Kethuvim

I recently re-read the story of the fall in Genesis. If you nothing of the Bible, the fall is the term used for when humanity sinned for the first time and everything went down the proverbial crapper. At it's very core, the story of Adam and Eve is the story of all of humanity. I'll give you an example, but first, let me give you a quick run-down of events, mixed in with actual quotes from the Scriptures.

God creates people affectionately known as "Adam" (earth or dirt), and "Eve" (living). He calls them "good," but he places a tree in the middle that he tells them not to eat from (this is the equivalent to telling a 2 year old to not stick his hand into the cookie jar). One day, Eve is strolling her naked self through the garden and she comes across a serpent (the personification of all that is evil), who has some tricksy words for her concerning this tree. He convinces her that eating of the fruit of this "forbidden" tree will deliver all sorts of wonderful things her way. Lo and behold, she makes the wrong choice (don't we always make the wrong choice?), takes a bite, and all hell breaks loose. Here's where the story takes, at least in my mind, a funny twist (and by funny, I mean tragic). Here's the actual dialogue from the story:

God: Where are you?

Adam: I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.

God: Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?

Adam: The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.

God (to Eve): What is this you have done?

Eve: The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

Seriously, it's almost like you expected the serpent to next say, "Dude, don't blame me, you created me, so it's probably your fault." We really don't like taking responsibility for anything do we? How many times have you been caught doing something, and your synapses start firing, "Who can I pin this on?" No one likes taking responsibility for anything negative that we cause; if the story teaches us anything, it's that this is part of the human condition. How many times have you heard of a marriage breaking up because of infidelity, and the person who slept around claims that the other spouse drove them to do it? It happens all the time. The reality is that the man (or woman) couldn't control themselves, and they bought the lie that the grass was greener on the other side. Take responsibility for the lives you've destroyed through your actions.

Here's the interesting thing about the story in Genesis, the whole team (read: all of creation) pays the price for it.

Sometimes our junk has consequences for those around us, doesn't it? Sometimes our mess spills over onto someone else. The best thing that we can do in these situations when we fail (and we tend to do that from time to time), is to man up and take responsibility for the people we've hurt.

This is my biggest problem with our current President (and, to be fair, most of our Presidents). He screwed up big time with the Iraq situation (I'm sorry if you don't agree with that, but deal with it, the evidence is all over the place), and he's taken absolutely no responsibility for it. Bill Clinton was the same way. He had an affair in the Oval Office, lied about it under oath, then later admitted to it. Here's the thing, he never once took any responsibility for it, and he hasn't to this day. I don't think these are bad men, but they refuse to take responsibility for their actions. Both instances hurt a lot of people, all I want is to hear, "I screwed up and I'm sorry."

My guess is that this won't happen though, because, hey, "The dog ate my homework."