Glee - Rumors

I just watched this past Monday's Glee, which was amazing as usual. This week's episode tackled an issue that so many of us struggle with: gossiping and rumors. It showed very beautifully how destructive and how stupid spreading rumors can be. So many students, as well as Mr. Schuester himself, struggled with being victimized by people gossiping about them, but I want to focus on one character in particular...Sam.

Sam was judged pretty harshly this episode. All of his "friends" were real quick to conclude that he was sleeping around with either Quinn or Kurt. It was amazing how easily everyone could believe that he was doing something so terrible, but nobody could confront him about it. It was easier for Finn and Rachel to believe that Sam was trying to ruin Finn's life by taking his girlfriend than to ask him about the situation. Finn and Rachel were so sure that Sam was doing something wrong that they were absolutely shocked when they found out the truth...that Sam's family has nowhere to live and is in dire financial need.

Passing judgement, putting down others, is one of the easiest way to destroy relationships. Finn and Rachel were willing to throw away their friendship with Sam, and not because of anything Sam did but because of something they thought Sam did. When we judge others not only do we put them down, viewing them as less than human, but we also refuse to give that person an opportunity to defend him/herself. Sam couldn't even get the help, love, and support that he truly needed from Finn and Rachel because they were too busy judging him to notice something major was going on in his life. When judgement replaces communication and openness major problems can erupt, which is exactly what happened here in this episode.

Unfortunately this is not a problem that I have a solution for. I actually struggle a great deal with this issue myself. All I can say is nothing good can come from judging those around us, especially our friends. Judging is one of those acts that can never bring us true joy or love. It is an act that isolates us, as through judging we push ourselves away from those around us, which thus pushes us away from the love of God. When we judge others, we close the door to our hearts, making it impossible for the love of God to enter within us (which is exactly what all sin does).

For our prayer today let's sit and reflect with a powerful line from scripture, a line which we should all remember whenever we are about to judge, gossip, or spread rumors about those around us...

"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her" - John 8:7