Escaping the Rumor Mill

Description

Today I turn toward a deceptively small temptation that carries real spiritual weight. The rumor mill. It looks harmless. Inviting, even. Yet once we step inside, it binds us and binds others in stories we were never meant to finish for them. I watch how quickly a complaint can harden into certainty, how easily we begin to “know” someone’s motives, their future, their heart. This is where the spiritual work actually lives. I am reminded that forgiveness is an act of unbinding, as one writer so beautifully puts it, “I am unbinding a sinful deed from the person who committed it.” When we let go of these small, run-of-the-mill grievances, we loosen the knots we tie around one another and around ourselves. Swedenborg’s insight into influx rings true here. Grace flows according to the state of the vessel. When we stop trying to be the arbiters of who is naughty and who is nice, God’s grace moves through us, as of self, bringing a quiet sense of peace, contentment, even joy. We cannot forgive exactly as God forgives, yet we can become instruments of grace. Sometimes the holiest act is simple. Let it go. Step out of the rumor mill. Unbind. Freedom follows.