Birds of a feather flock together or at least that’s what seems to happen. Have you ever noticed how one miserable person can draw a crowd? Misery loves company and is a magnet that draws others into its sticky web.

All of us know people who love to tell their “story” (how God and everyone else have abandoned them and that they are the way they are because they were made that way—and their story is all they have). I call these people “spiritual exhibitionists.” They love to flash their trash and see the shock it causes. This is their sole purpose in existing. They refuse to deal with their issues knowing that if they do, they will have nothing to talk about. So, at any and every opportunity, they pull back their emotional trench coats and entertain us with their hidden tales of misery.

Sadly, this kind of behavior draws a crowd. Television and magazines are filled with it. We can watch or read without being seen with that person, but their garbage is still ingested by us even if it is vicariously. There is a spiritual principle that applies here and is couched in language I once heard in the early days of computer programming: “Garbage in and garbage out.” Whatever you take in you will dispense if the right button gets mashed.

What kind of diet are you feeding on? Do you love the gossip of sensation or the endless tales of woe, or is your garbage spilling out all around you. If so, you are in danger of drawing a crowd. It really is true—misery loves company.