GOSSIP
A woman once went to confession and confessed that she had been gossiping about others. As her penance the priest told her to go to the market and buy an unplucked hen and on her way back she was to pluck the hen, feather by feather and let each feather be carried off in the wind. She did that and returned to the priest.
He praised her for her obedience and he said, “Now, there’s one more thing to do. I want you to go back along the way, and pick up all the feathers belonging to that hen!” The woman was dumbfounded. The task was impossible. By now the wind had scattered many of those feathers mile away out across the country. “Exactly,” said the priest. “Now you see what has happened as a result of your gossiping. It is impossible to call the words back again, once you sent them on their way. Be very very careful what you speak, and especially what you gossip. It is generally impossible to repair that damage.
- A great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is a small part…but it can be a word of evil.” (Jas 3:5-6)
- If A and B are gossiping about C, usually the conversations tells more about A and B than it does about C.
