Good News Vs. Bad News (Gossip)

I read 2 Kings 7:3-11 this morning. And what struck me most was this verse:

"We're not doing it right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves..." - 2 Kings 7:9a NIV

The story of 2 Kings 7 tells the story of four Samaritan lepers who found out that the military threat of Arameans to their city was now gone. To make the story short, they realized that a good news such as that should not be kept only to themselves. It should be told to their people.

Good news are meant to be shared with other people. I mean, who doesn't want good news? With all the negative things going on around us, I'm sure every ear is itching to hear something good. But why is it that most of the time, we feast on the bad ones? I'm not just talking about bad news - e.g the tsunami that struck Japan, or the death of someone. I'm also talking about gossip.Why do we feast over it? Why do we want to know every single "juicy" detail? And isn't it odd that people nowadays consider gossip to be news?

Gossip destroys people. It should stop. Most specially in the workplace, most especially among friends. I'm not saying that we should only talk about the good stuff here. But isn't it better to just shut up if we have nothing good to say? Reality bites. What's going on is already bad. Do we need to pour in more bad words to make it look even more bad? How depressing is that? What kind of world do we want to live in?

Can't we just lift each other up? Encourage one another?

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
Proverbs 16: 24 NIV

On Pouting Girls with the Peace Sign

I was checking my Facebook account just a few minutes ago and I came across some new uploaded pictures. Some taken from parties, dinner, gatherings, travel trips, and others just random shots. It bothered me a bit...actually a lot...that most girls would pout their lips and do the peace sign when their pictures are taken. I almost gagged looking at them!

I have nothing against those "poses" and "statements of identity" but why always pout? It somehow gives me an impression that these girls want to look "sexy". For what? Or for who? And then when guys oggle and take advantage...they scream and throw tantrums. Well, so much for your pout!

I'm not being so negative here. It's just that when and why did the "pout" replace the "smile"? Maybe the next generation of cameras would have a "pout detector" along side the "smile detector". Sheesh!