09 October: Trust

This Five Minute Friday also is Day 9 of Kate Motaung's October 2015 edition of 31 days of free writes. Write for five minutes. Simply write or type.

Friday 09 October: Trust

State Street Bank & Trust. The full faith and trust of the United States government back the greenback and give it true value as legal tender? Some people are trust-worthy, worth awarding (giving) them our trust and allegiance. Some versions of the bible translate the Greek pistis – trust, confidence in, as "faith," which too many interpret as intellectual assent and agreement, rather than as determination to allow God's life to embrace ours, and with (trust and) abandon follow The Way of the Crucified and Risen Christ.

I'd guess everyone who's ever lived on this earth has had at least some problems trusting other humans, and in turn, trusting God with their lives. If the disciple, agent, or representative is not worth our trust, what does that say about the one who sent them? In the ancient near east, the presence of the emissary or ambassador equaled the presence of the person who sent that individual. Hmmmmm.... is that not our own situation in the world, with people observing and too often experiencing bad, deplorable Christian behaviors and attitudes and then logically wanting nothing to do with the church or with the Lord of the Church? Was it Gandhi or someone else who said, "I like your Jesus but I don't much care for your Christians?" Lots of people agree with that sentiment, I'd trust.

The first stanza of the closing chorale from J.S. Bach's St. John Passion:

Lord, Thee I love with all my heart;
I pray Thee, ne’er from me depart,
With tender mercy cheer me.
Earth has no pleasure I would share.
Yea, heav’n itself were void and bare
If Thou, Lord, wert not near me.

And should my heart for sorrow break,
My trust in Thee can nothing shake.
Thou art the portion I have sought;
Thy precious blood my soul has bought.
Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord,
Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word.

Tune, «Herzlich Lieb hab' ich dich, O Herr»
Words by Martin Schalling; translated by Catherine Winkworth
ELW (Evangelical Lutheran Worship) 750; LBW (Lutheran Book of Worship) 325

Although I remembered the trust lines, this stanza is a copy-paste.