You know one of the things I dislike most in life is gossip. I have found it is a killer to many  friendships and even family relationships. Gossip can get so out of hand that it creates a domino effect that in the end hurts many people. 

Usually when gossip starts it is something small and by the time it is continued through a number of people it is so out of context that it is sickening and has nothing to do with the original story that started. What originally started as something innocent becomes something that can hurt so many. 

I find that gossip most often creates a domino effect in people's lives.

I was raised with some wise words from my Mom. She used to tell me "Believe none of what you hear and only part of what you see." In other words if you do not hear it from the source with your own ears do not just accept it as factual. Even hearing something from the source may not be 100 % factual as there are always two sides to every story. Also what you see and what you think you see could be two different things. (an example of that --  is what you see could be an innocent hug and what you think you see could be construed as an affair by the time the gossip mill gets going)

One of my friends sent an article to me and it has stayed in my mind since . I want to share it with you. Hopefully it will make everyone think before they speak.
 

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or  not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's the third filter the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

God Bless 

Hugs,
Misker 
May 17th - 2003