The Wilder View - April 2007

I spent many of my summers at my grandmother’s house in Perryville, when Perryville was a small town. One of my fondest memories is at the end of the day, when we would sit on the front porch swing together. We would look out and watch the beauty of the sunset and hear the life of all of the night creatures begin to burst out in song. Eventually my grandmother would begin to hum and then there would be a song.

The songs were great. They were her favorite hymns; Amazing Grace, Shall we gather at the River, Nothing between my Jesus and Me, How Great Thou art, and many more. One that has been resonating in my mind for several days now is ‘It Is No Secret.’ You may know the words, “It is no secret what God can do. What he’s done for others he’ll do for you. With arms wide open he’ll pardon you. It is no secret, what God can do.”

There is a lot of energy in our world today surrounding a book and a movie called ‘The Secret.’ It builds upon the premise that there is this one secret that guarantees the perfect life. It is believed that all of the great people in history knew the secret but (of course) they kept it to themselves. Over the next several weeks we will explore this “Secret’’ thru a sermon series that looks at how this idea fits with our understanding of God and God’s love. Some of the ideas in the book are actually biblical, and others…well, come and find out for yourself.

Truly God’s love for us is no secret. Yet, in many cases we hold it as a secret. There is something in our society that puts out subliminal messages telling us that it is politically incorrect to proclaim and celebrate God’s love. Many of us feel that if we really live a faithful life before God people might think that we are strange. The really sad thing about this is that there are so many people who do not realize the depth of God’s love for them. Unfortunately, they do not know the truth.

So, how do we as Christians, as a people of faith, as followers of Christ, live in this world? Do we yield to those subliminal messages and not talk about God in our daily world, and treat God’s love as a secret secret? Or do we share the joy of God’s love everywhere we go?
I think the answer is as simple as the song. “It is no Secret what God can do…” Let us share ‘the Secret’ J of God’s love where ever we are.


Glory be to God!
Pastor Kathleen