"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful. At the same
time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel
called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.
Have you noticed how much so-called “news” is simply gossip?
It seems as though people who waste a lot of time on gossip must have a low opinion of themselves, or poor self-image, and use rumor-mongering as an outlet for their pent-up hostility. Of course, nowadays gossip and fluff are big business: The media, fueled by advertising money, keep the vicious cycle going. After all, keeping the public entertained is lucrative; telling the truth about the suffering of farmed animals and promoting vegan health would end the flow of money from the powerful flesh, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “gossip” as “a person who habitually reveals personal or sensational facts” and a “rumor or report of an intimate nature.”
Apparently, this appetite for repeating rumors about others goes back thousands of years. The word “gossip” is found seven times in the New International Version of the Bible; ten times in the New Living Translation; eight times in The Living Bible; and two times each in the Revised Standard Version and the New American Standard Bible. The Amplified Bible uses words like “talebearer,” “whisperer,” and “dispenser of gossip and scandal” to describe muckrakers, and the King James Version uses the words “talebearer” and “whisperer.”
Here are some Bible scriptures in which the word “gossip” is found:
Leviticus 19:16
16 "Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people. Do not try to get
ahead at the cost of your neighbor's life, for I am the LORD."
~ New Living Translation
Psalms 41:6
6 They visit me as if they are my friends,
but all the while they gather gossip,
and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.
~ New Living Translation
Psalms 69:12
12 I am the favorite topic of town gossip,
and all the drunkards sing about me.
~ New Living Translation
Proverbs 11:13
13 A gossip betrays a confidence,
but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.
~ New International Version
Proverbs 16:28
28 A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends.
~ New International Version
Proverbs 18:8 and Proverbs 26:22
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
they go down to a man's inmost parts.
~ New International Version
Proverbs 20:19
19 He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
Therefore do not associate with a gossip.
~ New American Standard Bible
Proverbs 25:9-10
9 So discuss the matter with them privately. Don't tell anyone else,
10 or others may accuse you of gossip. Then you will never regain your good
reputation.
~ New Living Translation
Proverbs 26:20
20 Without wood a fire goes out;
without gossip a quarrel dies down.
~ New International Version
2 Corinthians 12:20
20 For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I
wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there may
be strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance,
disturbances;
~ New American Standard Bible
Go on to: Seventy – 3 November 2007
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