OK, OK, so I haven't blogged in a while. Sue me. It's been a little crazy with Fall studies beginning, restarting a stalled dissertation, and avoiding the heat as much as possible.
Today, I'll reenter the blogosphere with a word about responsibility. It seems to be a subject that needs attention. As a parent, I'll say that teaching responsibility to children is one of the most difficult things to do. You want your children to take responsibility for making mistakes, breaking things, hitting their sibling. You want your children to learn to be accountable--to be the people they say they are.
But then our world gives them examples like Leroy and Michael. And you realize that the fight is much harder than you ever thought.
You may not know the name Leroy Greer. Allow me to introduce you to him. He is currently suing 1.800.Flowers. Here's his story. He buys his girlfriend a dozen roses while separated from his wife. 1.800.Flowers sends a thank you note to his home some months later--after his wife has moved back in with him. The wife reads it, gets 1.800.Flowers to fax her a copy of the original bill, and then dumps her husband (Leroy) and files for divorce.
Here's a news article on it. And if you want to watch the man on the news, watch here.
Evidently, Leroy is very upset because the flower company's "mistake" is going to cost him big bucks in his divorce. Here's what his lawyer said: ""This is not a moral issue," Foote said. "The issue is, is 1-800-Flowers in the business of causing divorce or are they in the business of sending flowers and sticking to their privacy policy?"
My response? Who is really causing the divorce here? I'll bet 1.800.Flowers doesn't even know his wife. Maybe he does have a legal leg to stand on. Maybe he the flower company does have some liability here for violating their Privacy Policy. But at the end of the day, this is a man refusing to be held accountable for his own actions. (And as an aside, I think he's getting off easy. If my wife caught me sending roses to someone else, I'd be buried under rose bushes.)
But before I go too far, let me offer up Example B. It's the name we've all heard ad nauseum the past few months. Michael Vick. Today, Michael Vick decided that that handwriting was on the wall and he decided to plead guilty to federal dogfighting charges before things got worse. This a month after he said (through his lawyer) that he "looked forward to clearing his good name." The evidence is clear in this one that Vick organized, funded, and participated in the dogfighting venture. So far, however, there has been no public admittance of guilt. No acceptance of responsibility. Not even, "Dude, I'm sorry." Maybe it's early and that will come soon. For his sake, I hope it does. But I have a feeling that Michael's plea today was much less about taking responsibility for who he was and who he wasn't and more about trying to avoid jail time.
Now, I know some of you may be thinking, "Boy, Eddie got on his high horse tonight. Why the judgmental kick?" This got under my skin because somewhere along the way, for all of us, we come to moments in our lives where we don't point the finger somewhere else (like a flower company that sold you flowers for your mistress) or just tell the truth so you avoid some of the penalty. We tell the truth because it is cleansing for the soul. We tell the truth because we need to, regardless of how much it stings. You can't go forward in life until you have honestly and faithfully dealt with the past and the impact of your actions.
There's a great story in scripture about King David. He slept with another man's wife, and then when she turned up pregnant had him killed in battle. A prophet came along and tricked David into admitting that what he had done was wrong. David repented. He lost the child, but grew because he saw and admitted that what he had done was less than Godly.
Our world needs a strong injection of responsibility and accountability. There are moments and seasons when I need an injection of that, just like you do at times.
Tonight, I pray for Leroy and Michael. And for all of us, that we would become the men and women God desires us to be. And take responsibility for it when we're not.
