Advent Visions
 
December 17:   Secrets

The days before Christmas in a home with children is a time of excitement and anticipation.   Wrapping presents and stashing them in an out-of-the-way closet or attic corner is part of the fun.   At a certain age, kids know that there are gifts hidden somewhere, and the impulse is to sneak around and try to find them.   But it is far more pleasurable to resist that temptation and wait for the surprise of having them appear under the tree on Christmas morning.

I love playing Santa Claus to the people in my life.   The act of giving should be a joy, and I always enjoy trying to find something that isn't on a laundry list of "Christmas wants."   Most of the time it works, though occasionally I have given gifts that I can tell are a little off the mark--the Hershey's kisses earrings and the Mr.Peanut necklace among them.   Nonetheless, being a "secret Santa" is a pleasure, and although gift-wrapping is not my forte, it is wonderful to watch as someone tears open a package and discovers the secret hidden inside.   That's why we wrap our gifts in pretty paper and ribbons--to make the discovery of what's inside even more tempting.  

Christmas presents are the best kind of secret.   They come from the place of love and offer the delight of discovering the heart behind the secret.   But keeping a secret can be either a joyful responsibility or a destructive impulse.   Secrets that undermine honesty and diminish relationships don't give much joy when they are revealed.  Often they become a terrible burden that cause heartache and pain.    And then there are the deepest secrets, the ones that we spend our lives trying to understand.   Why do I behave and think the way I do?   What is my purpose in life?   Why am I here at all?   What is the great gift I have been given--the one that will make the world a better place?  To discover those secrets is one of the greatest tasks of our existence, and the path of discovery seems to lead us always through the little town of Bethlehem.

Secrets

What wonders
are hidden
in wrapping and ribbon?
Treasures or trinkets,
they hold a deeper secret.
the one which always touches
my searching heart.
It is the secret at the atom's center,
the one that guides the galaxies
and makes a seed stir to life.
If all our seeking
in this beautiful and perplexing world
helps us to unlock the secrets of life,
it may take us back again
to a star and a stable,
and to the love which holds
the world together,
the greatest secret of all.