The Gossip

Interestingly, after I sent out a message to my friends about how displeased I am about gossip-mongering people, it coincidentally struck me that there was something about "gossip" that was said in a movie I watched before.

The part of the movie went like this: a priest was giving a sermon in the form of a story. He said: there was a woman who had a dream that a hand pointed upon her, which immediately made her overcome with guilt. The woman went to confession to ask the priest if that was the hand of the Almighty and if she was being accused of gossiping. She asked if gossiping is a sin and should she ask for absolution for her sin.

The priest replied: "YES, gossiping is a sin! It is a sin for you had borne false witness against somebody (8th commandment) and you had allowed somebody's reputation to make an ill judgement".

In absolution, the priest instructed the woman to go home and cut open a pillow with a knife and throw the torn pillow through a fire escape. The woman did as she was told and came back to tell the priest what she did. She was then asked what happened when she tore open the pillow with a knife. She said there were feathers... feathers all over and everywhere. The priest told her to go back and gather all the feathers. But the woman said she can't do that for the feathers were all over where the wind blew them. And at that, the priest said: "... and those feathers ... are gossip!".

Once you start a rumor or make an issue out something that holds no truth, the gossip spreads very quickly like a metastasizing cancer -- that you cannot stop!