“Raw honesty is welcomed”

No Secrets

“I no longer feel the awkward obligation to fill silent spaces with mindless self-centered chatter” -written on a postcard with a picture of a baby in a neonatal intensive care unit (PostSecret).

PostSecret is the brainchild of Frank Warren, who in 2004, invited people to share their deep secrets, completely anonymously. Responses poured in with confessors of regret, fear, betrayal, desire, confession, or childhood humiliation.

On the website and in Warren’s books, these secrets appear in raw honesty.

Many revolve around relationships: “I often wonder what it would have been like if I chose the ‘other man’ instead of my husband.”

Others speak to self-worth: “I have two master’s degrees and a doctorate…but I still feel like a Failure.”

Some lay open deep struggles: “After I returned from deployment I struggled to adjust and tried to kill myself. Check on your shipmates.”

Some reflect on God and religion: “If my family ever found out…they would disown me” (on a picture of a sheep, its ear tag reading “ATHEIST”).

Despite some critics, PostSecret has great appeal. Why is it so popular? Because it reminds people they’re not alone.

Reading someone else’s secret can be unexpectedly connecting.

A British reader put it this way: “Some of the secrets really cause me to sit back and say a quick prayer for whoever wrote them… Some of the secrets make me think: ‘WOW! I’m not alone'” (Brueggemann xvii).

Sharing secrets – putting words to fear, shame, or longing – can be an act of courage. Putting traumatic events into language is healing.
That sense of shared experience, of finding words for what seems unspeakable, is why I love the Psalms.

The Psalms – ancient prayers and songs found in the Bible – capture the full range of human emotion, much like PostSecret, but with one crucial difference: they are not just spoken to the world, but to God. They hold nothing back. Praise, fear, grief, accusation, longing, hatred, love, shame, regret – it’s all there. Nothing is off-limits.

Some of the most powerful Psalms are laments – prayers of frustration, sorrow, and even fury.

These are powerful when I’m struggling because they remind me that honest emotions are not something to hide.

If the writers of the Psalms could hurl their questions, anger, accusations and grief toward God, then surely, I can too.

And when I’m in a place of joy, the words of the Psalms express gratitude better than I ever could on my own.

People sometimes feel ashamed for being angry at God.

But the Psalms show that raw honesty isn’t just allowed – it’s welcomed. In a world where vulnerability often invites judgment, the Psalms assure us that even our messiest, most complicated emotions are seen and heard.

There is power in speaking the truth of our hearts.

PostSecret resonates so deeply with so many people because it offers a space where nothing is off-limits.

The Psalms take another step, laying bare the hurt before the Healer.

Works Cited: Brueggemann, Walter. From Whom No Secrets are Hid. Westminster John Knox Press, 2014. PostSecret, https://postsecret.com/

Contact Sharon at tct@pageone-inc.com