It happened in 2nd grade: around Christmas, actually. I remember it as if it were yesterday. In fact, there are events even today that trigger the memory. It was the first time I was entrusted with a secret. It involved my Dad.

Now, before you fast-forward and decide that I was a victim, let me tell you…I wasn't. Did you conjure in your mind that I was a helpless, little girl that was taken advantaged of? How about a horrid incident that causes me to have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Nope. My memory of my first secret is a good one. In reality, most of my childhood secrets were good ones….for you see, I was fortunate. I grew up in a family that placed a positive spin on secrets.

It was a test, really. My Dad had bought my Mother a wedding band set for Christmas. He wanted to replace the small gold band they had when they first got married. He told me about it, asked me not to tell and then let me help him wrap it up in boxes that started with the rings, and ended up in a box that a T.V. had been shipped in. He placed bricks in the bottom and filled it with paper. He was more excited than I was. We were going to fool my Mother and he let ME in on the secret. I felt proud, important, and most of all special.

It worked. Mother was completely caught off guard. When she found out that I knew about it and kept the secret, she praised me. From then on, I was a TRUSTED part of the family. Even today, I can keep my mouth shut.

Maybe that is a good thing, maybe not. Secrets for some of you are not good things. Shame, guilt and a host of other emotions are associated with the word "secret". And Lord, don't we all know how to keep our sexuality a secret……..

The Divine Spirit is waiting on you. She is willing and anxious to share a little gift with you: you are Her Precious Child and she is more excited about that than you are. She has your life waiting to be unwrapped, little box by little box until you finally get to the secret: the ring, the eternal circle of her love.