To me, this has got to be one of the most absurd advertising slogans ever dreamed up. Why would anyone want to make this claim? If I were forced to use the slogan I would insist, even at the cost of my eye teeth, that another phrase be added to it; “BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE!” The slogan? “Best Kept Secret”, as in, Golf’s “Best Kept Secret”, or Dallas’ “Best Kept Secret.” If I were advertising why would I want to tell anyone and everyone that my place of business is a secret? That is unless my place of business is a rendezvous restaurant for folks cheating on their spouses, but even then my prospects need to know about my business.
Now I can easily see why a client might want to keep his favorite place a secret, the rendezvous restaurant being a great example of that. I mean it would be really horrible to be sitting there with my hand on the knee of a girl who shouldn’t be, only to look over and see my betrothed playing touching feely with some mister America type guy like Brad Pit, or Tony Romo. (Let’s face it here friends this is my story and the way I see it, it would take the world’s sexist, most wonderful specimen of a man to turn any woman’s eye from me. I mean that in the most humble way of course, because I believe no matter how great a person is there is always someone one step above, so I am more than willing to admit that I am not THE sexist, most wonderful specimen of a man in the world, but I could certainly be no less than number two.)
In reality I can tell you that I personally have a desire for one thing to be a “best kept secret” and that would be whatever golf course I happen to be playing at the time. I love it when my group is playing golf and it appears that we are the only group on the course. We have been able to do that on occasion. That’s one of the reasons we like to tee it up early. We want to be the first group off the box, and we prefer not having anyone behind us as we enjoy our round of “swat it on the go golf.”
Honestly folks, when you think about it, we want, and need our business to be known. We depend on advertising, and customer referral to build our businesses no matter what they might be. What we do want kept secret are the things that…well…the things we want kept secret. It’s the things we aren’t that proud of or the things we know we should not be involved in that we want to be kept quiet. As a teenager I can promise you that I did things I didn’t want mom and dad to know about. I went to a few dances over in Seagraves that I couldn’t even enjoy while on the floor for fear mom might find out I had gone to a dance. That old thing about dancing leading to “something else” didn’t work on me because I was so busy worrying about my being there, being found out, that my dance partner could have been necked and I might not have noticed. …Well, maybe not, but you get my point.
So, here is my question, and it will lead us in two directions. Is there anything in my life that I want to be a “best kept secret?” Am I wanting, or trying to keep a thing or two I do a secret, and if I am, should I be? As for the other direction I mentioned, am I purposefully keeping my walk with God a “best kept secret?” Am I comfortable feeling that no one in my “outside life” thinks of me as a Christian?
You know friends; I’m just an ordinary man. I have my faults, and weaknesses. I have my struggles, and I need to “break-thought” more than I do. Sometimes I find myself standing with others around a fire, trying to stay close enough to the activities to know what’s going on without actually being part of them. Trying to keep a secret of Who’s I am, and Who I walk with, even as someone in the crowd asks, “Aren’t you one of them, didn’t I see you with Him?” At that instant, my big brother Peter wanted his past three years to be a “best kept secret,” but it didn’t stay that way with him, and shouldn’t stay that way with me either.
Dear God, today, give me the strength and courage to “let my life shine before men so they can see what I do and praise You because of it.” ( Kent Smith paraphrase of Matt. 5:16)
Till next time,
Grump