Yesterday's blog leads me to thoughts about gossip...

If you did not read yesterday's blog, you may want to click on it and skim through it to help you follow this short piece. A quick recap, in case you have filled your head with today's issues and forgotten the blog, it was about intention and the power of thought. It made me think of prayer yesterday, but today it leads me to another mode of thought, one Mama would  have said is "not a lovely thought." It leads me to gossip. I am feeling a bit uncomfortable already thinking about the many hours of my fifty-three years I have probably accumulated in gossip. Also, I'm thinking about conversations that I had about people in the unknowing realm of gossip that turned out to be absolutely true. Hmmm.... which came first- the gossip or the egg?

I remember a game we played where we passed a story around the circle by whispering it into a neighbor's ear, and the last person would have to say it out loud. It rarely ended as it started. That was just a game we called gossip, but real gossip is a different story. Now that I know that my thoughts very likely link to the outcomes and actions of just about everything on earth, I think I know why, in the Bible, we are encouraged NOT to gossip. It could, I am speculating here, have a much more direct affect on those we choose to barrage behind their backs than we ever imagined. I think at this point I should pause for a moment of silent prayer for forgiveness... Amen.

And for a word of wisdom on that point:   

Fire goes out without wood, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops. Proverbs 26:20

And gossip leads me to another human foible- worrying or fretting.Think about the power fretting may have  over outcomes. I have a favorite verse I use as a  mantra to block worry. It has worked for me for months now, but I have new thoughts about it. I think it may have a much more literal meaning than I first imagined.

It's found in Psalms 37 verse 8. "Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret- it leads only to evil." I imagine that ties in directly to a verse that tells us that anything that is not done in faith is sin. I think I need to ponder this further, and I have to check the stock market before the closing bell. This is a good time for my mantra," Do not fret, it leads only to evil." There, I feel better. I'll let you know if any new thoughts arise from my reading.

                                    Peace.

                                                                             Love, Linda