Evil cannot be hidden, nor can good

Secrecy. It’s a word you hear a lot in the debate about government wiretaps on calls between people in the United States and suspected terrorists abroad. And concerns about management of US ports have been increased by fears that a weapon could be brought into a port through a secret arrangement with terrorists.

Of course, Americans aren’t the only ones who struggle with secrecy issues. Most governments have to deal with these questions, especially in times of war.

There are no easy answers, but I find that prayer helps to clarify my thinking on these subjects because it brings God’s power to bear; it opens people’s eyes to hidden dangers as surely as it enables them to see good at work.

I find encouragement in the Biblical promise that evil cannot be hidden. Speaking of people who wished him ill, Jesus told his followers, “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.”

Prayers inspired by such assurances often uncover what needs to be exposed because they bring to bear the influence of the Christ, Truth, that Jesus taught.

This “divine message from God to men” as Christ is defined in Science and Health, often uncovers errors. When we allow Christ to shed light on a situation, we can expect the wrongdoing to be uncovered, not as a reality, but as nothing before the power of good. And the Christ influence also strengthens us to discover and destroy conditions that would lurk in secret.

I can speak from experience. When our children were teenagers, many of their friends were taking illegal drugs. One evening, our daughter came in and hurried to her room. I was in the living room and sensed that she had something she didn’t want us to see. After she’d briefly visited her room, she went out again.

I went upstairs to her room, alarmed. As a parent, I felt I should know what was going on. She had a little box with a combination lock where she kept her “secrets.” I didn’t know the code number and didn’t want to force open the box. Praying as I picked up the box, I moved the numbers on the dial.

To my amazement, the box opened, to reveal—a package of cigarettes. I have never been so glad to see cigarettes. I knew we could deal with this as mostly harmless experimenting, rather than the hard drugs that were leading so many of her contemporaries into danger.

My prayers had led me to the information I needed to quiet my fears, but there was a far greater blessing in that small incident. The confidence in God’s guidance that we gained from this experience inspired me and my husband to help free my daughter’s friends from their use of illegal substances. Like most parents, we respected the privacy of our growing children and their friends, and we were confident that Christ would reveal what we needed to know when we needed to know it. Through this prayer and our loving respect for them, we were able to help these other teens.

In both secular and spiritual matters, truth is often associated with light. This light shines in the dark places and brings intelligence to bear on particular issues, but it never allows the covering-up of error or evil.

It isn’t just evil machinations that are revealed to us, however. Christ also speaks to us about the good news of God’s supremacy, presence, and power. As Jesus put it, “What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.” The good that is revealed to us is to be shared openly.

The habit of secrecy that allows wrong to be covered, or makes us afraid to share our faith in good, has no spiritual support. These uses of secrecy do not advance individual or community good. Prayer that turns to the all-knowing Mind, God, however, pierces this cloud and reveals blessings for all.

Mary Baker Eddy, who insisted on truth-telling, once wrote, “Many are willing to open the eyes of the people to the power of good resident in divine Mind, but they are not so willing to point out the evil in human thought, and expose evil's hidden mental ways of accomplishing iniquity.”

The context of this sentence implies that uncovering error stirs up trouble. And exposing wrong practices can exact a price, as whistle blowers often find out. But the light that penetrates “evil’s hidden ways” outshines the evil. Consistent prayer reveals both the lie of evil and the truth of God’s presence and power. We never have to work in the dark.

Along with this uncovering comes the actual truth of a situation which the lie would cloud. Being willing to face and resolve whatever is uncovered in this spiritual truth-telling is essential to living a productive life. It avoids putting one’s head in the sand, and makes way for glorious, healing revelations of God's goodness and allness.

While everyone is entitled to rightful privacy, the necessary uncovering of evil cannot be avoided. The revelations of correcting truths that are part of that uncovering make each day a discovery of good.

Whether we are considering the events of our personal lives or broader national and international concerns, “truth will out,” as the old saying goes. And we can be grateful for this. The harm of hidden sins is destroyed by uncovered good. Our willingness to look at both, and distinguish between them, blesses all humanity.

The light of truth:

Science and Health
332:9-11 Jesus  
570:30

King James Bible
Matt. 10:26  
Matt. 10:27