We blame. We blame A LOT. We blame the ref for a bad call, traffic for making us late, the Democrats for ruining the economy - or wait is the Republicans? Maybe it's both. We blame the terrorists, we blame the fundamentalists, we blame the atheist, the Christian, the Muslim, the guy down the street who's lawn is always a mess, those people - you know the ones - can't trust them, we blame the mortgage company because WE didn't read the fine print, we blame the kids at McDonald's earning minimum wage for having to wait TWO MINUTES before we could stuff our face with grease and fat, heck we blame McDonald's for making us fat, we blame eggs for our heart attacks and Phillip Morris for our lung cancer, we blame our boss when we are fired, blame the homeless for decreasing our home value, blame the rich that we don't have money to buy groceries, blame the bleeding heart liberals because our taxes are too high, blame the homosexuals for ruining OUR family values, we blame those wacky Christians that Adam and Steve can't get married, we blame...boy do we blame. Kid gets hurt? Who's to blame! I get sick, it's got to be someone else's fault! Blame!
Sadly, if we made a list of everything and everyone we blamed for what went on in our lives, well heck, we might just about blame everything and EVERYONE!
Why do we blame? Because we can. Especially here in America. We are a blaming society. One only has to listen to any given conversation at any given time to hear someone or something get blamed for...(insert problem here). Heck, we blame others for NOT stopping us from doing something stupid. Have you ever said, "Why didn't you stop me?" Yeah, that's called blame.
We blame because it's easy. 9/11? Terrorist of course! See? Easy.
We blame because we don't want to take responsibility, or think we might have some part in the problem.
In short, we don't want to take the time to understand why something happened the way it did, or why someone acted the way they did. We want to blame, then we want JUSTICE! That is, unless someone blames us for something, then we want mercy and understanding.
God is not free from our blame either. How often have we dug our own holes, so deep we pray for help to get out of it. And when said help doesn't come, we blame God that we are still in the hole. After all, he has the power to help us, so it only stands to reason that he should, right?
There is a saying, "When you point a finger at someone, there are three pointing back at you."
Jesus said something similar, "Remove the plank from your own eye, before you help someone remove their speck."
Plank and speck...quite a difference isn't there?
That's the other reason, maybe the main reason we blame...if we didn't, we might have to remember our planks. And we don't want to do that.
Do we really get to blame? That is a question we should ask too. Are we in any position to blame? To point a finger, to point out a fault, to find a reason to punish in the name of justice?
What does Jesus say?
Something we don't want to hear: Love your enemy.
Say What? (or in those ATT commercials Say Butt?)
Love. Your. Enemy.
Okay, but what does that have to do with blame?
Well, nothing, because if we are loving someone we can't blame them can we? If we are truly loving someone, and they do something that might hurt us, do we get to blame them for our pain?
Doesn't appear so.
After all, does Jesus point his finger at you and blame you for his crucifixion?
Oh, we know we are to blame, there's no doubt about that...but we aren't blamed. Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit don't blame us...oddly, Jesus willingly took the punishment (blameLESS as he was) that we deserved, and didn't even want a thank you...only for us to do the same "take up your cross daily."
Love understands, it doesn't, it never blames.
"That which we understand, we can't blame." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.
If we truly love, then we strive to understand. Love our enemies, means not only to pray for them, but to understand them. Do we understand why we were attacked on 9/11? I don't truly think we do. I don't truly think we want to either, because as unpopular as it might be to say: we might not want to discover that we might have some blame to share.
So, who is to blame?
All of us. All that is wrong in the world, all the hurt, the suffering, the you-name-it...we are all to blame. We all in some form or another by what we do or don't do have contributed to it.
And if we are all to blame...well then, perhaps we can put down our fingers, start working on our planks and maybe, just maybe, get some real love spreading through the world.
