[First of all let me say that I know I’m going to get in trouble for a lot of what I say in here, but this topic has been on my mind for a long time and recent events have brought it to the forefront once again *sigh*. And sorry if this is a little long :)]
Trust is defined in the dictionary as “to rely upon or place confidence in someone or something: to trust in another’s honesty; –or– to have confidence; hope” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/trust). So where has it gone?
The municipal elections are coming up here in Ontario next Monday and I’ve heard so many people (including myself) saying “I don’t trust any of them!” It used to be we trusted our elected officials with the power and authority that we’ve given them to do the right thing. Now we’re suspicious of how they spend the tax-payers money and we don’t even trust their personal integrity anymore.
The newspapers, radio and television used to be expected (and taught) to be unbiased reporting of the news, but not so anymore. I know that I’m going to hate what’s written in the liberal media. And I’m not talking about the Editorial pages. I’m talking about the headlines and front page stories where it used to be “The facts. Just the facts, Maam.”
We used to trust our neighbours to watch our house. Now we’re watching them to make sure it’s not a grow-op going on next door or that they’re not encroaching on our property.
We used to trust out teachers and education system to educate our children in traditional values, but now we have to screen the text-books and lectures to make sure they’re teaching fact as fact and theory as theory and opinion as opinion.
We used to trust our scientists to tell us what was good for us and what was bad, but now we seem to get study after study contradicting each other and then proposals for more studies to prove that the latest contradiction was in fact a contradiction. These studies are more about proving a point now, than finding out what is true.
We used to trust our police and military personnel as trust-worthy and defending our honour and way of life, but now we read of corruption and just simply weird behaviour going on behind closed doors.
We used to trust people enough to allow our church buildings to be opened during the day to allow people to come in at lunch hour or during the day and pray, but now we have to lock up the buildings so tight that even our members can’t function anymore in the volunteer duties they’ve been asked to do. How can we be a light into the community when they can’t even enter our doors to look for help?
We used to trust that when people said they’d do something that their word was good and they’d actually do it, or at least call you ahead of time to say why they wouldn’t be able to do it.
We used to be able to take pictures of interesting people and places without people getting all hyper that we’re stalkers or pedophiles. We used to be able to trust people who took pictures of our kids but now with the number of pedophiles and stalkers out there we can’t trust anyone anymore.
We used to be able to comment on someone’s looks without it being interpreted as a sexual advance. We used to be able to pat someone on the back, or give them a hug, to express some form of physical affection for one another. We used to be able to accidentally bump into someone without people suing us for assault.
We used to be able to have an opinion. Now our opinions have to be politically correct and non-offensive to everyone (which quite frankly, offends me!).
We used to be able to read from the Bible and quote from it freely.
We used to be able to have political or religious discussions with our co-workers, but they don’t trust us anymore.
But you know what? With all this “I don’t trust ______” stuff, there is still three people that I can always, and will always trust. And that is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
God is the ONLY one we can truly trust. God loves us when we goof up. He loves us when we aren’t all that good. He loves us unconditionally and just like we would do anything for our kids, God will do anything for us (as long as it’s in line with His plan and will and that it won’t harm us in the long run).
There’s other people I can trust too (my wife, my kids, my friends, etc). I could probably be accused of being over-trusting, but my Dad was a great judge of character, and I think he passed that on to me, and so I’m going to give people the benefit of the doubt and trust them. That’s just who I am.
It would be nice if we could trust other people as much as we trust God, but I’m afraid that won’t happen soon. What I do wish however is that we trust people more than we do and stop the paranoid hysteria that seems to pervade our society.
When someone smiles at you, smile back. I really doubt they are out to get you. When they hold open the door for you, they probably are just being friendly, not just condescending. When they offer to help you, assume their not expecting something in return and thank them.
Well, that’s enough of today’s rant. If you’ve got a comment, go ahead and make it. I may disagree with it, but trust me, I will let you have your say, and I will read it.
I’ll be back. Trust me.
TTFN