There be no secrets! – Or ‘The Truth Will Out!’
It seems part of our time that many things come out in the open that people or groups, for reasons of ego or greed, have tried to keep secret. Especially starting with the Brexit debates and now to a heightened level through the time of the Covid ‘pandemic’, we have the feeling but also direct knowledge from many incidences that truth and falsehood are juggled about as playthings, almost — with seemingly little consideration of ethics or inner conscience as to which of the two to use when: they are used to achieve certain ends, whichever works best! This is especially so with political parties, but it also applies increasingly to multi-national corporations which sometimes seem to have as much power as national governments if not more. Power, greed, selfishness – part of the mix of our times, in the interest of which controls and coercion are used to discourage public debate.
There is, though, a parallel stream to this, one which gains strength the more the untruths are bandied about: the conviction that there is an eternal truth, a light that shines through all, which the darkness and the lies do not comprehend, as the light and truth is so much greater and all-comprehensive. Moreover, the strength of the light means that the darkness, lies and deceits cannot rule in the end — they may have their day and seem to have power, but their days are numbered. And how long those days of seeming darkness are depends on each and every one of us. In our inner convictions that there is a light shining, in our conscience that we cannot partake in any of the ‘games’. In our actions that reflect this.
Indeed, ‘The truth will out’, as the saying goes, and there seems a particular abundance of such instances in our times. It’s almost as if we as human beings are becoming more ‘transparent’, that our inner thoughts, attitudes and actions are becoming more visible, harder to hide in sheaths of egotism. Perhaps it is all to prod us to raise our selfish egos to a higher level, to one of selflessness, where we are not just serving ourselves but our fellow human beings, mindful of caring for all life around us with love imbued words and deeds…
A passage in St. Luke’s Gospel comes to mind:
“There is nothing hidden which cannot be revealed, and nothing secret that cannot become known. All that you say in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you whisper to one another in your own rooms shall be proclaimed loudly from the housetops.” (Luke 12:2-3)
There is another level to this, not just that ill-thought and ill-begotten secrets will come out, but that the inner light, the spiritual light, wishes to shine and be proclaimed. We need the courage to proclaim the spirit, in our lives and with others. Not in the sense of preaching and proselytising – rather in the sense of having the courage, not being afraid, to speak our convictions, when the spirit moves you, as the Quakers would say.
“No one lights a lamp only to cover it with a vessel or to place it under the bed. Rather, it is put on a stand, so that all who enter may see the light.” (Luke 8:16)
May we bring truth, light and peace into our lives and deeds!