Man must rise above the Earth—to the top of the atmosphere and beyond—for only thus will he fully understand the world in which he lives.  — Socrates

And with that said….

I have a few pet peeves here and there.  I wish I could rise above some of them… but not all.

One in particular is the spreading of rumors…. or false information.

It happens quite frequently on the internet.  It is easy to “share” a link…. or a “story” that you read.  Or something that someone has “passed on to you” through an email.

Sure, it may have come from a trusted friend… or what you think is a credible “looking” source.  And alas.  That “piece of information” turns out to be not entirely correct…. maybe not even true at all.

Rumors like…. “the 809 area code scam”…. or…  “the new government policy that says U.S Service Members can’t speak at faith-based public events”… or  “criminals using a chemically soaked business cards to incapacitate their victims”… “or the President canceling National Prayer Day”… “or that Little Chicken that runs around and correctly predicts that the sky is falling.”  False.  False.  And the rest…. false.

Although…… come to think of it…..  I am not entirely sure about the Little Chicken.  That one might be true.

At any rate… these words are like poison.

There is the story from the movie “Doubt”.  It tells of a woman spreading gossip and she is overcome with guilt. She goes to her priest to talk of her activities and to ask is she did anything wrong ……..

Father O’Rourke instructs…..‘I want you to go home, take a pillow upon your roof, cut it open with a knife, and return here to me.’ So, the woman went home: took a pillow off her bed, a knife from the drawer, went up the fire escape to her roof, and stabbed the pillow.

Then she went back to the old parish priest as instructed. ‘Did you gut the pillow with a knife?’ he says. ‘Yes, Father.’    ‘And what were the results?’ ‘Feathers,’ she said. ‘Feathers?’ he repeated. ‘Feathers.  Everywhere, Father.’

‘Now I want you to go back and gather up every last feather that flew out onto the wind,’ ‘Well,’ she said, ‘it can’t be done. I don’t know where they went. The wind took them all over.’

‘And that,’ said Father O’ Rourke, ‘is gossip!’

So, before you share that next story… because you think it is true, or funny, or important…. I ask you to think twice.  Investigate it.  At Snopes… or another urban legend dispeller.

You will be helping the world to think responsibly… and compassionately.  And, it will keep those feathers on our wings… and help us to fly high.

We want the air to unite the peoples, and not to divide them.  — Lord Swinton