{"id":10552,"date":"2013-12-09T20:29:20","date_gmt":"2013-12-10T01:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=10552"},"modified":"2013-12-09T20:29:20","modified_gmt":"2013-12-10T01:29:20","slug":"blame-and-the-immaculate-conception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2013\/12\/blame-and-the-immaculate-conception.html","title":{"rendered":"Blame and the Immaculate Conception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>It has been such a crazy busy day that it\u2019s now 8pm and I\u2019m just getting around to this blog post which has been sitting in my noggin all day.<\/p>\n

The Immaculate Conception reminds us of the original problem with original sin: blaming others. When things go wrong the first thing we do is blame others.<\/p>\n

God: \u201cAdam, did you eat the fruit?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam: \u201cEve gave it to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

God: \u201cOK. Eve, did you eat the fruit?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eve: \u201cThe devil made me do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is what I encounter time and again in dealing with people (including myself) the first instinct is to blame others. In fact, this is not only the first instinct, but the constant instinct and it operates 24-7 at the mico and the macro level. I blame others for my problem. You blame your husband, you blame your wife, you blame your kids, you blame your parents, you blame your boss, you blame your colleagues.<\/p>\n

Then on the bigger level you blame the priest, you blame the bishop, you blame the pope, you blame the president, you blame the senators, you blame the big businessmen, you blame the communists, you blame the fascists, you blame the right, you blame the left. You blame the blacks, you blame the whites, you blame the immigrants, you blame the natives. It\u2019s non stop.<\/p>\n

The one person you don\u2019t blame is yourself.<\/p>\n

Then the other half of this insane and dangerous aptitude and attitude is that while we blame other people for everything that\u2019s wrong we also expect everyone else to do everything for us. So not only is it their fault, but they were supposed to look after us and make everything right. Who did you think was going to clean your room? Who did you think was going to do your work for you? Who did you think was going to make the world perfect for you? Somebody else. Who? The fairies?<\/p>\n

This is the insane immaturity of most people. They think somebody else is going to do everything for them. They don\u2019t step up to the plate. They assume somebody else will do it. Then they turn around and blame everybody else for not doing it and not following through and not fixing the world for them and making their world a bad place to be.<\/p>\n

This basic fault is my fault. It\u2019s your fault. It\u2019s the big fault line running through the human race. \u201cIt\u2019s somebody else\u2019s fault and somebody else is supposed to fix things for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is why the Immaculate Conception is so delightful because God does start the work, but Mary picks up the ball and runs with it. She take responsibility. She says, \u201cThe Lord has done great things for me. Let it be to me according to your word.\u201d In other words, I\u2019ll take the blame. I\u2019ll pick up Eve\u2019s trash. I\u2019ll do the work with God. I won\u2019t expect someone else to do it and I sure won\u2019t blame anyone else.<\/p>\n

This is also why the Christian faith is so refreshing because right up front, the very first part of the deal is something called repentance. Right at the beginning we say, \u201cMea Culpa. Mea Culpa. Mea Culpa.\u2013It\u2019s my fault. It\u2019s my fault. It\u2019s my fault. I take the blame. What\u2019s wrong with the world? I am, your sincerely\u2026.Then one gets on with the work of doing something about it.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t think of any other religion which so outlandishly stands the world on its head. Here is human nature\u2013insistent that somebody else do everything and somebody else take all the blame, and then we come along and say\u2013\u201cNo it\u2019s your fault. You take the blame. Furthermore, you take the blame as much as you can for everybody else too. Like Mary did\u2013you pick up their trash.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact our whole religion revolves around the astounding truth that this is what Jesus Christ himself came to do: he came to take the blame. He came to do something about the problem. He took the responsibility. He embraced the fault. He accepted the blame. He paid the price. He picked up the trash\u2013and re-cycled it\u2013he didn\u2019t blame anybody and took all the blame himself.<\/p>\n

The challenge is for us to do the same. A mature person takes the blame. A mature person doesn\u2019t blame anyone else. Ever. A mature person takes responsibility and realizes if they don\u2019t do it nobody will. A mature person is a person who is growing into the image of Christ.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest problems I see in working with religious people is that they revert to their infantile state and refuse to take the blame. They continue to blame someone else. They do not take responsibility. They continue to tell themselves they are wonderful and there is nothing wrong with them, and as long as they do they must continue to blame someone else.<\/p>\n

And that always leads to violence of some sort.<\/p>\n

Remember Cain and Abel.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been such a crazy busy day that it\u2019s now 8pm and I\u2019m just getting around to this blog post which has been sitting in my noggin all day. The Immaculate Conception reminds us of the original problem with original sin: blaming others. When things go wrong the first thing we do is blame […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBlame and the Immaculate Conception<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It has been such a crazy busy day that it's now 8pm and I'm just getting around to this blog post which has been sitting in my noggin all day. 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