Trust in Me.

If there is anything My wife Irene does not like, this must rate fairly high on her list. One of the longer walks that we do involves crossing two such stiles. The walk I sure seem so much more pleasant ones these two are out of the way. One of the two does rock a bit as you climb it, here in Scotland we would call it shoogly, one of the legs on one side is shorter than all of the other three. This makes for a rather awkward crossing if you do not like such things. 

In weather, like we have been having ice on the wood steps does not help either. Another walking friend wrongly thought they were ice-free and had a fall that could have been nasty. Fortunately, she survived her fall.

I was thinking about this the other day and it reminded me of another incident of many years ago.One day I was out walking with my son and we were climbing something similar to this only much higher.  I was over and firmly planted on the other side but as yet not looking behind me.All of a sudden I heard a voice, "Hey dad catch me!" I turned around to see my son happily jump off the top step straight at me. 

He had jumped and then yelled, "Hey Dad!"

I became an instant circus act as I reached out to catch him. We both fell to the ground, him laughing me happy it was not worse. When I caught my breath and found my voice, I asked him if he could give me a good reason why he had done that?

He looked at me and calmly answered, "Sure, because you are my dad." His actions rested on the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the full because I could be trusted to be there for him.

If this is true for a son or a daughter of their father, surely it is even more true for ourselves. If we can learn to know and trust ourselves knowing our limitations we can live life to the full, moment by moment day by day.

A man who lived in a part of the world where the weather was known to be unpredictable had wanted for years to own a good barometer. After a bit of saving and some study on what type would be the best purchase, he made his purchase.

When the instrument arrived at his home he thought that it looked great in terms of the workmanship but he was bitterly disappointed when the needle remained stuck, even after some shaking. 

It was constantly pointing at the word Hurricane. He gave it another few shakes but still, it remained the same.

He sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store expressing his annoyance at the shoddy goods they had sent him. The following morning on his way to his office he posted the letter in the mailbox.

That evening he returned home to find the barometer laying on the floor the glass broken and scattered, as was all the glass from his windows and doors unlike those of his neighbours who had shuttered up for the predicted hurricane that had in fact arrived.

Sometimes life and relationships and day to day living can be much better if there is some trust in the air.

I remember being moved the first time I watched blind skiers hurtling down a slalom course on a very steep mountain. They had trained hard and with the help of a sighted skier had learned how to ski and slalom. 

The sighted skier shouted instructions as he or she skied beside the blind skier calling left or right. The blind skier had learned not only how to ski but how to trust.

The father who persuaded his daughter to jump from the fourth step of the patio promising to catch her but let her fall when she jumped did his daughter no favours when he said, "Let that be a lesson in life. Trust nobody."

Trust is a two-way passage between the trustee and the truster. To be able to put your trust in the hands of another can lead to an uplifting experience. To be trusted fully by another is to be in an honoured position that must never be betrayed. 

I trust you have a marvellous day.