Friday, May 31, 2013
On a windy day in the Northeast, a snow-laden telephone pole crashed onto the car of a Pennsylvania motorist. The car was severely damaged and the owner sustain some injuries. The owner, a lawyer, sued the telephone company for the damage and the court  awarded him $10,830 dollars, holding that the company was at fault because it had not inspected the pole for fifteen years. The court did not accept that company's claim that the pole fell because of an "act of God".

In this particular case, the judge unknowingly gave us an excellent lesson in theology, cautioning us against using God as an excuse or a scapegoat. Though much of life is determined by factors beyond our control, including chance and "the hand of God", there are many things in our moral universe where we remain our own masters. We have been given the gift of free will and are free agents in determining how we deal with others and how we conduct our personal lives. As Marines and Sailors, our honor, courage and commitment are measures of how we exercise that free will. We might have no control over "acts of God", but we can control our reaction to them. There is an old saying in the Jewish tradition which says: "What belongs to God is God's; what belongs to people, is our own". Our choices belong to us.

I Marine Expeditionary Force