Dear Friends,
This past month or so there have been a number of concerning
news stories to have hit the headlines. I don’t know about you, but the thing
that concerns me most about so many of these stories is the way they are based
on gossip which is then sensationalised. More and more news outlets get drawn
in and commentators have their ‘informed’ say. All the while the truth gets
lost and an irrational sense of vengeance takes over. Private lives get ruined.
An individuals’ misdeeds become laid bare for all to see. People are judged
guilty, without any real evidence, in the court of public opinion.
It’s a great way to sell newspapers or to increase a news
channel’s viewing figures, but let’s be clear, our media does not have a care
for our mental wellbeing or the health of the nation. I am glad that your sins
and mine are not laid bare in such a fashion, and I pray they never will be.
Beware of what you read!
This has caused me to ponder the problem of gossip more
deeply. Gossip is always a problematic thing, yet which of us doesn’t fall into
the trap occasionally? We might do it through boredom, because it makes us feel
better about our own inadequacies, or from a more sinister impulse to delight
in another’s’ downfall. We must be mindful that the information we pass on and
the stories we tell about others always have the potential to ruin lives and
communities. Sometimes that damage can never be undone. None of us have a right
to inflict such pain on another person. I think this is why St Paul has so much
to say about it, and our need for restraint, in the letters attributed to his
name in the Bible.
Over the coming months, I am going to be trying much harder
to curb my own tendencies towards gossip. Will you join me?
With every blessing,
Fr Rob
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