INTRODUCTION: No Secret

Choosing a title for a blog is no easy task. And “In The Secret Place” seems a total misnomer – after all blogs are usually public, not secret.

But I wanted a title that expressed the reason for my writing. Firstly, I am an intensely private person. This may seem strange for someone who is putting their writing into the public eye, but that is how it is. Primarily I write for myself – because it helps me to crystallise my inner thoughts.

Then there is the other part of me that really likes people. I was never particularly gifted socially, but I do genuinely like my fellow humans, and enjoy discussing issues that matter (just don’t ask me to make small talk – I’m rubbish at it!). I particularly love it if I am ever able to help someone. So it seems worth the risk of putting myself out there, in the hope that someone may be encouraged.

And finally there is the most treasured ‘secret’ of all: my relationship with God. Christianity at its very heart is not a religion full of rules and rituals, but a relationship with the living God – and that was never supposed to be a secret. Certainly the fact that I am a Christian is no secret at all! But the way each of us relates to God is private and personal, experienced only in the “secret place” of our hearts, where we talk to Him and He talks back.

So this blog is born out of my own Secret Place with God – from those lovely times with Him where I share my thoughts and questions with Him, and He shows me things that I think might help others too. However you have come across this blog, I hope you meet God here, and hear Him for yourself!

PS On a practical note, I am publishing but backdating some posts that I wrote previously elsewhere – mainly for my own records, so I can bring them into one place but with the right dates. Hope that clears up any possible confusion!