PEACE.....Trust

This Christmas, as all the ones before, we celebrated the coming of the Christ and with it the hope of peace in this world.

If one was cynical one could ask, whose peace? The Republican, the Democratic, the Catholic, Nondenominational, Presbyterian, or maybe the Jewish or Islamic peace?

Peace, is not about whose view or ideology wins and who gives in so that harmony may prevail.

Peace has a very important ingredient. That ingredient is trust.

Whom can we trust? We are all born to parents whom we feel we can trust unconditionally – until the child's trust-bubble is burst by abuse, neglect or maybe even the parent's divorce.

That high haven of trust comes tumbling down at the child's feet. Sections of it may be still intact like remains of a ruin still upholding hope for that one parent or person who protected the child.

As we grow older we learn that there are people we can trust and others who betray that trust. However, if those protective walls have already crumbled early on, the chilly wind of betrayal cuts much deeper into the soul.

God trusted us – sending his son that we might believe him and treat him well. Yet, God also knew the human heart. How do you trust in spite of knowing that there are times you can't trust?

Can we as humans do what God did?

How often have I heard someone yell: “I trusted you.....!!!” with a long silence implying....”but you betrayed that trust.” The person then runs off in anger, in disgust or in tears.

Many of us have become cynical, distrusting and fearful....while we are hiding behind gated communities. We do so, however, illogical that may be because even there we will encounter those we cannot trust. We do background checks which can only reveal the past of someone – never will that reveal their future decisions. We give lie detector tests and psychological tests which provide answers that can vary from day to day and can be manipulated. We stop voting because we don't trust the democratic process. We watch our co-workers to see if (s)he acts strange or does something against the code or company ethics. Yet even company ethics, can it be trusted or does it just serve the institution so they won't be sued?

We engage spies because we do not trust the government of other countries. We hire investigators to dig up dirt on ex-spouses, on future politicians or anyone rising up a public ladder. These are all actions which will erode our trust even further.

Trust is a fickle thing and yet so essential in the functioning of a society, organization or family.

Lack of Trust will crumble any society or community.

WHAT if we have been trusting in the wrong thing all this time, the perfect human?

However, there is no such a thing.

One thing we can trust is that we all are imperfect, that we all make mistakes.

We also can trust that we all need to be loved and we all need to give care and love to someone, to something. We all have been given the ability of empathy and compassion, some more so than others – however, all do have the ability.

How can a world function if there is only imperfection and people's need for love? It could not were it not for a Higher Power guiding us, a power some of us call God. We can trust God to protect us and to guide us in this maze of a world. Within this guidance we find the ability and willingness to become empathic and compassionate. Why would we want to be compassionate, even if some do not believe in a Higher Power? This is, because we too need other's compassion when we stumble.

Instead of private prisons and more prisons, why not save money and ask the person who made the mistake to rectify it? The thief should repay what he took, the one who created damage have it fixed. Maybe when we change our mindset from the “Criminal” to “the human who made a mistake,” we might be able to mend the torn fabric of our society.

Jesus told us: “Judge not – and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37) from King James Version.

There is nothing more important than those teachings, if we want to repair trust and learn to truly love as Jesus loved us in our imperfection.

We attempt to negotiate peace treaties with a heavy gnawing of distrust at the very hearts which should exude that hope, peace and trust which they search. We may be quite surprised that these treaties fail. Yet is it a wonder? Deep down in our own heart trust has crumbled from betrayal a long time ago. In our current society those crumbled walls have continued to crumble because there are so few people who show or teach empathy or compassion. It is hard to find those who are worthy of trust.

What is trust? Trust, if you truly reflect on its quality is safety, being able to lean on someone, a group, or family. Trust is being able to rely on someone while being allowed to remain who you truly are and still be loved.

I know this is a tall order. In its perfection only God is capable of carrying that out. Yet, we humans can come close, if we exercise and practice empathy and compassion. This must be practiced not only in thought and word but also in deed and commitment to each other.

In a world of empathy and compassion where we can learn to trust again, we may be able to avert many things that ail us now. Crimes and terrorism may decline if there is someone listening to a person's or group's plight and is truly inclined to help. For that matter being able and willing to hear each other is where trust must start.

I am also aware that there are atrocities that happened in our history which are hard to mend. This brings to the forefront questions that are hard to answer. How do we mend murder? We cannot resurrect the dead. How do we mend the holocaust and other irreparable damage? We can't!

We can choose to approach these happenings from a different view-point.

First we can choose to weave these experiences into our human historic fabric and let its tears, which are glistening like diamonds, fill in the gaps. When we then take a look at this fabric we will have patterns of glistening diamonds spread throughout our fabric filling in its holes. Kenji Miyazawa once said: 'We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” Maybe we can weave it as a pathway of diamond-light into our fabric, a path that may just lead us to peace.

We must acknowledge that there are unspeakable things that happened and learn from that history so that it will not be repeated. We also must be alert and aware of the symptoms that led to these atrocities so we can prevent them in the future. Equally important is that we examine ourselves each day, in our thoughts, words and actions. We need to ask ourselves: “When is remaining silent harmful?” When is speaking up harmful?” We must also realize that if we silently accept what others ask of us especially if it is harming a whole people, we come in agreement with our perpetrator.

Secondly, we must embrace forgiveness. This is the hardest thing to do. There must be a time when we ask God to help us let go and give us the peace of forgiveness. By not forgiving we are chained to our perpetrator, to the darkness of the past event. We must forgive so that we ourselves can become free. With peace of forgiveness a strange thing happens, we start to be able to trust again.




 I am  aware that it is hard to live a life of self examination, it is especially hard in a convenience driven society.....yet we must change for our own sake