So I’ve been thinking a lot about gossip these days. Not like the rumors the float around, but the idea of gossip itself.

About a year and a half ago, I started working in a corporate office setting. There are a lot of (different) people sitting amongst cubicles, inhabiting the same area, interacting with each other 40+ hours a week. It’s really quite interesting to observe them, that is, if you like people watching (or listening) like I do. And while I’ve noticed many human habits among the work dwellers in my office, one that I keep coming back to is gossip. It fills the walls of the place like the oxygen we breathe. I almost never go a day without hearing a little piece of something in the break room or the bathroom, or picking up the noisy sounds of a duo whispering in the corner. No doubt they are talking about someone, because (apparently) that’s what people do here.

Now don’t get me wrong, this is not my first encounter with gossip. It is the wind that sweeps through every school from kinder through college. I’ve experienced it, I’ve seen it and yeah, admittedly, I’ve done it. But I think it was in college where I realized how hurtful a few whispers can be. Yes they are words, but words cause damage far greater than some of the sharpest swords. So I made a resolve to do everything in my power not to gossip about people anymore. Plus, you know, God told us not to.

Anyway, back to my workplace. The people, they gossip. And I don’t know if this is because of my resolve or my introversion, but I just don’t get it anymore. What is the benefit in it for the person doing the gossiping? Like what does a person who gossips about another get out of said gossiping? Does it give them relief? Camaraderie? Perhaps satisfaction? Pride?

And that’s when I realized it. I found the key (probably something everyone has already discovered) for avoiding gossip. It’s humility.

Think about it. If we all truly understood our unworthiness and weakness and imperfection, we’d have nothing to say about other people. Why? Because we would be focused on trying to make ourselves into better humans. We’d realize that we have a long way to go and don’t really have time to worry or even think about other people’s problems. And honestly, that’s for God to deal with, not me.

I must focus on getting myself right, so I don’t have any time to think about what makes them wrong. Because frankly, that’s none of my business. 

“When they don’t know the story they just make one up, aye
Gossip, stop it, why you want to talk to me about it?
Go tell he or she about it, that’s none of my business, leave me out it…”

(Full Lyrics)