self blame

When bad things happen in life, do your thoughts turn to self blame, or questions of divine punishment?

One of my favorite commenters (Hi Jackie!) asks these questions in a touching post entitled simply “Punishment”. In it, she talks about her late mother’s concerns about having gotten lung cancer.

“What did I do wrong?” Mom asked.

“You did nothing wrong mom. I believe everyone is born to do something in life. You have accomplished that and now it’s time to move on.” I said as I struggled with tears trying to be strong for her.

It was my way of helping her feel better about how she lived her life. This might have made it easier for me too. At the time. Now I feel there could have been more.

Jackie went on to look for that “more”; she asked her readers if they believed or felt that the bad things in their life were their own fault, or if they were somehow being punished. I asked if I could answer her here, so… here we are.

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