It has always puzzled me, even as a child, why the first question some people ask is, "Who did this?"
How does that fix the immediate problem? Later, once the problem is fixed, the cause(s) can be ascertained.
Why do we blame others?
I will tell you a story about the King of Spain, Felipe VI. My Spanish teacher's family lived in Spain, for a while. Her son went to an International School, there. One day, the boys held a birthday party in a hotel room. Suddenly, the hotel security and others burst into the party. They demanded to know, who was throwing peanuts down from the balcony.
A young boy stepped forward. The atmosphere hushed. The security spoke to the boy in a respectful, but firm tone, in words something like this, "Your majesty, you should not throw peanuts down from the balcony....."
Besides the fact, that he was scolded, what registered in everyone's mind, was "Your majesty."
No one knew who Felipe was, until that moment.
Again, I ask. "Why look to blame?" Look what the security people did. They exposed a person who wanted to be quiet about who he was. Why didn't they say, "Stop throwing peanuts down!!!" That's what they wanted the result to be.
All this came to mind, when I read today's Readings, John 9: 1-41. The religious authority weren't amazed that a man born blind could suddenly see. They wanted to blame somebody. They were concerned with breaking the sabbath--control.
Of course, that's not the point. Sin is being blind. Spirituality is about seeing.
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