“Trust is the easiest thing in the world to lose, and the hardest thing in
the world to get back.”—R.M. Williams
***
The dictionary defines trust as “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”
If that definition is still vague, allow me to share the story below which I got from the internet. I don’t know who the real author is but allow me to impart this to you:
It came to pass that a young man was walking alone in the forest. He was lost. He never knew where he was. He was looking at beautiful scenery and before he knew it, his companions were gone. He tried to look for them but couldn’t find them.
Then, it was getting dark. He had no flashlight or anything. All of a sudden, while walking, he fell into a cliff. He went down, down, down. But it was good that he was able to get hold of some roots of a tree. He started praying: “Please, dear God, help me.”
Amazingly, someone answered. “I will help you, my son.” He asked, “Is that you, Lord?” The answer was affirmative. “My son,” that someone up there said, “get off from the roots you are holding, and I will do the rest.”
The young man thought for a second. Then, without much ado, he said, “Is there another god out there?”
American president Abraham Lincoln once said, “That the Almighty does make use of human agencies and directly intervenes in human affairs is one of the plainest statements in the Bible. I have had so much evidence of His direction, so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will, that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above.”
Different folks, different strokes, so goes a popular saying. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string,” wrote American essayist, poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson.
“Trust me that as I ignore all law to help the slave, so will I ignore it all to protect an enslaved woman,” wrote Susan B. Anthony in a letter to William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips, defending her decision to assist a woman who had run away, with her child, from an abusive husband.
“Put not your trust in money, but put your money in trust,” urged US writer and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. “Mistrust makes life difficult. Trust makes it risky,” comments American aphorist Mason Cooley.
Trust takes time to build. People don’t share their secrets with someone they just meet at a party. Among friends, the trust they have built through the years allows them to confide in each other in the innermost feelings.
Trust, once established over time, can be shattered in an instant. This was the unfortunate reality for Rudy and Edith. Upon their marriage, they became the center of attention in their community, as Rudy was a prosperous businessman and Edith a renowned fashion model, celebrated not only locally but also nationally. Their union was often described as a match made in heaven.
The couple was fortunate to have three beautiful children. However, tragedy struck when Rudy attended a week-long conference in Cebu City. Just two days into their stay, a friend invited Rudy to join him for a night of bar hopping. Despite his aversion to nightlife, Rudy acquiesced.
That evening, Rudy consumed more alcohol than he could handle and became intoxicated. A captivating woman, who had been observing him, approached and engaged him in conversation. By the end of the night, Rudy found himself in her apartment, betraying the vows he had made to love and cherish Edith “until death do us part.”
To make the long story short, Edith learned of the betrayal a week later. Rudy sought her forgiveness, promising that such an incident would never occur again. Nevertheless, the joy that once characterized their relationship had vanished.
“Trust is a treasured item and relationship,” William A. Ward reminds. “Once it is tarnished, it is hard to restore it to its original glow.”
But how long should you trust a person? Here’s a popular parable taken from a book.
A family of turtles – Father Turtle, Mother Turtle, and Junior Turtle – went on a picnic. They did not move very fast. So, it took them three years to get to the picnic grounds. They got all the food unpacked from the picnic basket all right. Suddenly, Mother Turtle realized that she had left the ketchup at home.
So, Mother Turtle asked Junior Turtle if he would run home and get the ketchup. Junior Turtle did not want to do it. He was afraid that his parents would start eating without him. His parents promised that they would not begin their picnic until he returned from home with the ketchup.
Father Turtle and Mother Turtle waited for Junior Turtle. The parents waited for years. Five years passed and no sign of their son. They waited some more. Nine years passed, and they could wait no longer. They had to eat something. Each one took a bite.
Then, suddenly, Junior Turtle appeared from behind a bush and screamed, “I knew you would start eating without me… I’m not going!”
British poet Eliza Cook asked: “Who would not rather trust and be deceived?”
