‘It was a question of trust’
On the end of a bungee rope will it really take the weight or does a fate worse than that which could happen – happen! Who or what is being trusted? Is it the Bungee Jumping organisation to whom so much trust is being put in, or is it the equipment that is fool proof?
Every day, trust is a reality, on occasions trust is based on experience and at other times on assumption. We know that the red bus always comes to the village at a certain time; you could set your watch by it. But for those queuing that morning the bus didn’t arrive, assumption became doubt. Can I trust the bus timetable? Back in the day Leyland cars had a very poor reputation; don’t buy a Friday car, (preparation for the weekend obscuring the need to do the job properly; or a Monday car (that hangover is still around). Values that were formed in the 80s/90s may not have the same application in the 2000s. Modern cars provide all we need to make driving life easy, but because my value system was formed in a different era, don’t talk to me about driverless cars! I want to trust other drivers as much as I want them to trust me.
What does it mean when we talk about human relationships, when one trusts another? There is assurance and reliance on the person’s character, some ability, strength, or truth in someone. There is a confidence about the character of that individual. Watching recent political discussion I realised that I cannot say hand on heart that I fully trust those standing for election. For some people trusting others is a simple thing; for others trust has to be earned. We have many examples in the media of broken trust leading to court cases. In team games, sports people are taught to trust their team mates, getting to know those around you, expecting them to understand positional play, their roles and responsibility; who does what, when and where. An out of position player can really mess things up and if it happens regularly a lack of trust sets in. Not only does trust dissolve but the very character of the individual may be questioned. The goalie that miskicks the ball giving away a crucial goal will played out for ever on ‘football’s greatest football errors’.
As a word ‘trust’ is not something that is immediately visible. ‘Can you keep a secret?’ In itself this might reveal something about the word ‘trust’. The human response ‘I want to trust you’, ‘Yes I can be trusted’. Therefore much of our relationships are built on trust; we trust our medical professionals, others are occupations that require high levels of skills; the local dustbin operative is trusted to empty the bins, the postie to deliver the post. In social partnership when trust is trampled on and impacts on the emotions of the individual, ‘but I trusted you…’ the opposite happens; like a magnet repelling its counterpart. We can be hurt and people will carry that pain and lack of trust for many years.
What Jesus did with Peter on the beach during the barbecue was to reinstall the trust he had in Peter and more importantly between Peter to Jesus. Peter had after all blown the relationship. As much as Jesus enabled Peter to reinvest in him he also sent him off with the incredible promise that he could for his whole life trust Jesus. You can read about it in John’s gospel Chapter 21.
Image credit: Jeremy Bezanger via Unsplash
