This Sunday, as we enter the last week of August, I am encouraging you to review your sense of trust. It is a word that I often include in my closing thoughts in these posts. I remind you to trust in the larger spiritual field of Life. The general idea of trust underlies our view and belief in Good. At the same time, our idea of Life as Good is re-enforced by trust. From a dictionary point of view, to trust means that we have confidence in specific people, specific things, and specific events. The more we trust "specific" people, things, projects, and their integrity, character, and ability, the more we are willing to rely on them. The more positive experiences we have in trusting others, the more likely we are to extend trust to those we do not know well. It is the woven nature of trusted alliances and reliances that support a positive outlook of the day before us and our more distant future. But self-trust is also essential. If we cannot trust our own choices, decisions and follow-through--if we cannot rely on ourselves--then it is difficult to have mutually supportive relationships. Trust is a balancing act. Trusting the unknown and unproven can be foolish. It can also intuitive. Trusting the unknown, in whatever form, can spring from our deepest faith in God as the ultimate Source of all manifestations of Life. Our perceptions and judgements, our risk tolerance, our fear and courage, our trust and suspicions are multilayered. But the more we trust, the more positive options we find.
Earlier this week, I sat at the computer, listening to the sound of a neighbor's lawnmower. The extreme heat had receded for a few days; the sky was clear blue and that sound reminded me of the freedom of childhood summers. Suddenly, the lawn mower stopped and there was silence, followed by 2 loud popping sounds, followed by more silence with a deep stillness all around. Involuntarily my body tensed. I went to the window, but hedges blocked my view. Everything held still and silent. Then the lawnmower briefly began again, but then stopped. More sharp popping, then more deep silence. I finally exhaled as the lawnmower started up again. This time, it continued the job, moving through the neighbor's backyard, then stopping in completion. OK, it was now obvious that something in the mower misfired. But that space of fear, as I heard the "pops" explode the silence, was something else--not rational--best named collective fear. Collective fear creeps into consciousness when society has repetitive threats. It is the ancient call of alert, announcing danger to the tribe--our primitive warning system. That fear response is not well integrated into our phenomenal modern communications and warning systems. But primitive collective fear is leveraged and fed by human agendas that aim to disrupt, destabilize, and feed conflict, rather than communal safety.
Trust in 2024 then is complex, because our world is complex as we move through a time of technological advances and climate shifts, not just in our "territory", but across the planet. We are emotionally susceptible to all sorts of claims, threats, predictions, and promises. Taking this week to clear your mind and rest in your own inner Trust and Truth, is another step to Peace. (Susan Nettleton)
Poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/.../trust-56d22ce3845d0 https://besharamagazine.org/news.../poems-for-these-times-4/ http://www.phys.unm.edu/~tw/fas/yits/yits.html