Making Excuses a Sign of Weakness

Making excuses makes one weak.
I was reading an article in which Jesse James, Sandra Bullock’s soon to be ex-husband, blamed his actions on a bad childhood in which he was treated badly.
It didn’t wash with me. I can understand making mistakes, but to blame it on “mom and ‘em” is a cop out.
We are the sum total of our life’s experiences. Those experiences are both good and bad, pleasant and not so pleasant. We are who we are because of who we were. Our mistakes, our growing up, all shaped us. We had blessings and we had lessons; lessons which we internalized and digested oftentimes led to blessings.
It is especially important for kids and youth to get this lesson. Every single adult in the world can point to a time when he or she got treated not so good, to when he or she was hurt by a parent or relative, when he or she felt unloved and unwanted.
The reason the world keeps on going, though, is because some people choose to remember the bad experiences as lessons and maybe even blessings, instead of “the reason” they are like they are, in a negative sense.
Langston Hughes wrote “life ain’t been no crystal stair.” No matter who we are, what color, sex, gender or physical condition, that statement is true. At the end of the day, though, we have to decide how we are going to use the splinters we have all gotten by walking on rugged, rough wooden steps.
When we look at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, what stands out is everyone trying to blame someone else, in essence making excuses for an oil spill which resulted from an oil rig which exploded.
It is a sign of weakness. I would so much more have respected BP had it said, “we messed up and we are sorry and we will fix it.” Instead, fingers are pointing all over the place. Meanwhile, the environment is getting messed up, peoples’ livelihoods are threatened, and the oil continues to spew out, mercilessly.
I would hope and pray that you, young people, do not get in the habit of making excuses. We can always find a way out; our challenge is to find a way up and over all obstacles, no matter what they may be.
And I would hope that we older folks, if we have been in the habit of making excuses, that we would stop it and change course.
Making excuses makes us weak, and we have too much to do…to be weak.
Have a good week!
Pastor Smith