Don't Scatter Feathers

In tune with yesterday's post, there's a little story in regard to gossip.

There was a pastor who was having trouble in his little church with some of the ladies gossiping among themselves. He finally got up in the pulpit one day and related the story of a young man in a little town many years ago who took a some down filled pillows to the center of Main Street, opened them up, and scattered the feathers in the wind. They flew in every direction. A policeman came up to him and said quite sternly, "Pick up this mess, every last little feather!"

The young man replied, "I can't, they're all over. It would be impossible to pick them all up."

The pastor turned to the congregation with all seriousness in his eyes, and said, "That's the way it is with gossip. It's like taking that pillow of feathers and tossing those feathers into the wind through town. Once something is said, it just gets blown all over, in every household, and there's no taking it back."

Love one another, just as God loves you.

Only Listen to Good-Not Gossip

There was a writer, Ada Sweet, who had many words of wisdom that it would be wise for all of us to consider. I am going to post one of them for you here today:

"Avoid the personal view, the small view, the critical and fault finding view. Run away from gossip as from a pestilence, and keep in your soul great ideals and ideals to solace solitude. They will drive out petty worries, conceits and thoughts of carking care."

Do run from gossip. You know the old saying: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like a duck; it's a duck? Well, if it sounds like gossip, looks like gossip, and feels like gossip; it's gossip, and just walk away from it. Only listen to and share good things about one another. With that, you can't go wrong.

Live in happy thoughts,
Donna