Bringing Our Secrets into the Light

Here's another meditation by Henri Nouwen as sent to me by Linda Cole:

We all have our secrets: thoughts, memories, feelings that we keep to ourselves. Often we think, "If people knew what I feel or think, they would not love me." These carefully kept secrets can do us much harm. They can make us feel guilty or ashamed and may lead us to self-rejection, depression, and even suicidal thoughts and actions.

One of the most important things we can do with our secrets is to share them in a safe place, with people we trust. When we have a good way to bring our secrets into the light and can look at them with others, we will quickly discover that we are not alone with our secrets and that our trusting friends will love us more deeply and more intimately than before. Bringing our secrets into the light creates community and inner healing. As a result of sharing secrets, not only will others love us better but we will love ourselves more fully.

The meditative process teaches us that we can have a thought, we can accept it without judgment, we can let it go and then we can return to the meditative support - which brings us back to the present moment. This process will enable us to face our own secrets without undue distress and will, over time, teach us the courage we need to share those secrets with someone we trust.