The Secret

I read this book a few years ago called The Secret. Maybe you've heard of it. I read it in about a half hour while sitting in a Barnes & Noble. I'm glad I didn't pay for it. I'm glad I didn't spend any more time on it.

It was a big deal back then. My boss raved about it. People were saying that it was changing their lives. Apparently The Secret is that if there's something you want, you should spend the bulk of your time and energy thinking about that thing, therefore projecting it out into the universe, and if you put enough time and energy into doing nothing in particular about it, that thing will come to you. Magically. Through vibrations or something.

But it only works if you really believe in it.

I tried it, but I didn't really believe in it. So it didn't work for me. Oh darn.

I was thinking about this this morning, kind of randomly. Now, as a Christian, it seems even dumber than it did back then. Why would you rely on anyone or anything other than God for the things you need and want in life? Why do people (including myself, once upon a time) shy away from the idea of a personal God, yet believe that an unfeeling, unthinking, uncaring collection of atoms known as the universe can somehow give you your heart's desires? It's ludicrous, really.

Not only that, it's kind of scary. I remembered back to some of the examples given in the book. Tape a dollar bill to your wall and pencil in six zeros, and ::BAM:: you'll get a million dollars the next year. Pin a picture of Fiji on your bulletin board and suddenly you'll find yourself able to book your dream vacation. In other words, make idols out of the stuff you crave, and it will be delivered to you. Who's it really coming from?

It made me more than a little uneasy, as I tried to steady my hand enough to apply mascara, to think that so many people have fallen for this lie. To think that I also entertained the idea briefly. I mean, I made my list. I'm glad I promptly lost it.

God continues to reveal himself as an ample provider. God is the one we should turn to with our hearts' desires. It doesn't mean that we'll get it all, but what we don't get, we didn't really need. And if we choose only him as the source of the few things we get here on Earth, just think what must await us in Heaven.

I am glad that God is teaching me how to discern truth from lies. I'm glad that He is revealing His secrets to me.