Trust

I was standing in Times Square, celebrating my good friend Kevin’s impending marriage. Looking out at the sea of people milling around, it occurred to me that there was an incredible amount of trust in front of me. Without thinking about it, we all walk through our lives with a massive amount of trust placed in our fellow man (and women). To be sure, there are those that cannot be trusted. I know there is evil in the world, but by and large, when we place trust in one another, it is usually rewarded.

As I look over this mass of people, from every walk of life, race, religion, and upbringing, there is no conflict rising up. There are no fights in the streets. Strangers are walking by strangers peacefully. Animals in the wild must constantly be on the alert for a predator ready to attack. Prompted by dreadful acts of terrorism, we have come to conduct our lives in much the same way. We see a stranger that looks, sounds, or acts differently from us, and may consider them a threat. More often than not though, and by astronomical percentages, when we place our trust in others, good things happen.

How often have I unconsciously trusted someone today? I trusted the drivers of other cars not to veer into mine. I trusted the airline pilot, mechanic, and air traffic controllers. I trusted the subway operator and the passengers on the subway not to take advantage of an enclosed space to steal from or do harm to me. I even trusted the hotel employees not to steal my credit card information at registration. Standing in Times Square I trust that no-one will pick my pocket, speak ill to me, or perpetrate some random act of violence. It’s all possible; we’ve read it all in the news, we’ve seen it all on TV.

What we sometimes forget is that these are the exceptions not the norm. We see the bad things over and over again until it pervades our lives at a level deeper than the actual reality. Stop and think about how often you trusted someone today. Hundreds of times? We take most of these for granted and we consider them small events, but each one is a brick in the foundation of our lives together. All of us stand on this foundation as we strive to reach the goals and aspirations of our lives. We too often forget that by acknowledging and growing the trusted relationships in our lives, we actually strengthen and grow the foundation, raising us all higher. Can we acknowledge the small ones and use them to build trust with each other on the big things?

As I turn my attention back to my friend Kevin, I see the answer. He is about to take one of the greatest steps of trust possible. He is committing himself to the love of his life, and trusting her to do the same. One more brick in the foundation!