Who's fault is it, anyway?

J and I have this routine. It's not a routine that I would choose -- in fact, it frustrates me every time we play it through. I ask, "J, have you done your reading today?" (He has to read 2 hours a week for school). Inevitably, he smacks his head, as if he could have had a V-8 and says, "I forgot!"

No, he didn't forget. He chose to not read. He couldn't possibly forget every day.

Do we try to remain blameless in our lives? Do we relinquish responsibility? How do we do it?

• Do we blame other people for our own errors? "If he had only reminded me, then I would have taken care of the problem."
• Do we use excuses? "I'm so busy! I just forgot."
• Do we blame God? "Why did God let this happen?"
• Do we blame Satan? "The devil just didn't want us to do well."

So many times I have heard the question, "Why does God let horrible things happen? Why is there hunger? Why are children abused? Why does God allow terrible people to do awful things?"

What is our role? What is it that we are supposed to be doing? Could it be that some of the blame belongs in our laps?

Image: Fog on the Ohio River