Goofy Gossip

I always like to start the new year off with a little laughter. It does a body good, even a church body -- perhaps, especially, a church body.

In that vein, I saw a list earlier today of things we could do without in 2012. We could probably live without all of these activities in church just as well as our personal lives. Here are just a few:

1. Jumping on the bandwagon
2. Running around in circles
3. Pushing our luck
4. Spinning our wheels
5. Adding fuel to the fire
6. Beating our heads against the wall
7. Beating our own drum
8. Throwing our weight around
9. Grasping at straws
10. Jumping to conclusions

Now those do make me laugh, but they are also activities that I've observed all too often, especially the last few -- i.e. grasping at straws and jumping to conclusions. I've been in the ministry long enough to know that there are few more productive gossip mills than a church.

I've heard a few crazy rumors in my time, and it would certainly be nice to not have to fend them off in 2012. But its a new year and I'm sure the rumor mill will be quite creative . . . although 2011 set the bar pretty high. At times, I began to think I was working on the set of a Soap Opera, although the rumors were probably more creative than what we typically see on daytime television.

Perhaps, just perhaps, I can remember to laugh at the rumor mill this year. Sometimes, laughter really is the best medicine.