Do We Ever Learn?

Do We Ever Learn
Genesis 20: 1-13

There was a man who used to come to talk to me from time to time when he had gotten into a mess with a woman (well, he came at other times, too). He was married and ought to have known better, but he didn’t. He would blame the women: they were attractive, or they were needy, or they threw themselves at him. He would blame his wife: she was no longer interested in him; she was only interested in her work; she was no longer interested in sex. He had a hard time blaming himself, though eventually he managed to do so. Putting it that way reflects how this could have been a move from one immature attitude to another immature attitude. But eventually he did make the transition from merely blaming himself to accepting responsibility for his actions in a more constructive way. What brought about something of a breakthrough was the fact that the last time he got into a mess it was a really big one. But as a result he came to acknowledge more deeply where his weaknesses lay and to see where he needed to be wary about the way he related to women. If he was right that some of those women, at least, did throw themselves at him, I don’t know that he is invulnerable if it happens again. But he has more insight and more prospect of doing the right thing...