It’s spring time on the east coast and one of the most wonderfully obnoxious of all plants has once again sprouted fresh new leaves. I speak of POISON IVY. As I am writing to you I am looking at my right hand all puffy and itchy. My hand looks like I am wearing an inflated rubber glove. One of my nursing students asked if I was retaining fluid and my answer was, “Only in spots.”
In II Timothy 4:3 Paul speaks of “itching ears.” While he was not speaking of the fruit of exposure to poison ivy, he was speaking of something far worse. He was talking about our seeming hunger to listen to pass on poisonous stories. We seem to crave hearing the worst about someone or something. If there is a bad story we seem quick to listen and pass it on as truth without any verification. In Paul’s time gossip was passed on by whispering in someone’s ear. Today via electronics we can prodigiously spread vicious tales. We are literally capable of inflicting pain, chaos and untruths in gigantic proportions. Very few of us seem to be immune. I know I am guilty. As soon as I hear something juicy, I rush down the hall to pass it on to my colleagues. What is the matter with us? We almost seem to delight in hearing bad news, even when it is so preposterous it can’t be true.
Paul also wrote in Philippians 4:8 that we should think about things of “good report.” I’m sure all of us would agree that is what we should do, but good stories rarely tantalize and satisfy our itchy ears as much as something sensationally scandalous. What is the matter with us?
Written by Roger Bothwell on April 22, 2010
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org