Have you ever stumbled upon some damaging information about an acquaintance? Something that you wish you didn’t know— and he certainly would not have wanted you to know? You might, for instance, learn that a married man, thought to be a pillar of the community, had kept a mistress. It’s disappointing, to put it mildly.

But you can also have the opposite sort of experience: realizing something about a friend that’s been hidden, but is greatly to his credit. Maybe you suddenly who did a charitable deed and tried to keep it a secret. Or you find that a friend has been bearing a heavy burden for years without saying a word?

Now I’m thinking of a couple of people I know fairly well, and I regard as heroes. But they don’t know that. In each case I accidentally came across different pieces of information, unexpectedly noticed that they fit together, and— Wow!— my respect for those people soared. I’m quite certain they’d be terribly embarrassed if they knew what I know. So my lips are sealed. But I know. As I remarked yesterday, there are living saints among us.