Oct 16th, 2021: In the Absence of Trust
I went for a walk and started to think about the worst possible outcome of this pandemic. My concern is that we have learned how not to trust anyone and anything. We might end up killing each other in the end. The sickness that has been caused by the COVID-19 might seem to be tame in comparison to what we have suffered relationally. What happens when trust is missing?
We won't communicate well. We can see that these days as people lose patience with one another a lot faster. There is a lot more shouting on TV News. People begin to protest more loudly. Friendships have become reserved because wel don't want to talk about controversial topics. We either become agitated or indifferent, and neither option is beneficial for human relationships.
We don't want anyone to know what we think and what we do. There is so much invasion of privacy, and we learn to become more and more withdrawn. The lack of transparency has damaged our workplace productivity, church involvement, ability to relax, freedom to engage with one another, and much more.
We might even become less and less open to change, and irritation grows. Our creativity has got hammered and thought patterns disrupted. Paranoia has been having a heyday. Some might begin to learn immoral behavior as a way to cope. Cynicism has taken over our desire to discover what is true. We lose both our longing for truth and the meaning of our self-understanding.
Galatians 1: 10
"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."
Psalm 139: 23
"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!"