Apologies
Posted: February 12th, 2009, 2:40 pm
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Apologies
for release 02-13-09
Dallas, Texas
by Lightning Rod
It's a sorry world. Everybody seems to be sorry for something. Michael Phelps is sorry for having his picture taken while bonging it. Obama is sorry that he screwed up with respect to the Daschel appointment. A-Rod is sorry that he enhanced his performance when he was playing for the Rangers. The CEOs are sorry for stealing so much money. The peanut butter guys are chanting their mea culpas. We witness a veritable orgy of apologies.
The excuses are myriad, 'I was young and foolish', 'I was doing what everybody else was doing,' 'the intelligence was bad,' and of course the universal excuse, 'I'm only human.'
Apologies mean nothing without a sincere resolve to change. You can say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I"m sorry" over and over again. It's free. But until you change the behavior that causes you to be sorry, you will just continue to be sorry.
Sorry has several meanings. It can be a game played in life or on a board. It can be an expression of regret or apology. It can also mean 'inspiring sorrow, pity, scorn, or ridicule,' as in, 'he was a sorry sob.'
I'm sorry that life isn't perfect and that we are not all Jesus Christ paragons of virtue. I'm sorry that there are car wrecks and wars, diseases and other needless death. I'm sorry that we don't live forever and love each other with no limit. I'm sorry that friction collides with momentum and that gravity fights with spin. But it does no good for me to be sorry for these things because I can't make any meaningful resolve to change them.
I'm sorry that Michael Phelps got caught smoking pot. I'm sorry that it should be an issue in the first place. I'm sorry that the peanut butter was bad. I'm sorry that athletes feel the need to pump themselves up with hormones just to compete. I'm sorry that human nature inclines us toward greed and power lust and selfishness.
None of this sorriness makes a bit of difference without a sincere resolve to change. When it degenerates into excuses and justifications, it's just sorry.
The Poet's Eye drips a tear of sorrow. Let's don't apologize, let's don't be sorry. Let's Change.
You tell me mistakes
are part of being young
but that don't right
the wrong that's been done
---Brenda Lee
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