“In actions and in truth.”  Powerful words with the emphasis being on the last word today – Truth. But trust is hard to restore once lost.  Saying, “I’m sorry is not enough.”  You will have to see that I love you in action and in truth.

            People in general have lost trust in humanity at large for exactly the same kinds of missteps as I have taken.  We don’t know if the boy at the drive-thru meant to keep the five dollar bill, or if it is now in his pocket.  We don’t know if that driver meant to cut us off or if he is just careless.  We don’t know why there was another mass shooting or if the politician is telling us the truth, why gun sales have doubled recently compared to eight years ago, why there is poverty when we have so many resources to help get access out, but the pipeline to hope gets clogged.

            When I was in seminary I lost faith in humanity.  I lost my savings to a friend I had trusted deeply.  I was completely financially broke except for the $100 in my pocket.  I convinced myself that everyone was out to get that $100 and I should trust no one ever again.

 I was going up Highway 27 to the Amish store to use the bill for desperately needed groceries, and I didn’t know how much my groceries were going to be.  All the way to the store I thought negatively about the world and the people in it.  When I got to the grocery store, I thought negatively about the products.  Did they really do the things they said they do?  Is this really locally sourced food or did someone bring it in in a truck filled with boxes of fruits and vegetables grown in chemicals and hot houses?  I put what I needed in the basket and went to the register.  I came up ten dollars short.  I felt like the woman in Terms of Endearment who has to put back  her child’s candy bar taking away from Jay anything not essential.  But the man at the register was very nice to me.  He offered me credit if I would come in and pay him the following week.  Going back home it seemed to me that the world was brighter.  It just took one act of kindness. 

Those acts of kindness and telling the truth are the way we bring back the hope about humanity and trust in each other.  Like trust, hope is lost by the buckets and gained by the thimbles.  But everyone can do a kind act a day, tell the truth, be authentic,  be courteous, and restore some trust people can have in the world. Tiny acts around you everyday make a difference, if not in the world at large in our part in it.

Let’s be part of the change as we all try to restore trust in our relationships and hope in our world.