Mud Collectors 3/9/2024

 Good Morning,

I just sat down with a hot cup of Door County Churro Coffee. The house is very quiet and it is a little bit cold inside. I added a heavy sweater to my morning wardrobe and now it is time to write. 

Proverbs 26:20 ESV For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases. 

Over the last thirty six hours it as been raining a lot. The ground is saturated and it doesn't take much to stand in one spot and have your boots soak into the ground a little. So with two energetic springer spaniels who like to run around we have quite a mess when they come back inside from the quagmire. They just seem to desire to hit the muddiest parts of our property and collect mud and rainwater on to their fur coats. We are in damage control now and have towels handy at both re-entry ports to the house. It seems that they are happiest when collecting mud. Right now they are all clean and are laying on the floor next to me like to angelic fur balls. But mention going outside and their eyes twinkle and they spring to life. When they go out of the door I believe the youngest one leaves a vapor trail behind him. 

People are also mud collectors. Given the chance some folks like to go through life collecting information on others and then talking about it. The word I am choosing today for us to think about is gossip. It is an ugly word just as ugly as a muddy floor is ugly after two dogs come in to share their great find. The mud gets everywhere. This is what happens when we catch a little mud (information) and share it with others. This type of information is best left to ourselves and not shared. When we collect mud on others we actually weigh down our own souls with sin and we become muddy and sooner than later no one wants anything to do with the "mud collector". Mud collectors do not observe the rules of privacy. It's like our two dogs. They can't wait to come in and shake off the water and the mud. They believe in sharing! But there are others who must clan up the mess that they make. It's the same way with gossip. Others might have to clean up the hurt, and shame that a little mud collecting causes. 

Mud is best left outside and to itself, just as a little gossip is best kept to oneself . Spreading the mud just helps to sink your own reputation. 

Have a great day!

Marty