Martha Hill Jamison, member since 1985

Proverbs 26:20 
Without wood a fire goes out;
   without a gossip a quarrel dies down.

During the 2019 California wildfire season, one inferno, the so-called “Easy Fire,” burned through 1800 acres near the Simi Valley. The fire almost completely surrounded the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. However, the library was spared by a firebreak created by 500 goats deployed months earlier to eat thirteen acres of brush on the property, enabling firefighters to gain control of the Easy Fire.

            As Proverbs 26:20 says, “without wood, a fire goes out.” Shout out to the goats.
            Likewise, “without a gossip a quarrel dies down.”  

We know not to gossip. But, it is so much fun! We Southern church ladies are the best at disguising gossip as prayer requests (I mean, how can we effectively pray for someone unless we know EXACTLY what’s been going on?). It seems so innocent—and we don’t mean to hurt anybody.

Sure, James’ epistle is pretty convicting about those loose lips. In the Message version, James 3:5-6 says: It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech, we can ruin the world, turn harmony into chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

Whoa! That puts a more sinister spin on my innocent “Bless her heart.” But, in addition to not starting the fire with slander, we are instructed in Proverbs 26:20 to be the goat!

 

Don’t be the talebearer. Moreover, don’t provide the fuel for the talebearer—the available, listening ear. The Reagan goats didn’t start the fire. They took away its ability to spread. If we refuse to listen, gossip, slander and the disharmony that come with them will die out, like a fire with no more kindling. If you can’t avoid hearing idle talk, let it die with you. No re-tweeting!

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me to understand the devastation and destruction that can be caused by careless speech and foolish words. Keep me from participating in any form of talebearing. Help me remember that, without wood, a fire will go out, and without a gossip, conflict will die down. Make me the goat. AMEN.