As I write, there is a furor in Springfield, Ohio. It seems former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance claim immigrants from Haiti are eating the dogs and cats of their neighbours.
The situation is tense. Police and the military roam the streets. Schools are closed and there are bomb threats. The mayor of Springfield and other civic authorities insist there is no substance to the rumours. The rumours are false, yet they persist. Fear, hate and xenophobia fill the air.
James, brother of Jesus, wrote about the power of the tongue, the evil of gossip and the destruction caused by slander. “If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.
So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire.” James says, “… no one can tame the tongue — a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”
Gossip is a wild fire out of control. We try to put it out. We try to control it, but the gossiper keeps pouring gas on the fire. Like a forest fire that is beyond control, gossip takes on a life of its own.
The more the gossip is spread, the story grows and changes. Gossip obscures the truth and drives us from God. Gossip ruins reputations, destroys relationships and divides churches. James says, “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so.”
A television reporter invites comments from a tall black man, a resident of Springfield. The man proudly declares, “I am Episcopalian (Anglican). We are taught to pray for the president and all elected officials, whether we agree with them or not.”
Prayers for the King, the Royal Family, the prime minister, the premier, the mayor and all in authority” are natural for us as Anglicans. We include politicians in our prayers, and we pray for candidates in elections.
A man had a reputation as the village gossip. He loved to spread false rumours about his neighbours. People were getting hurt. The rabbi was asked if he would speak to the man. The rabbi knew that quoting the Bible, or preaching, would not solve the problem.
The next time the religious leader met the master of gossip he said, “I have a task for you. I would like you to gather a sack of feathers and place a single feather on the doorstep of each house in the village. When you have finished come back to me.”
The man did as requested and soon returned to the rabbi to announce that the task was complete. “Now,” the rabbi said, “I want you to go back and collect all the feathers.”
“But Rabbi,” the man protested, “the feathers will be impossible to collect. The wind will have blown them away.”
“So it is with the lies we tell about our neighbours,” the rabbi said. “They can never be retrieved. They are like feathers in the wind.”
