I burned my finger this morning. It was nothing major really, just one of those irritating little burns that you get from trying to cram too much into a hurried and harried morning routine.
I was attempting to prepare my son's lunch, the carpool was honking… and the plate in the microwave was very hot. Carelessly, I pulled it out and only belatedly realized just how scorching it had become.
For the next several hours, the area around my finger was red and sensitive. For a while I soaked it in a tub of cold water and the pain was alleviated. But as soon as I removed my finger, the throbbing resumed. Touching anything hot, or even lightly immersing my finger in a lukewarm liquid, resulted in a searing pain. Returning to my normal daily tasks was out of the question. The area was still very tender. It needed special care.
I learned from my burned finger—something more than just to be more careful in the stressed morning rush hour.
Each of us has some part of us that has been "burned"—some point of tenderness, and some area of sensitivity in our lives. It is that wounded part of us that needs delicate care and soothing treatment.
When something or someone touches this raw area, we'll experience a burning sensation of hurt, anger or misery. It may be a mild, innocuous comment, but any contact with that bruised part of our ego causes an intense pain to shoot right through us. It might be a lukewarm action, one that certainly was not meant to cause us any suffering, but handling this sore area creates a stinging discomfort.
The lesson I discovered is that it's not the lukewarm action that is at fault, nor the heated comment that's to blame. It's only our own sensitivity to the issue at hand that has caused us our distress.
So, before retorting in resentment, grief, or rage at the audacity of the individual--before we even let him know exactly what we think of him and his comments--maybe we need to ask ourselves: is our anger justified? Was the comment or action really offensive, or is this just a sore, sensitive point in our life?
And, maybe before making a comment that might be misinterpreted, we should give it a second thought, and refrain. Just in case. Otherwise, we might inadvertently touch a tender "burn" in someone else's life, causing them to experience tremendous discomfort.
Because each and every one of us has some sore spots….
