Have we forgotten some secret we knew back when we were just children?

------Darius Rucker

This verse, specifically this line of Darius Rucker's song "If I Had Wings" has constantly been on my mind lately. I go to sleep hearing it, I wake up hearing it, many times during the day...I hear it.

It is amazing how compassionate children are by nature. One of my FB friend just this morning posted a short conversation between her two boys. It was pure, it was honest and above all it was compassionate. Just a few simple words "I'm gonna miss you Bub". "I'm gonna miss you too". Kind of melts your heart. The innocence and lack of fear that allowed them to speak those words freely. Not to mention the parents who taught them well. The boys may have already forgotten this conversation, their Mom and Dad will likely never forget it. Those boys are still children and those boys haven't yet forgotten what I see as the "secret".

I think I have been paying attention lately. I know that I certainly have forgotten at times. As I said though, I have been paying attention lately. What is it inside us that allows us to be more kind to a complete stranger than to our own family member? Or just the opposite...allowing ourselves to be unkind, even cruel to someone we don't even know. Speak words that we would never want our own parents to hear us speak? At what point do we say to ourselves that this is okay? When do we wake up to the fact that the children know more than the adults and follow their lead? We can at one moment be proud of their heart and the next moment break someone else's with our words. Without even knowing what we have done, because we don't care enough to know. I don't believe the choice to behave this way is a conscious choice, but I do believe it is a choice.

I personally have experienced many different situations lately. I am honestly not sure which ones are easier to handle. The situations where people are careless with their words or the ones when people shock you with unexpected kindness. Example: a few weeks ago (yes, I have mentioned this before) someone left a note on my car. A hateful, unnecessary note, and called me a bitch. I am not sure at what point I did something to this person to cause them to do such a thing. Surely I did though, what kind of person would do that unprovoked? They didn't sign their name to it, so I can safely assume they didn't want to take responsibility for it. They just wanted to be mean and they succeeded. Bet they wouldn't want their Mom to know about it.

An example of another situation: I am at work. We are very busy. Not alot of chit chat, not alot of time to stand around and tell your story. Actually, on two different occasions this happened. I had someone come to me and mention they knew I was stressed and ask to pray with me. We just stopped what we were doing right then and there and they prayed with me. These are not people I talk to on the phone, not someone I am friends with on FB, not someone who has even met another member of my family. At least for that moment, they knew the secret.

I could, but won't, go on with more stories. Stories from both sides of the fence. Strangers, friends and family being uncaring and strangers, friends and family knowing and saying just the right thing. I think we should remember another line from Darius Rucker's song...."What can I do while I'm here to make someone's life better?" I pray that I will do a little more to make someone's life better and alot less of forgetting the secret.

To my dear friend Amber, I cannot hear this song without thinking of your Dad, Johnnie "Butch" Thompson. It doesn't make me sad. It makes me proud. I hope you don't mind, and I know this isn't much, but I dedicate this post to him. I could fill a book with all he did in his lifetime to make things better for others, often anonymously. He never forgot the "Secret" and he will never be forgotten.

Life is hard. But, life is good. Much love.