The practice of trust is inherently and always a relational practice. Try it out. Try to think of any situation in which we exercise trust without another being involved.
I trust the ladder to support me when I climb it. Ah, yes, but that automatically implicates trust for the human beings who created that ladder–even the human beings who created the automated machinery that created the ladder.
The practice of trust is inherently and always a relational practice.
I trust myself, and that requires no one else. It would seem so, but who is it that is trusting yourself? A little help from C.G. Jung and other psycho-spiritual practitioners would suggest that there are various parts of ourselves always at play, and that even when we know that we trust ourselves, it is some part of us trusting other parts of us.
The practice of trust is inherently and always a relational practice.
I describe myself as an introvert. That is, I recharge and gain energy for the rest of my life by spending time alone, in quiet, engaging creative activities. I’ve learned to trust that kind of activity within myself–some part of me trusting other parts of me. I also know that the greatest workshop for practicing trust is in community. I think that’s one of the things I love most about teaching. It’s one of the things I love about doing Spiritual Direction work with individuals. It’s what I love so much about our UUCG community, and it’s what I love about Sylvan Sanctuary. It’s even what I love about going to workout at my local gym. I know that when I show up in these places, another human being–or several–will be there on whom I can rely, in whom I place trust, to whom I can give myself, from whom I receive so much.
The practice of trust is inherently and always a relational practice. This is the cause both for our deep pain at this time in our nation’s life, and the cause, I suggest, for great anticipation. Trust is relational. What threatens trust threatens all of who we are, and we suffer over that. What promises and promotes trust enlivens every cell in our bodies. We have each other, held in love and engaged in trust. When we know that, our practice may have a power that we have not yet imagined.
~Bob Patrick
