Stephen Poff
May 12th 2009 - Guarding Words And Actions
Explored! #123
Today I had to go to the first of a 2 day meeting on Civil Treatment of employees by their managers. They really centered everything around "Guarding Words And Actions", meaning, mind what you say and do for the consequences of even the smallest things can be very significant.
This reminded me of the movie "Doubt". It was a film about a Catholic Church/School where the priest was suspected of molesting a young boy. I'll not give away the way the movie ends but will say that there was a speech by Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character where he tells a story about gossip. The speech really struck a chord with me and made me think heavily about how our words can really hurt others. Below is speech.
“A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this. That night, she had a dream: a great hand appeared over her and pointed down on her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O’ Rourke, and she told him the whole thing. ‘Is gossiping a sin?’ she asked the old man. ‘Was that God almighty’s hand pointing down at me? Should I ask for your absolution? Father, have I done something wrong?’
‘Yes,’ Father O’ Rourke answered her. ‘Yes, you ignorant, badly-brought-up female. You have blamed false witness on your neighbor. You played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed.’ So, the woman said she was sorry, and asked for forgiveness. ‘Not so fast,’ says O’ Rourke. ‘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 cut 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!’”
After a little research I found that this is a variation of a Buddhist parable, but either way, I thought this was a powerful metaphor... and one that I'm sure we can all relate and learn from.
Strobist info: Sillouette created by firing a Canon 430ex against a white wall behind me and keeping my self much further in the foreground out of the light. Feathers were from a brush fround at brusheezy.com
May 12th 2009 - Guarding Words And Actions
Explored! #123
Today I had to go to the first of a 2 day meeting on Civil Treatment of employees by their managers. They really centered everything around "Guarding Words And Actions", meaning, mind what you say and do for the consequences of even the smallest things can be very significant.
This reminded me of the movie "Doubt". It was a film about a Catholic Church/School where the priest was suspected of molesting a young boy. I'll not give away the way the movie ends but will say that there was a speech by Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character where he tells a story about gossip. The speech really struck a chord with me and made me think heavily about how our words can really hurt others. Below is speech.
“A woman was gossiping with her friend about a man whom they hardly knew - I know none of you have ever done this. That night, she had a dream: a great hand appeared over her and pointed down on her. She was immediately seized with an overwhelming sense of guilt. The next day she went to confession. She got the old parish priest, Father O’ Rourke, and she told him the whole thing. ‘Is gossiping a sin?’ she asked the old man. ‘Was that God almighty’s hand pointing down at me? Should I ask for your absolution? Father, have I done something wrong?’
‘Yes,’ Father O’ Rourke answered her. ‘Yes, you ignorant, badly-brought-up female. You have blamed false witness on your neighbor. You played fast and loose with his reputation, and you should be heartily ashamed.’ So, the woman said she was sorry, and asked for forgiveness. ‘Not so fast,’ says O’ Rourke. ‘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 cut 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!’”
After a little research I found that this is a variation of a Buddhist parable, but either way, I thought this was a powerful metaphor... and one that I'm sure we can all relate and learn from.
Strobist info: Sillouette created by firing a Canon 430ex against a white wall behind me and keeping my self much further in the foreground out of the light. Feathers were from a brush fround at brusheezy.com