Learning to Gossip
Though I had come back from the mountains, and I had supposedly carried the “soul” back with me I seemed lost for a few days.
https://santhoshsramblings.blogspot.com/2025/11/am-i-crazy.html
Here is an old story of an American on safari. "He had the natives marching almost day and night to reach his hunting destination in the African bush. On the fourth morning, the Bushmen refused to move. Instead, they relaxed in the shade of a tree and stayed there long into the morning. The American hunter was incredulous and exasperated. He grew angrier as the minutes ticked by on his watch, and he finally exploded. "This is an absolute waste of my valuable time. Can someone tell me what's going on here?" The translator looked at him with surprise and replied, "Well, they are just waiting for their soul to catch up with their body.”
The problem seemed to be that my mind (or even my soul?) was still somewhere up there, until one day it dawned on me that I was not living in the present.
You can come out of some experiences, but the experiences may not leave you. That was what I was experiencing. Which was fine, but being lost in the past was not good for me nor for the people who live with me!
That is when I realised life is not all about mountains; there are enough things around you, in the valleys of life, where you can still be struck with awe and wonder.
I read this today in a morning devotional: “Let us gossip good news, leak out love, be distracted by kindness, choose generosity, live in wonder.”
How do you live like that day in and day out?
- One – Live in wonder – see extraordinary beauty in the ordinary.
- Two – Be distracted – by kindness and generosity in the company of others.
- Three – Gossip – yes, gossip, but good news. (leak out love too)
Beauty in the ordinary – beauty is packaged and given to us in various hues and colours. Yes, in the valley! Not only in the mountains. See a few from our garden and surroundings.
Why is it that I had not seen these earlier? Because my eyes were blinded by experiences from the past, frustrations of the present, and concerns for the future.
But then beauty is offered to us free (unlike the costly cosmetics that empty our pockets), all around to receive and wonder. Leading us from a life of wandering in the past to one of wonder in the present.
Be distracted – I am distracted daily with the issues of the present. But be distracted by the beauty of the ordinary, is also being in the present.
And be distracted by kindness and generosity. I am ok with that too, if it is I who shows kindness and generosity.
But then if someone else shows or offers – I resist. I do not need anyone’s help. I am in control of my life. I do not need help from others. I do not want to be dependent!
But the reality is and will be different. Prof John Wyatt says, “So many modern people find dependence, the idea of being dependent on other people, as something to fear. Dependence is seen as one of the worst possible things that can happen to us. But you know, in biblical thinking dependence is not an alien or subhuman or undignified condition. No, it's part of the narrative of every human life. We all come into this world utterly and totally dependent on the love and care of others. We go through a phase in our life when other people depend on us. But most of us are going to end our lives utterly and totally dependent on the love and care of others.”
And then gossip – I wonder when the last time was, I gossiped good news. With elections around the corner, we are hearing gossips all around. Mostly negative gossip. News is full of heart-confusing gossip and rhetoric.
But to develop a discipline of good news gossip, you need to live beyond the troubles of the present. That is when love leaks out!
Live in the beauty and the community of present. May be I need to take a course on how to gossip well! "Post Graduate Diploma in Gossip". And develop a leak of love!
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