As the discussion continued, there were officials quoted who lamented the internet, e-commerce, and other methods by which the Post Office has lost volumes of mail over the years.
However, all I could hear was "the blame game." After all, none of the officials said anything at all about the incompetence of the postal service that so many customers have complained about over the years. The complaints registered about the rise in prices but radical decline in service. Perhaps these are reasons why so many people have "gone over to the dark side" and used other methods to deliver their missives.
I know, for myself, that when I was at another parish for several years, our mail delivery was questionable at best and atrocious at worst. There were many pieces of mail that people said they sent that never, ever arrived. There were many pieces of mail that the parish sent that never made it to their destinations.
Complaint after complaint just gave us the blame game: all the mail went to a different regional office and they messed up the routing, careless employees, et cetera. No one would ever claim responsibility and promise better service. But they were sure in line to promise higher rates.
Now this blog entry today is not about the Post Office -- as much as I may want it to be!
Actually, it is about the blame game.
We are in the season of Lent and we are being asked to examine our lives to see the areas in which we need to change. As we look at our lives, we may engage in our own spiritual version of the blame game. We might realize that we are short-tempered with people but we may blame it on them and their actions rather than on our response. We may realize the need to create more time to pray but end up blaming our work schedule rather than our time management. We may realize our propensity to sin but lay the blame elsewhere: the ol' "devil made me do it" defense!
No blame game today.
Look at yourself honestly.
See what needs to change.
Then, do it. Simple as that.
And if that does not work for you today, do not blame me!
