For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. – Mark 4:22

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 28, 2014): Mark 4

George Orwell wrote in his dystopian novel, 1984, that “if you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.” Orwell’s comment seems to indicate the difficulty we humans have with keeping a secret. And there are many people that would seem to agree. Even Benjamin Franklin once humorously commented that “three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” The truth about us that secret’s bump up against is that knowledge – any knowledge – is power. It is the reason why so many people in our culture pretend that they know everything that there is to know, including all of the secrets of life. Knowledge is power, and we all want to feel that we are powerful. And that power is displayed in the act of sharing the secrets that we know with others. For a fleeting moment, and it does not last long, we are powerful.

And we seem to be able to add Jesus to the list of people who question our ability to keep secrets. Some have argued that Jesus is strictly speaking about the content of his parables and the elements of spiritual truth that he came to share with humanity. But there is some evidence that suggests that Jesus is simply speaking about the human condition. Secrets can only be kept for a short period of time unless, as Orwell suggests, we are successful at keeping the secret from ourselves. As long as we know, and as long as feel compelled to share the secret with even just one person, then the secret cannot be kept. It is designed to be disclosed and brought out into the open

In human relationships, no true bond is possible as long as there are secrets. In counselling it is always getting beyond the secrets that seems to be the first line of offence. And in marriages, it is always the secrets that act like a time bomb threatening to blow up our lives. Secrets have a tendency to destroy, both us and the people around us. They are a festering sore that threatens the healthy tissue of our lives. And secrets tend to spread and multiply.

The only way we will ever develop a society where we all get what we need is if we can somehow get beyond the secrets. And the revealing of secrets destroys the power structure that tends to separate us from each other. Health happens when we can be honest with each other – and that is also the time when we can get all of the help from others that we need.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Mark 5