If anyone becomes aware that they are guilty—if they unwittingly touch anything ceremonially unclean (whether the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any unclean creature that moves along the ground) and they are unaware that they have become unclean, but then they come to realize their guilt. – Leviticus 5:2

Today's Scripture Reading (December 16, 2024): Leviticus 5

Back in the Garden, after Adam and Eve took and ate the forbidden fruit, they performed a delicate dance. Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the Serpent. We still do the Adam and Eve dance, sometimes channeling our inner Flip Wilson and declaring, "The Devil made me do it." I don't believe that it's my fault. The only problem is that it really is. There is no excuse; I decided to do it. I chose to rebel against God. I can develop all the excuses I want, but I will remain broken as long as I refuse to say that it is because of me.

As war spreads in the Middle East, everyone is pointing fingers. It's their fault—there is no recognition of the role that each of the players has played in the developing tragedy. The conflict continues to grow, and the world remains broken.

The Hebrew Bible uses the word "khata," you have to channel your inner Klingon to say the word correctly, which simply means "miss the mark." As a kid, I enjoyed shooting. I was part of the Rifle Club in school and learned how to shoot a rifle from various positions properly. We shot at targets. Later, I remember going out to a friend's ranch, setting up the multiple cans and bottles, and then trying to shoot them off the stump or wherever we had placed our targets, from a distance. And if I missed, that was literally "khata." 

There are quite a few ways of missing the mark. Some are funny, others not. Some are serious. A Book called "The Pasta Bible" was printed with thousands of copies before someone noticed a serious problem with the book. The result of the problem was that thousands of books had to be destroyed. Someone had" khata" when the books were prepared for printing. The cookbook was quite racist all because someone missed the mark. The problem that the proofreaders missed was that at one point in the book, it advocates that we should season a pasta dish with "salt and freshly ground black people" (it should have read "freshly ground black pepper," in case you were wondering). There was no way back from that mistake or "khata." Thousands of books had to be destroyed

When the Bible uses the phrase, it is quite literally missing the target God has placed for us. When I missed the target on an improvised shooting range, it was because I lacked the capability. The target was too far away for the talent that I possessed. I hadn't considered other circumstances that made me miss the target. But when we miss the mark with God, it is often a character issue. We decide to miss the mark, maybe because we don't think it is important or because we find something else more important. But we are the reason. 

I have written a bit about a girl I used to know named Lyla. I knew Lyla when I was in elementary school. Lyla was an awkward-looking girl. I think she was one of those girls who needed to grow into her beauty, but she was awkward as a kid. Lyla was a bit of an introvert. I think she liked being alone on some level, but I might be wrong. Maybe I think that because I like to be alone. But we didn't give Lyla a chance. Lyla was teased and ridiculed mercilessly. It was a favorite pastime for some to find new ways to torment Lyla. 

I know Lyla. More than fifty years later, I can still see her standing there in her floral dress. I never teased Lyla, but I also never said anything else to her either. I went to school with Lyla for four years. Most of the time, she was in my class. I don't remember speaking to her once. I don't remember once saying, "Hi, Lyla, how are you doing?" I didn't torment her, but I also didn't acknowledge her. And I wish I could sit down with her and say sorry because I was "khata," and I missed the mark God had placed in front of me. Oh, so did everyone else, but that doesn't really matter in the end. All that matters is that God put me somewhere where I could make a difference, and I didn't do it. I chose not to make a difference. And that is on me and not on anyone else. That guilt is all mine, even though I may not have recognized my sin at the time.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Leviticus 6