Morning Devotional

August 6, 2003

“The Power of Words”  

by Don Emmitte

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Scoundrels hunt for scandal; their words are a destructive blaze. A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends. Violent people deceive their companions, leading them down a harmful path. (Proverbs 16:27-29 NLT). 

As I was thinking about this morning’s devotional, an article that I came across sparked my interest. Tom Logdon, a columnist for The Des Moines Register, wrote it. It is an interesting bit of “history.” 

Louella Parsons was an unhappy Iowa housewife before she became the most feared woman in Hollywood. Louella Rose Oettinger was born in Freeport, Ill. She grew up in Dixon, Ill., wrote for the local newspaper and at 24 married John Parsons, who sold real estate and also worked as a reporter. They moved to Burlington. In Iowa, Parsons was lonely. She lacked domestic skills, hated small-town life and failed to fit into society. She became pregnant with her only child, Harriet, who was born in 1906. In Burlington, Parsons saw her first moving picture, "The Great Train Robbery." The next part of Parsons' life is best documented by George Eells in his 1973 book "Hedda and Louella" (Hedda Hopper being Parsons' chief rival). Parsons was divorced, then married Capt. Jack McCaffrey, a riverboat captain who was born in LeClaire in 1873. By 1914, McCaffrey had disappeared from the scene, and Parsons was on the fast track, writing the nation's first movie column for the Chicago Record-Herald. She later landed in Los Angeles, working for William Randolph Hearst's news organization and marrying Dr. Harry Martin, a studio physician. Her column appeared in more than 400 newspapers. Parsons wielded power for 40 years, until the late 1960s. Her approval could make an actor's career; her disapproval could end it. She knew all the secrets. Parsons spent her last years in a Santa Monica nursing home, watching old movies on television and talking to the images of the stars whose lives she once ruled. 

She was famous for her gossip! So much has been written and said about the power of our speech. Solomon clearly emphasizes the need for us to refrain from gossip in our reading this morning. Chances are good that if you need to begin a sentence with “they said,” it is a good indication that you shouldn’t repeat it! Ellen Wheeler offers the following poem: 

Have you heard of the terrible family They,
And the dreadful venomous things They say?
Why, half the gossip under the sun,
If you trace it back, you will find begun
In that wretched House of They.

The next time you are tempted to pass on some rumor or innuendo, think of the proverb in today’s reading. Don’t go down that harmful path! Your words are powerful. Use them for good, not evil.