The China Teacup
by Sandy Osburn


 

I remember a great object lesson that was used nearly 30 years ago when I was attending BYU. The lesson was on Gossip.  The teacher began the lesson by showing us a beautiful china tea cup that belonged to her great great great grandmother.  The tea cup was one of the few remaining pieces of the set that been brought from England and then brought across the plains in a wagon. She set the tea cup on the table so we could see it during the lesson, and proceeded on to talk about the harmful affects of gossip. Toward the end of the lesson, she took the tea cup and placed it in a paper bag and took out a hammer and smashed it to smithereens. Of course, everyone gasped, then she calmly said, "Now, this was just a piece of china, but this is what gossip does to other people and to their good names." Then she went on to explain that Just as you would never consider destroying something that is beautiful and precious as a family heirloom, gossip does just that. Then she bent down and picked up another paper bag and pulled out the beautiful china cup that belonged to her great great grandmother. The one she had smashed was a cup that she had purchased at Goodwill for a quarter.