Living in a Low Trust Culture

We are all on edge and all on our guard. That is the downside of living in a low trust society. A while back, Stephen M.R. Covey (son of the more well known Stephen Covey) wrote a book called Business at the Speed of Trust. In it, he refers to a trust tax. A trust tax imposes a broader penalty of a tax in every relationship, every transaction, every communication, and every dimension of life. When I turn on the t.v. to watch a game and I see that every other ad is for a personal injury lawyer, I have to question whether we have truly disintegrated into a low trust society. When the default mode for relationships is suspicion, then we are living in a low trust society.

A lot of people don't realize the implications of the trust tax. The economics of it are that everything costs more. If there are chronic lawsuits, the cost of defending has to show up somewhere and it is reflected in the price of things. A number of years ago, my daughter was in a fender-bender type accident at the age of 17. My mail started filling up with requests to represent us for the "pain and suffering" my daughter experienced. There were no injuries, just car damage. Some letters implied we should invent injuries.

Do you assume people are at their best or at their worst? Have you ever questioned the motivation of people that ask you for help? I would rather be defrauded and assume the best in people than live with the constant suspicion of others. In Covey's book, he also refers to a trust dividend which is the benefit of living in a high trust society. You may be wronged and likely will be. But you will live a life free from constant suspicion and people may surprise you.

Trusting the Camera

A few weeks ago, Deb and I were in Florida to visit her mom and for me to play in a baseball tournament (for those of us who can't give up the game). We rented a car and this one had a backup camera; like most cars these days it is standard equipment. Since I don't have a backup camera, my routine is to twist my back completely around and look behind me while backing up. Sometimes on occasion I will use my side mirrors to help navigate me while backing up, but that is rare.

Even with the backup camera in the rental car, I routinely would still twist my body around. Initially that was because I didn't realize the camera was there quite yet. But later in the week, I did realize that the camera was there but I hadn't learned to trust it completely yet. Kind of like when my dad asked me "does that lady really know where you are going?" referring to the GPS. The camera was proven technology (or at least I think it was), but I still relied on my imperfect vision with its accompany blind spots to look behind me. The camera could see easily what I could not, but I could not trust it.

Spiritually, I have a heavenly Father that knows me intimately and has perfect vision to see my life in its panorama and its complete perspective. He is proven technology that is reliable. Yet my first inclination is to; a) not trust it, and b) trust myself more. I have many blind spots that God knows and sees and he can see perfectly clear if I am about to backup over something. The backup camera might provide an audible warning if danger is approaching. God provides the Holy Spirit who provides these little "consciousness pricks" that distinctly warn me that I am approaching problem areas.

I have to be careful that I don't run roughshod ahead and do things anyway. Most of us pray that God will bless our efforts but that is completely wrong. I pray that God will articulate the path He wants me to go and that I will not go down the path that He doesn't want me to go. I have many times in my life ignored the warnings and gone anyway.

"Lord close the door to false paths and illuminate the path you want me to go. Help me to trust you as the perfect backup camera to my life and not my own ways."