are definitely entitled to mercy, but perhaps that "someone else" sure isn't. . .
There's a story about a rich man who was waiting to get into heaven at the end of his life, and when St. Peter opened the gates of heaven, the rich man looked around with amazement at the low-life's who were already there. He saw the faces of those for whom he'd had no use while alive, and he couldn't understand how God could let them into heaven. When he questioned St. Peter about it, Peter said, "It's funny that you should ask. They were wondering the same thing about you."
May God make us more like Him in the things we look for in those around us. May we only seek to build up those who are beaten down, and may we accept the hand that reaches out to help us stand back up.