Me No Response

When I lived in Jamaica in the 70’s, I often heard the common excuse, “me no response.” [read that “I’m not responsible”]. That came to mind when we participated in a baptism recently: at the bottom of page 304 in our Book of Common Prayer we find “Will you persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?” This question is asked by the priest of the candidates AND the congregation. That’s us!
Since that sneaky little adverb is “whenever,” not “if,” the assumption is that we WILL fall into sin [i.e., separation from God]. Really FALL. As I reflect on the 86 years of my Christian walk, I’m hard put to it to identify ever FALLING into sin. I didn’t trip or topple. I wasn’t pushed or dragged. I actually made a decision to enter into something sinful. When denial was operating, I CHOSE to ignore the evidence. I can’t really blame you—or anyone else—for my actions. I did it. Me. On purpose. Denial might have salved my conscience for a time, but way down deep inside, in that little space no one else can enter, I knew—and I knew that I knew. No matter how hard I wanted to shift the responsibility, if I were to look at the situation honestly, I couldn’t claim “me no response.”
What do you think? Can you?