Trusting the Journey

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Bob Patrick

By the time that this has been posted, our son and daughter-in-law will have taken their newborn daughter, their two dogs and their essential living items into their car and struck out for California. They moved in with us almost ten months ago in a transition period that meant selling two houses in two different states, carrying on work from home jobs, accepting a new position and finding a new place to live–on the other side of the country. 

The last few weeks have been full of making preparations for the move, and much of it was not easy or enjoyable stuff. Flying across the country to find a house in a totally new and “strange” land; moving all of one’s household that has been in storage for nearly a year into moving pods, deciding what must be moved in pods and what must be in the car, finding routes to take on such a difficult journey with baby and dogs in the car, knowing that some parts of our country are hostile toward a couple of mixed ethnicities and how to navigate safer places . . . it often has felt overwhelming to me, and I’m not even the one going anywhere. I’m watching our dear ones prepare for and make this journey.

And yet. I am going somewhere. And you are, too. We are all on a life journey that is taking us places whether that includes a cross country move or taking on the next challenge that life hands to us. Life does keep handing us challenges, and they require something of us.  Thought. Reflection. Decisions. Money. Feelings–so many feelings. Risk. Hope. Fear. Hesitation. Courage. 

And trust. We don’t move anywhere in life’s journey without some trust. There have been many points in their move to California that lead up to the moment when they pull away from the curb for the last time. All that was left was  to trust into  the journey itself. All the preparations have been made. What’s left is the doing, the driving, the work of the journey. 

And so it is for each of us. Our lives have been preparing us for this moment however that looks for us. What’s left is an act of trust, the next step. We let go of the “what ifs” and we move that foot forward and rest it on a new plot of ground where we have not been before.  Until now. Which makes a huge point. Trust is always about what we choose to do now. Never in the past. Never in the future. What we choose to do now. 

~Bob Patrick

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Trust In Each Other

Posted on March 13, 2025 by admin

Everything we do is built on trust. We have a complex system of people we have to trust to obtain the things we need to live. We work a certain amount of time, trusting that we will receive currency in exchange. We take that currency to a store, trusting that they will exchange food for the currency. We trust that the people who grew and processed that food did so safely and we trust that what the package says is in the food, actually is. 

We trust that fellow drivers will stop at red lights, we trust that our rent payment will allow us to stay in our home for another month, we trust that tap water is safe to consume, we trust the police will protect us, we trust that injustice will be punished.

But what happens when the water is contaminated, the police are corrupt, and injustice is celebrated?

How can we know who we can trust?

We feed each other during potlucks.

When we meet someone new, we connect through something we share, an identity, fandom, even the weather around us.

We might be more willing to accept help from a friend’s friend than a stranger.

When we want to hire a plumber, we ask friends for a recommendation. 

How else can community help us trust each other?

~Aline Harris

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Being Worthy of Children’s Trust

Posted on March 12, 2025 by admin

Babies and small children are entirely dependent on their caregivers. They can’t feed themselves, clothe themselves, or communicate fluently. Thankfully, many children grow up with people who care for them, who can feed them when they’re hungry and provide comfort when they cry. They learn to trust that someone will be there for them and help meet their needs. For some kids who grow up in situations where the development of this trust is absent or disrupted, there can be profound long-term implications, even into adulthood.

This disruption is often the result of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), things like
neglect, physical or emotional abuse, or profoundly dysfunctional households.
Childhood emotional and attachment development appears to be heavily dependent on
sequences and milestones being reached. As adults, caregivers, parents, teachers, and more, I believe we owe children our best efforts to ensure they all have their needs met. We may have different roles in their lives day-to-day, but all children deserve to have food to eat, a place to sleep, clean clothes, and safe places to be.

As I rapidly approach parenthood, my thoughts and values about children feel more
present and front-of-mind, but I have always had strong beliefs about the rights of children. I’m pretty heavily influenced by Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, and Raffi. My sources of inspiration include more sophistication today, but these provided a strong foundation of respect and care for youth. Consider some of these resources to learn more about trauma and the effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences on youth, understand our obligations and commitments to children, and a potential topic for activism that I have taken up recently (Juvenile life without parole.)

~Ian Van Sice

Trust-Based Relational Intervention
Raffi Foundation for Child Honoring
Sesame Workshop Resources
Juvenile Life Without Parole: An Overview

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The Trickster’s Lesson: Trusting in Love and Luck

Posted on March 11, 2025 by admin

Leprechauns, those mischievous little shoemakers of Irish lore, are not exactly known for their trustworthiness. They are cunning, quick-witted, and masters of the fine art of slipping through fingers just as you think you’ve got them. They delight in riddles and tricks, and if you ever manage to catch one, you must tread carefully—because while they may promise gold, they rarely deliver it the way you expect.

And yet, there is something about the leprechaun that whispers an unexpected lesson about trust. Not the easy kind of trust that comes with certainty, but the deep, abiding trust that exists in the dance between light and shadow, between what we can hold and what remains just out of reach. Trust, like a leprechaun’s gold, is not something we can force or demand. It must be cultivated, honored, and sometimes, even surrendered to mystery.

The practice of trust asks us to believe in love even when we cannot see the proof of it. It asks us to walk the winding road, uncertain of what lies ahead, and still move forward with an open heart.

So what if, instead of seeing leprechauns as mere tricksters, we saw them as sacred teachers of trust? They remind us that not everything valuable comes in the form of gold, that sometimes the true treasure is the journey itself. They challenge us to let go of rigid expectations and to embrace the playful, unpredictable magic of life. And perhaps most importantly, they remind us that trust, like love, is not about capturing something and holding it tight—it is about believing in what is unseen, about opening our hearts to the dance of mystery and grace.

May we all learn to trust a little more, to love a little deeper, and to find the hidden treasures along the way—even if they aren’t quite where we expected them to be.

~Candice Carver

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Trust Is the Ante

Posted on March 10, 2025 by admin

If you’re a recovering perfectionist like me, you know how important control feels. Lists, plans,
reminders, and organization create the illusion of certainty. And for tasks, trips, and anything
without agency, those tools work beautifully. But when it comes to human relationships at
work, at home, in our communities, this illusion of control falls apart.

We can’t control people. Not the ones we love, not acquaintances, not strangers, not the
broader world. And yet, we try. We set expectations, predict behaviors, and build
contingencies. But the more we grip, the more trust slips away.

Lately, I’ve been wrestling with whether trust and skepticism can coexist. I think they have to.
Trust without skepticism isn’t really trust – it’s naïveté. It’s the doubt, the risk, that gives trust its weight. If there were no possibility of betrayal, trust wouldn’t be necessary in the first place.
Trust is the ante we put into a relationship, knowing there’s no guaranteed return. It’s a risk,
but one that makes connection possible. It requires a willingness to let go of control and trade it for trust.

So, what happens when we practice trust instead of control? When we release the illusion of
certainty and accept that things might go wrong? Maybe that’s where real connection begins…


~Ryan Peterson

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I Am Sanguine

Posted on March 6, 2025 by admin

I have often been told that I trust too easily. That I let people in without hesitation, without the caution that others say is necessary. But I have never seen trust as something to withhold, something to ration out like I’m on a trusting diet. My philosophy has always been simple: I have no reason to doubt you until you give me a reason to.

I can’t say that this trust hasn’t been tested, stretched, and wounded over the years. I was bullied, teased, and abused growing up. I endured trauma that could have made me hateful and revengeful, it could have made me retreat behind walls too thick for anyone to break through. Even in adulthood, my trust has been betrayed, and I learned that not everyone’s love is given freely or without cost. When I first married, two months after my 20th birthday, I didn’t know that my cycle of abuse would continue in a different form.

And yet, through it all, I have never lost my ability to trust. Some might call this naïve—gullible, even—but I believe there is a better word for it. Sanguine. I am happily optimistic that people are not, by default, untrustworthy. I feel that they come into my life as their authentic selves, and if that self is one of love and respect, they will remain. If not, I have learned that trust is not a chain that binds me to suffering; it is a gift freely given but not without limits.

Through therapy, self-love, and deep personal work, I have come to understand that my trusting nature is not a flaw—it is a strength. It is not a doorway left open for harm, but an invitation for connection. I no longer hold onto trust when it is not deserved, and I no longer accept love that demands the sacrifice of my well-being. Instead, I trust in my ability to discern, to set boundaries, to walk away when necessary.

To live love through the practice of trust is not to ignore the risks. It is to trust in the goodness of others while also trusting in ourselves—to know when to open our hearts and when to protect them. To trust that love, when it is true, does not ask us to suffer but rather to grow, to heal, and to thrive.

And so, I remain sanguine. I remain open. I remain trusting—not because I must, but because I choose to.

~Candice Carver

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Resist and Trust

Posted on March 5, 2025 by Bob Patrick

Trust is an experience. It’s an action, and it is a very particular kind of action that is really challenging these days. Trust is the act of letting go, allowing, relaxing, opening and receiving the worthiness, the wholeness and the holiness of another. The opposite of trust as this kind of experience is resistance.

Right now, in the U.S. there are a number of things being done and said by governmental officials that we cannot trust. We cannot trust lying about known facts. We cannot trust the abuse and maltreatment of human beings because of who they are (their skin tone, ethnic background, gender identity, sex identified at birth, health, et al). We cannot trust the dismantling of social safety nets that cause hurt and loss for millions of people. We cannot trust the elevation of individuals simply because they are wealthy. 

In the face of all of that distrust, we must, in a variety of ways, resist, and our community is organized to share various ways that we can resist with intent and good effect. 

And, in the face of all that distrust, there is still a deep necessity for trust. Our community is also organized to help us deepen our trust, our ability to let go, allow, relax, open and receive the worthiness, wholeness and holiness of others. We engage this kind of trust in multiple ways and opportunities.  Consider how we do that in:

  • every Sunday Worship service
  • every covenant group meeting
  • congregational conversations
  • rituals and gatherings offered by CUUPS, Sylvan Sanctuary, Men’s Group, Women’s Group, Belief Explorers, children and youth Religious Exploration, Game Night, making music together with the choir and the UUCG band; working on the property, and creating safe spaces for all of these and more activities.

We have to resist when we see harm being done. But, if all we do is resist, the day will come when we find that we have become bitter and cynical. While we resist harm, let us find these other places and people where we can let go, allow, relax, open and receive all that we bring to each other. This is how we live love through the practice of deep trust. 

~Bob Patrick

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