The Spirituality of Walking Your Dog: Blame Shifting

I don't often have to walk the dog in the evenings. Tonight I had to and I made a mistake. I didn't account for the temperature change once the sun goes down. I wore a light jacket when I should have layered up AND worn a large jacket.

"Oh well, no harm no foul," I said to my dog as we got to the end of the block and the error of my ways became more and more obvious. "We'll just walk fast."

And we did. Until the dog had to pee. And pee again. And again. And sniff. And sniff again. And again.

Have you ever noticed that the more uncomfortable you are - the slower the walk? And what I found was that the more the dog punished me with stall tactics - the more frustrated I became. The less tolerant I was. The less gracious I became.

In the end - I punished my dog assuming he was out to get me when in reality my own lack of planning was causing my cold.

That's at the heart of a lot of my sins. I get angry and frustrated and will lash out at people when my own lack of planning, truthfulness or whatever is really the blame. I like to shift the blame.

It's as old as Adam and Eve and might be the most fundamental thing about sin. Blame shifting.

"She gave me the apple, Lord."
"The snake told me, Lord."
"The stupid dog, Lord."

Forgive me for I do not know what I'm doing. Save my from my blame shifting. Amen.