The Scapegoat.

There is a concept that I first learned about while studying divinity at university, "The Scapegoat." It can be found in Leviticus where the whole community put all their sins into a goat then chase it out into the desert taking the sins with it.

The concept has over the years changed. Now it is when we put the blame for our misdeeds onto others. Presidents do it when they say to members of staff, "You are fired." Prime Ministers do it when they sack somebody from the cabinet because they wish to blame somebody for the failed policies they were responsible for setting up.

We can see it happening all around us blaming others. In Scotland, we have a saying, "It wisne me." Most of us are guilty of this tendency, a weakness.

We blame all sorts of people the list is endless. Parents, teachers, government the community and even demons and gods all are blamed for the things in our life that go wrong. Anybody and everybody except ourselves.

If indeed the difficulties come from outside ourselves, and now and again they may, the answer is clear. neutralise the influence.

But id the trouble comes from within then so must the solution. Before we jump to blame friends, relatives or teachers for bad habits and shortsightedness we should remember that to be honest, we need to blame ourselves.

There is no loss of self-esteem for admitting that we have flaws. I have little respect for those who will not stand up and be counted for the things that go wrong because of them.

Nobody is ever worthless if they undertake to admit and rise above their faults. Those who never so admit are the ones who deserve the title of worthless.

We are all born with a perfect core of being, a special self. At that stage in life, no one is better than another in any way. 

I looked back at some of the notes I made over time about the blame game here are just one or two.

A teenage boy committed suicide the family put the blame squarely on the shoulder of the musicians he listened to.

A man died of lung cancer after smoking 40 cigarettes a day the family blamed the tobacco company.

A girl got pregnant while still at school. it was the fault of the school because the sex education was not up to scratch.

A man drove while under the influence and crashed into a tree. The family blamed the barman.

A young man died of AIDS after using a dirty needle to shoot up heroin. The family blamed the government for not providing clean needles.

The grandchildren were cheeky bad-mannered little brats. The Granny blamed children's television.

 The simple fact of life is that we need to come clean a bit more frequently to reach back and find that beautiful inner being we were born with and stop blaming others when we cannot find it.

Have a marvellous day.