Wearing shoes.

"The Devil made me do it!"

A comedian, who's name slips my mind at the moment used to say that whenever he got caught doing anything bad. It drew huge laughs. Why is it that when we say something similar in real life, nobody laughs. Blaming others is commonplace in certain circles but, unfortunately it's not a laughing matter. A news story recently highlighted the kindness of a New York police officer in giving an apparently shoeless vagrant an expensive pair of shoes. What a wonderfully caring gesture of generosity. The man was back, sitting on the sidewalk, in front of a shoe store, the same place he was given the shoes, barefoot again. When asked where his new shoes were, he said he hid them because they were worth a lot of money. Then he went on to say that he "wanted a piece of the pie" because his picture was in the media without his permission. Makes a person kind of wonder about the people in this world. Such an honest and sincere gift was answered with such obvious dishonesty and greed.

Who made the police officer so generous, kind and considerate?

Who made the vagrant so selfish and greedy?

Some would say the officer was simply being an enabler.
Some would say the vagrant was simply a victim of an oppressive society.
Some would say it is a clash between good and evil.
Maybe the Devil made them both do it.

The truth of the matter is that the responsibility for the actions of both men lies withing themselves.

The officer offered a gift because he's a special person and chose to share his world with someone who appeared to be in need. No one "made" him do it.
The vagrant took the gift and used it for a different purpose than what it was intended and chose to remain shoeless because it got him the attention he desired. Obviously wearing shoes defeated whatever his goal in life is. No one "made" him do it.

That, to me is a good lesson in life. It's not them or it that makes us do things in most life situations. It's us making choices. It's when we don't like the consequences of our own decisions that we stoop to pointing fingers and blaming others. And yeah, I find myself doing that sometimes. It's part of the human condition But even then, it's "The Devil" that makes me do it.

Let's choose to have a happy day and take comfort in wearing shoes.....................Joe