Blog 2494 – 08.23.2022

All Secrets Will Be Revealed

Everything will eventually be exposed or in the words of a carpenter turned preacher, “Nothing is hidden in secret that shall not one day be shouted from the housetops.” It is a sobering thought for those who think their secrets are safe. Trust me they are not, for all secrets will one day be revealed.

Fixers, advertisers, image consultants, doctors, lawyers, and priests all make their livings promising confidentiality and say your secrets are safe with them. Someone always spills the beans, stumbles upon the truth, or ends up cutting a deal to save their own skin.

Once upon a time when I was a young soldier, I held a Top Secret Security clearance, but I made it a point not to read the sensitive and classified material that came across the teletype equipment that I was trained to repair. I wanted to be like Sergeant Schultz of Hogan’s Hero who often remarked when he came across information that he did not want to be privy to, “I know nothing, I know nothing.”

Almost daily we read of this or that political figure being summons to testify in some high profile investigation, where they are sworn under oath to tell the truth, nothing but the truth. One such individual when running for a high office once said that he did not understand why anyone who was innocent would hide behind the Fifth Amendment right not to testify if such testimony would be self-incriminating. Yeah, well it is rather self-explanatory and isn’t that what keeping secrets is all about trying to avoid the recriminations of others. The good book, that is being currently banded from some school libraries because they think it not so good for children in places says, “Judge not lest you be judged.”

When I was a boy my eighteen month younger brother and I knew all each other’s secrets so every “I’ll tell Mom and Dad” was quickly silenced with a counter “ If you do I’ll tell something else on you.” Probably not as healthy as keeping everything out in the open and above board, but it did serve to bond us together, keeping each others’ secrets. By the time we were teens we had learned to keep our most important secrets from one another also. Though I confess my brother was much better at it than I ever was.

I happen to believe that secrets always cause more problems than they solve. Sunlight they say is the best disinfectant. Things kept in the dark are too often like a malignancy slowly destroying the body and infecting and affecting many others as well.

It is, I think, better to live free of the darkness and secrets as much as possible. Sorry, Sergeant Schultz, a better motto and goal is: “Know as much as you can and share it freely with as many as possible.” No secret ever set anyone free, but the truth still does. Keeping secrets is a kind of prison and can wind one in a real one.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KbYIx-S545-ZE7vOWf55-mHgrh2MPL3v/view?usp=drivesdk

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