The only thing separating you from such Immensity is your unwillingness to trust such grace, such an utterly unmerited gift. -- Fr. Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditations," May 10, 2014
Very simply, gossip is born in our resistance to our own interpretation of those things we see in another which we then personalize and call by the other's name.
It is a hard lesson learning that silently sitting in judgment is the same defect and gets the same payoff as running our mouths in judgment. It can be harder to let go of, too...not running our mouths to another may give us a secret sense of superiority.
The surprise is in learning that what we need to clean up is not the running of our mouths and/or our minds in judgment of another. No. It is our resistance...our immediate, before conscious thought, resistance to that which we are seeing in another.
The good/bad news is, we are incapable of doing that cleaning up all on our own. It's like changing our mind...we need a little help from our friends (being willing to hear them) and a power greater than ourselves (being willing to believe there is such a thing).
It is a hard lesson learning that silently sitting in judgment is the same defect and gets the same payoff as running our mouths in judgment. It can be harder to let go of, too...not running our mouths to another may give us a secret sense of superiority.
The surprise is in learning that what we need to clean up is not the running of our mouths and/or our minds in judgment of another. No. It is our resistance...our immediate, before conscious thought, resistance to that which we are seeing in another.
The good/bad news is, we are incapable of doing that cleaning up all on our own. It's like changing our mind...we need a little help from our friends (being willing to hear them) and a power greater than ourselves (being willing to believe there is such a thing).
The way to get there, to get to our own willingness to listen and to believe, is the same...just pray "Thank you."
Thank you.
Thank you.
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