The magic of trusting

Trust awakens all that is divine in others

"A Trusting Moment"
oil on canvas by de Frederick Stuart Church (1842-1924)
(click to enlarge)

'Initiates have to be sure, they cannot let themselves suspect and doubt. If you think I waste time on suppositions! No, since the very beginning I have always trusted people, I have been confident and sure that I could trust them.

If God never gave credit, no one would survive. I try to do as he does. Many people, poor unfortunate people, have come to see me, and I trusted them; most have gone to work and come back later to pay me what I advanced in the way of credit. Unless you give people credit and trust them, they will go on wading around in the shallows forever. Nothing can work without confidence. To take your car out of the garage, only that, requires confidence in all the other drivers you will meet, and if you are thinking, ‘Ah, that one is going to hit me, that driver doesn’t know how to drive, what will he do next?’ and so on, you will be in trouble all the time and not get anywhere. Confidence is absolutely indispensible to make things work.

My secret is to give everyone credit, and this confidence enables me to get things done... how could I have started this Brotherhood if I had been suspicious of everyone? But no one wants to think that way, no one else realizes that trust awakens the divine in people.

If you have confidence in someone, even if he is vicious, even if he is weak, even if he is a drunk, the confidence you show him will urge him to prove that you were not wrong in your appraisal, that he is as fine and noble as you thought... that he can in fact be trusted. Even a criminal will succeed in reforming if you show confidence in him. It is a power that disarms others, but you have no desire for that power.

It is true that confidence can occasionally get you into trouble, but compared to all the good things confidence brings you, it is worth the risk.'

"Mutual aid"
Photo by sutthinon602 for Adobe Stock
(click to enlarge)

"A Trusting Moment"
oil on canvas by de Frederick Stuart Church (1842-1924)
(click to enlarge)

'Initiates have to be sure, they cannot let themselves suspect and doubt. If you think I waste time on suppositions! No, since the very beginning I have always trusted people, I have been confident and sure that I could trust them.

If God never gave credit, no one would survive. I try to do as he does. Many people, poor unfortunate people, have come to see me, and I trusted them; most have gone to work and come back later to pay me what I advanced in the way of credit. Unless you give people credit and trust them, they will go on wading around in the shallows forever. Nothing can work without confidence.

To take your car out of the garage, only that, requires confidence in all the other drivers you will meet, and if you are thinking, ‘Ah, that one is going to hit me, that driver doesn’t know how to drive, what will he do next?’ and so on, you will be in trouble all the time and not get anywhere. Confidence is absolutely indispensible to make things work.

My secret is to give everyone credit, and this confidence enables me to get things done... how could I have started this Brotherhood if I had been suspicious of everyone? But no one wants to think that way, no one else realizes that trust awakens the divine in people.

If you have confidence in someone, even if he is vicious, even if he is weak, even if he is a drunk, the confidence you show him will urge him to prove that you were not wrong in your appraisal, that he is as fine and noble as you thought... that he can in fact be trusted. Even a criminal will succeed in reforming if you show confidence in him. It is a power that disarms others, but you have no desire for that power.

"Mutual aid"
Photo by sutthinon602 for Adobe Stock
(click to enlarge)

It is true that confidence can occasionally get you into trouble, but compared to all the good things confidence brings you, it is worth the risk.'

Text taken from the book "The Mysteries of Yesod - Foundations of Spiritual Life", chap. 7 "The Magic of Trusting".

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