Feathers

A woman confessed to her priest that she had gossiped about others. The priest gave her absolution and instructed her to get a feather pillow, stick a knife in it, and shake it out the window.

The woman went home, got a feather pillow, stuck a knife in it and shook it out the window. The feathers flew all around the neighborhood.

She returned to the priest and told him she had completed the task. The priest then said, "Now, I want you to go and gather up all those feathers and put them back in the pillow." "But Father," she said, "the feathers flew everywhere! There's absolutely no way I can gather them all up and put them back!"

"You are right," he replied. "And that is what gossip is like."




Gossip is everywhere. I've read articles about the subject, curious to know why humans exhibit this behavior. The general culling boiled down to a couple factors. Humans want to be accepted by other humans. They also want to increase their self-esteem.

If a person tells you something unflattering about another person in secret, they've not only attempted an alliance with you - "See, I'm telling you a secret." - but they've also put themselves above the person about whom they gossiped - "I'm better than that person."

There is a third gossip phenomenon. This arises from lack of knowledge. If there is a lack of knowledge about something that effects a community, people will, by their very nature, create stories to fill in the blanks.

Humans are story-tellers. If the story is prompted by a lack of knowledge, it's a safe bet it bears little resemblance to the truth.

Can we stop gossiping? Of course we can. This topic became a deeper interest to me when I was gossiped about. A person mischaracterized me in a most unflattering light. They don't even know I know, and never will.

One thing's for sure; it taught me something important.