Dear Friends,
Do you remember that comic strip, I think it was called Family Circus? Whenever something would happen, the little children when, asked who did it, they would all say “He did it! She did it! I don’t know! Not me!” They were all so good at blaming someone else!
They came to mind as I recently found myself experiencing the ‘blame game’. Lately it seems that situations people get into are always because of someone else – or they are having trouble because of so-and-so.
“It is all their fault!”
“It would be better if…"
And when they are the cause of the something themselves, it is still because of someone else! They do not take responsibility for their actions.
Perhaps I am the only one experiencing this kind of behavior, but I truly believe I am not alone. We all need to own who we are and what we do. Somehow, that is getting harder to do. In a conversation I had lately with one of my Sisters, she reminded me that we are all sinners and we need to remember what Jesus said before we start blaming others: “the one who is without fault, throw the first stone”. It resonated with me; I just had to share it.
So how do we become better, and stop accusing people of things? Before we may judge another, perhaps we need to ask ourselves: can we really throw the first stone? Are we completely without blame? The church offers us the sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist; I know I need both of those sacraments to help me become a better person and stop playing the blame game.
In this past Sunday’s readings Jesus, tells the disciples “Go therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you”. I don’t think that blaming others was one of the commands, do you? Each of us, in order to be a good disciple, needs to teach by good example and kindness. Sometime words can fall short. We need to practice what we are teaching and take responsibility for our actions. The secret is to remove the beam in your eye before you help remove the splinter in your fellow disciple’s eye. We are all called to become our best selves and each of us has that call.
So, be non-judgmental and love your fellow disciples into becoming what God calls us to be, not what we think they should be. How are you at playing the blame game? How do you go forth teaching the commands that Jesus gave us. Do we love people into life?
Till next week,
Sister T
