No Secrets

April 10, 2023

In August, fifty years ago, Roberta Flack had a hit song on the radio, “Killing Me Softly.” I can remember that the song went straight to my heart.

“I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style, and so I came to see him to listen for a while. And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes,

Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words, Killing me softly with his song, killing me softly with his song, Telling my whole life with his words, killing me softly with his song.”

She goes on to sing about how embarrassed she was, having her own struggles sung to the crowd. How could he know her that well? Of course the young boy did not know her. He just sang with honesty about a struggle just like hers.

Do we dare let anyone really know us, all that is deep down, all the dirt and grime and maybe the things we’re happy about but shouldn’t be?

I think I’d like a friend who would be willing to completely know me and not turn away. Like anyone else, I don’t tell anyone every detail about myself. They wouldn’t understand, unless they could see the sum of all the parts, and that good eventually came out of all the mess. No one has time to sit and listen for years. No one was with me every step of the journey.

Well, there is one.

“O Lord , you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; even from far away you understand my motives. You carefully observe me when I travel or when I lie down to rest; you are aware of everything I do.” -Psalms 139:1-3

And he doesn’t turn away.