shame, hurt, and regret. And there is also the uncomfortable reality that secrets aren’t stagnant. They grow—and the dark recesses of our hearts provide fertile soil. The Desert Fathers were a community of monks who lived in the Egyptian desert beginning in the third century. They had a collection of sayings that reinforce the weighty power of things hidden. One of those reads, “The more a person conceals his thoughts, the more they multiply and gain strength. If you hide things, they have great power