According to various studies and polls, the trust of many people is currently at a low ebb. There is a growing concern that a number of society's institutions, political leaders, and also individuals who provide the basic services of daily life may not be worthy of one's confidence. Caveat emptor, "let the buyer beware," has almost become an accepted standard for the way many approach even their routine contacts with one another.
An essay in a popular news magazine, referring to this particular social malaise as it seems to have affected much of the population in the United States, asserts bluntly that people "are finding it ever more risky to trust the world about them." It has also been argued that the erosion of trust tends to encourage more dishonesty—in effect, the lack of confidence in others feeds on itself, creating an ever bigger monster. The magazine essay listed some of the fundamental reasons for the current trend of deceptive practices: "greed and the lust for special advantage"; "the general relaxation of moral codes"; "the steadily growing pressure for personal achievement in an increasingly competitive world"; "the fact that society is more and more an aggregate of strangers dealing impersonally with each other"; and "the snowballing impression that everybody must be cheating."Time, October 20, 1980, p. 106.
What a vivid human picture! And it demands healing. Because the disintegration of basic trust, coupled with an acceptance of deception as virtually a way of life, may be symptomatic of a deeper and far greater ill: a loss of faith even in those spiritual truths that offer salvation to mankind.
As students of Christian Science, what can we do to help bring healing? We can be certain and steadfast in our recognition that deception is not a source of strength, gain, or advantage. It is instead actually a debilitating influence, depriving an individual of the very moral fiber and spiritual foundation essential for true, permanent satisfaction. In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy observes: "Honesty is spiritual power. Dishonesty is human weakness, which forfeits divine help."Science and Health, p. 453.
But how do we preserve an unswerving integrity in our daily affairs and do this in such a way that it can serve as a healing animus for mankind? Initially, we need to know where to place our first trust. Should it really be placed in people, things, events, circumstances? A loved passage from the Bible provides an answer by turning us to the divine source of all real power and goodness: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."Prov. 3:5, 6. We trust in God as the true governor, provider, Lawgiver, and guide. Then we can let our trust in one another be based on our trust in God.
Spiritual sense shows us that man is the expression of God. God is omnipresent Love, and therefore man's purpose is to love. God is divine Principle, and therefore man's true being manifests complete integrity and purity. As we live these qualities consistently, we gain an awareness that they actually belong to man's real character. This blesses and uplifts our relations with others by providing an entirely different foundation for our associations—a spiritual basis, established on the scientific truth of being.
We should not underestimate the significance or the responsibilities of earning the trust of others. But this is done effectively only as we sincerely endeavor to perform God's will and not merely aim to live up to human expectations. We also must love our neighbor unconditionally. Christ Jesus gave the rule: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."Matt. 7:12. Living by this rule is central to establishing solid mutual respect. Here Christian Science strengthens our ability to love, for it presents the scientific understanding of man as eternally perfect—worthy of love and incapable of expressing anything less.
Yet, as the great Way-shower, Jesus taught his followers to rejoice in the effect but to trust the cause—divine cause. In one instance, when he was addressed as "good Master," he responded by pointing to the source of his own goodness rather than by simply accepting a personal accolade. He said, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."Matt. 19:16, 17. Jesus also taught, "I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I."John 14:28.
In the early years of the Christian Science movement, Mrs. Eddy admonished her own students concerning the proper sense of where one's first trust should reside. In an address to visitors at her home at Pleasant View, she quoted the Psalmist's words on trust (from Ps. 37:3-6) and stated, "Trust in Truth, and have no other trusts." The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, pp. 170-171. Earlier, in a Communion message at The Mother Church, Mrs. Eddy had also said: "Lean not too much on your Leader. Trust God to direct your steps. Accept my counsel and teachings only as they include the spirit and the letter of the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the teachings and example of Christ Jesus."Ibid, p. 129.
Our complete fidelity and trust in God, divine Mind, not only directs us in the conduct of our daily living but also protects us. We can find an analogy in contemporary experience. Consider that one is driving in heavy traffic, the occupants of surrounding automobiles all determined to reach their destinations promptly. Most of us hold a certain degree of confidence in the ability of the people operating the vehicles around us, in the steady functioning of the machines themselves, and in the effective control of traffic laws and signals designed to maintain a basic order to the movement and flow. Yet, according to human belief, any of these variables may fail to live up to expectations.
Again the question arises, Where do we place our trust—so that we are safe and secure and also able to help those around us? Our first trust should always be in the divine cause, God. This trust is never broken, for God never falters. His law is unfailing and universal. And when we understand man to be the immediate effect of the divine cause, we can begin to demonstrate the constant spiritual capacities that are man's true heritage. These capacities include wisdom and intelligence, spiritual discernment, strength, integrity.
An unqualified trust in God helps defend us from aggressive lies or deceptive practices of mortal mind—whether they appear in commerce, politics, or anywhere else in the human arena. And the power of God, divine Truth, enables us to expose and overcome error. But it is essential to recognize that lies and deceptions belong solely to this illusory, so-called mortal mind. They have no part in the divine Mind or its perfect idea, man. The mortal mind is a false supposition claiming a mind or self apart from God. But there is only one Mind, divine, infinite, immortal. As we understand that God is man's Mind and man is complete, unable to deceive or be deceived, we will discern and express true spiritual integrity. And a heart filled with such God-impelled honesty of affection and desire cannot be harmed by the attacks of any would-be deceiver. The biggest lie is but the weakest in the face of honesty's spiritual power.
The purity, wisdom, and spiritual discernment that derive from infinite Truth serve well as an armor against temptation to sin and against the abuses of the carnal mind's attempts at subterfuge or victimization. And although we learn that placing one's trust in personalities, certain human institutions, or circumstances does not always hold up, we need not be disheartened if we are discovering a higher trust. The Bible assures us, "Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him."Prov. 30:5.
"In God we trust" can be the keynote of a growing independence from the claims of mortality. Strengthened by our confidence in the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, we can move forward to help nullify the greed, immorality, pressures of aggressive competition, feelings of alienation from one another, and the assumption that everyone lies or cheats—all impositions that would encourage distrust and dishonesty.
We can let our own lives serve as beacons of integrity, of unwavering adherence to divine Principle. And as the Christly light is seen, humanity will feel the blessing of a renewed and holy trust.
