Your Name Is Safe in Our Home

“Your name is safe in our home.”1 Do we speak as well of our friends when they are absent as when they are with us? It would sometimes seem hazardous to be absent from some kinds of company because of gossip or uncomplimentary comments concerning those who aren’t there. This, of course, is a false and unfortunate kind of friendship. We can’t be everywhere and always present in person; we can’t always and everywhere represent ourselves; we can’t refute every falsehood and misstatement and gossip and innuendo that is somehow circulated. And if always people have to be present to defend themselves from gossip, from loose tongues, from irresponsible rumor, or unkind comment, or criticism, there is little of safety for the good name of anyone. “Your name is safe in our home.”¹ This means among other things, refraining from character assassination, from quick-judgment, from unjustified criticism, from putting on a pleasing face and front at the moment of meeting, followed by gossip and accusation and innuendo in absence. Pertinent to this we would cite these three terse sentences, one from Proverbs and two from the New Testament: “A whisperer separateth chief friends.”² “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour.”³ “Take heed what ye hear.”⁴ In the home, in the family, in the house of our friends, among fellow workers — indeed anywhere — it is blessedly reassuring to have someone with whom we can trust our good name, our reputation, our interest in our absence. Among the most cherished possessions in all of life are a loyal family, trustworthy friends, and far and forthright associates who will represent us fairly in our absence. To quote Francis Bacon: “…It is a mere and miserable solitude to want true friends; without which the world is but a wilderness…”⁵ ‘Your name is safe in our home.”¹