First Baptist Church of Herndon

No One to Blame

Linda Soller | Jun 04, 2018

Sometimes it takes a very personal experience to reinforce what we know deep inside.

It was supposed to be my half day at work, but with a lot to do I decided to report in early.  As I headed out the door of one office to cross the hall to my own office I had a near collision with a co-worker. That’s right, we didn’t actually crash. I saw her from the corner of my eye. She looked up and saw me. I turned away as she came to a quick stop. Neither of us was doing anything wrong. When she stopped short her arm naturally jerked upward. The hot water in her mug plopped out, and landed on me. It happened so fast. I let out a scream when the hot water hit my neck and chest. Co-workers jumped into action. I ended up going to the urgent care location nearby. I had first and second-degree burns. It was crazy painful. The co-worker was one of the people who went to the urgent care with me. The entire time she was apologizing and I was saying, it was an accident. There was no one to blame.

In the world today, everyone seems to blame someone or something for the challenges in their life. Sometimes there is fault, no question about it. But I feel like many times blame should never enter into the equation. What’s more, if you are not careful the blame game takes over your life.

I share this story now after a few weeks of having had the experience. A friend suggested the message is important. By not trying to find blame, I was better able to focus on getting back to normal. I told people the truth, it could have been worse. I laughed that I got two hospital gowns out of the deal. I organized my medicine cabinet after finding I lacked some vital supplies. I tell people how the nurse said, “We usually see this injury on children.” Was that an attempt at short humor? Regardless, I knew there was no one to blame. I knew my co-worker felt terrible about it, and didn’t need me to make her feel worse. It was just two people in the wrong place at the wrong time and there was no one to blame.

Blame is a process of looking back, faith and hope sees the future.

Have a great week!  :o) Linda