HONESTY IS THE FIRST CHAPTER IN THE BOOK OF WISDOM.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

There is that one person in your life that you trust more than anything else in the world. That one person in whom you confide, to whom you listen, who often might know you better than you might know yourself. Sometimes this person might be the only person able to talk sense into you or understand what might be going on in your life. You trust them.

You trust that they will always do the right thing by you. You can trust the love that they have for you. You can trust that they will never put you in a situation where there is the slightest chance of harm to you. You know that if you can trust them, you are going to be alright. How lucky you are! If you find you don’t have that person, remember there is always one person you can turn to.

God says the same thing to you. If you can trust that no matter how difficult things look, I’m there with you. If you can trust I will never place you in a situation that is going to be the least bit harmful for you, you are going to be alright. If you can trust “the love that I have for you”, you will be fine. How lucky you are! If you have both ‘your person’ and God, then the question is who are you ‘that person’ to?

Many people in our society don’t have someone that they can trust fully, and they may not know God or how to find Him. Many people who seek assistance from the St Vincent de Paul Society may be looking for ‘that person’ to trust, for that person who is honest with them, that person who will be with them in the tough times, for that person who wants to see them through the mess and give them a genuine hand up. To those people, you may be ‘that person’.

Trust precedes love in some ways. Love, as you know, is not a static reality. Love grows over a series of experiences, of connections. It grows through good times and in bad times. Love is the unconditional selflessness that is required of you to do the good works you set out to do.

Will we allow others to trust us as God trusts us to do his works?

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

• What is the one thing you value most about your work with the St Vincent de Paul Society?
• Do you find it easy to trust others?

From: Firewood for the soul, vol. 1, A Reflexion Book for the Whole Vincentian Family
St. Vincent de Paul Society, Queensland, Australia.
Text by: Samantha Hill.