Torn Paper.

Early Morning Mist.

There are many things in life that are so often just accepted and taken for granted. Sadly not all of them are the things that we should be proud of. One of those things is the growth in gossip. I heard a girl just the other day saying that when she left university she wanted nothing more than to get a job working for a magazine that specialised in celebrity gossip. She then went on to say, "I love my celebrities and all the gossip about them. This would be my dream job."

We do seem to be obsessed with the cult of celebrity , and they do seem to nurture it, and then complain when it is not the publicity they truly wished for. I read of one such complaining about it just this morning. 

I personally do not watch any programmes where the word celebrity is in the title. It seems that if there is a successful programme they must have a celebrity version of it, sorry not for me. 

I have spoken about gossip before I am aware must be one of my many hang ups. Hope it does not get too tight. My apologies to the friend who has said enough of the one liners. 

Here is a little tale based on a certain amount of truth.

Once upon a time there was an old man who spread rumours about his neighbour who he caused of being a thief.  As a result of the rumours the young man was arrested and accused of theft five days before some important examinations which he went on to do badly in.

The young man appeared in court and was in fact found not guilty. He later took the old man to court for wrongly accusing him.

During the court proceedings the old man said to the judge, " They were just comments your honour, I didn't really harm anybody."

The judge before passing sentence told the old man he wanted him to write on a sheet of paper as many of the comments he could remember. Once this had been done the judge cut them into many confetti sized pieces and put them in an envelope. 

He handed them to the old man and told him to throw them to the four winds on his way home. "Tomorrow come back to court and if you have done as told I will consider my verdict."

The next day in court, the judge looked at the old man and asked if he had done as told. he replied that he had. 

"Then before sentence go and collect all the pieces," said the Judge. "I cannot do that said the old man the wind will have spread them for miles."

"The same way as your comments will have spread far and wind and may have destroyed the very character of an honest young man. Once said words are difficult to retract and the damage often cannot be fixed. "

The old man realised the folly of his ways and went to seek forgiveness from the young man and in time became a good neighbour. 

It is easy to gossip but difficult to put gossip back in a box. 

Have a marvellous day. Moving on today to who knows where the adventure of the free life.