So, I had CNN on in the background yesterday while I worked on a recalcitrant computer. And, it was hurricane coverage unending. All of a sudden I found myself watching as they reported on the levees. Earlier, it had been said that the water was splashing over, so I was interested. The reporter said the same as the previous time, the water was splashing over, only to be corrected by the news anchor that it was not splashing, it was surging over. What was the difference? As best I could tell, the difference was that surging sounded more imposing than splashing. The news video showed what I would call splashing.
Then I started listening closer and doing some channel surfing. Guess what! All the cable news channels were breathlessly following the storm. As the splash/surge happened, there was breathless speculation on whether the levees would hold and, then, breathless speculation on whether the government had done enough and whether those who disagreed with the rebuilding plans for the levees had been listened to sufficiently. But the levees turned out to be high enough and strong enough. As the hours passed, I would periodically check in, only to hear what sounded like incipient disappointment that there was no worse damage to cover. It reminded me once of that old comment that what sells papers (or cable news shows) is bad news, not good news.
We do that also. Gossip is simply our version of being a cable news show. It is never quite considered gossip to pass on good news. Rarely does a person become upset if the news passes around that they received a humanitarian award. (Though I must point out that if you pass on good news that should only be passed on by way of an announcement by the parties involved, such as a pregnancy or engagement announcement, you are likely to bear the brunt of some righteous anger.) Great is the delight we feel in passing on bad news. In that, we imitate he who is known as the accuser of the brethren, that old serpent, that dragon of old.
Jesus said to some detractors, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” When we gossip, we show ourselves to be children of our father, the devil. But, we are to show ourselves to be Children of the Light. So, let’s not be the cable news show of our church anymore. OK?
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