"So, you think you know
yourself?" He asked me.
"I believe I know myself better than anyone else knows
me," I replied.
"I'll bet that you don't," he said.
I thought about that for a moment.
"I believe that betting on myself would be a safe bet.
I mean, you don't know me at all. We just met," I said.
"I'm not saying that I know you better. I am saying
that we all have a secret self."
He went on to explain that we might think we know how
we would react to things in life but, we really don't know until they happen.
I remembered the first day my son, Keith went to the
hospital for cancer treatment.
I met some of the parents who were standing in the
hallway. They were warm, friendly and welcoming.
They knew all too well what we were just learning.
I clearly remember speaking with one mom who was
standing in the doorway of her child's room. Off in the distance behind her I
could see her daughter sitting on the bed.
She was pale and bald from her cancer treatments.
I looked at her mom and asked one of the dumbest
questions..."How do you get through this?"
Her head jerked suddenly like no one had ever asked
her that before. She looked at her child and then back at me.
"I just do," she said.
She had discovered a part of her "secret self." Never
having faced anything like this before she discovered things about herself that
she never knew.
So did I.
The secrets of self can be found in the tears you
shed. They may occur in the obvious, like the loss of a loved one or a song that
brings back memories.
They may also occur during a sunset or a happy moment.
The secrets of self may be discovered at work, play or
facing an emergency.
You might think you know how you would react, but it
may very well surprise you.
Pay attention. God is speaking to you. He is saying
"You can handle this."
As Frederick Buechner wrote in "Whistling in the Dark"
"...but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery
of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be
saved, you should go next."
The secrets can be good or bad. It can bring out the
best or the worst.
So, if you think you have arrived at a point in life
where nothing can surprise you, think again.
Your secret self can handle whatever you are facing
right now. God is speaking to you through them.
You are still discovering the "secret of who you are."
We all know..."It is no secret what God can do..."
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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