Manly Thor's Day Special

Exceptions to keeping secrets
A man is very careful about the secrets he promises to keep because he will keep a secret almost all the time.

It follows then that the first rule about secrets is not to accept every one that is offered to you. Like all responsibilities, secrets seem like something worth having but usually are not. But if you take them, you're stuck with them and you have to follow through on the promise to keep them, even if the promise is only implied when you were told the secret.

Secrets are like keys. Every key on your key ring is power but  when you get too many it goes the the other way—you become the person at every one else's beck and call when they need a door opened. You gain power through secrets but you also surrender a little at the same time.

If you're going to keep a secret, both the secret and the person who gives it to you have to worth it.

There are exceptions where we should not keep a secret. You need a really good reason to keep a secret from the police for example.

The more important exception is if you are married. The only secrets a man keeps from his wife are secrets such as what her birthday present is going to be.

A married man may tell his wife anything he hears and trust that she too will keep it a secret. If that really bothers you then always pick single men as your confidants although that single man may get married someday too. The point being that God and spouse, in that order, take precedence over all other relationships.

Sometimes I have had to establish this boundary with people I know who fail to see this. It innevitably angers them when I tell them but marriage is serious business, much more serious than any other relationship except the one we have with God. Because it is important to make the point, I make the telling as unpalatable as possible for them.