When humans began to walk upright, they relied upon the five senses endowed by The Creator to survive in a harsh environment.  Along with the organic senses of sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste, God in His infinite wisdom included an innate sense of awareness.  This “sixth sense” existed to clue early man into the fact that danger, in the form of predatory animals, an unforgiving landscape, or inimical tribes, were lurking nearby — even though undetected by any or all of man’s five senses!   This awareness, if you will, served as a survival mechanism.  As humanity evolved, so did its sense of awareness.

Awareness is the factor that puts one initially on his guard.  Once those factors have been carefully weighed, awareness allows one to make the decision to trust — or not.  Trust, in turn, is defined as:

1.       Assured reliance of the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

2.       Dependence upon something, future or contingent.

3.       A property interest held by one person for the benefit of another person or persons.

The word trust is used in various situations, most commonly, with respect to relationships (i.e., lovers, friends, partners, employer and employee, etc.) or contractual agreements (i.e., marriages, businesses, the transfer, purchase, or sale of real property).  Trust is something that is earned, and it takes time to earn it.  It is never given lightly, like a cheap prize won at a carnival.  Now just past the threshold of a brand new year, the word trust has taken on deeper, more ominous meanings.

Given the current state of the world, with its widespread economic woes and proof of governments who care nothing for their citizens, the concept of trust has been tested to the limits.  In years gone by, we, the people, trusted in our lawmakers.  We trusted them to represent us, the voters; we trusted them to pass legislation for the good of the majority.  We define “majority” here as the bulk of our populace, meaning, not a relative handful of politicians, not the wealthy, and not special interest groups.  We define “majority” as the middle class (the workers, those who must earn paychecks in order to survive).

In the past, our lawmakers have, more often than not, earned our trust. If you, dear reader, doubt this, think of the great lawmakers and law-influencers of American history.  Think of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: all men who put the greater good above all else.

Now, however, our lawmakers seem to be on the side of the “haves” rather than the “have nots.”  As this reality is revealed more and more with each passing day, we find that we must ask our lawmakers the following questions:

1.       Must we, the people, accept a global society?

2.       Do elected representatives defy the will and needs of their constituents?

3.       Do we need a private bank to sell and purchase U.S. dollars?

These are just a few questions that concern and frustrate the American people as we struggle to remain a free and open society.  Clearly, we don’t trust our government or big business as we once did, and this is not good for the nation.  Without trust, our economy would crumble; credit without collateral would be non-existent.  With less consumer demand, fewer products are produced in this country, and the loss of manufacturing has had a negative, domino effect upon all other industries. Thousands of people who are unemployed will be forced to sell their possessions to survive — if they can find buyers with the desire and wherewithal to purchase what they are selling.

Perhaps, God saw the lay of the land from the very moment that he created Adam and Eve.  Perhaps, He foresaw a human race that would evolve and lay claim to immense strides in science, medicine, and technology.  Perhaps, He foresaw governments later leading their citizens down the road to perdition.  And perhaps, that is why we, as a race, have retained that special sixth sense linked so closely with trust.   This is food for thought as we cull and consider the list of hopefuls vying for the highest position in the land: the Presidency of the United States of America. 

Have you ever thought that you had a guardian angel?  If so, maybe you came to think about that angel, or perhaps a stroke of great good luck sent your way, when you have narrowly missed having an accident.  Or perhaps it was something not as dramatic as a near-accident; maybe it was something simpler, such as running late for a very important appointment and suddenly finding that “magic” parking spot opening up right in front of you.  In your mind, you may have said a word of thanks to the being watching over you.

 

Suppose it wasn’t an actual being at all?  And suppose it was not a stroke of luck, but your own sixth sense, your own intuition guiding you away from harm or opening a door for you onto a wonderful new journey?  If you have ever followed your instincts, even under circumstances that may have appeared inopportune, you have taken a leap of faith.

 

My own first such leap occurred when I left my parents’ home to strike out on my own.  Behind me, I left my comfortable life; in fact, the only life I had ever known growing up in a home with my parents and sisters in a small town that was itself my second home.  I had not planned to do this, but the opportunity presented itself and so, I took that leap of faith.  It happened like this.

 

One year, when my sister came home on military leave, she invited our youngest sister to come to her place for a short summer visit before that little sister set off for college.  As that same little sister had a summer job, she could not take our other sister up on the invitation.  When I’d asked my sister who was in the armed forces if I could come instead, she said yes at once, and that is how I wound up leaving our small community for a bigger city.  Although I was quite nervous at first about venturing out into this unknown section of the world, the thought of my sister in the military gave me courage.  There she was, beginning to travel and see the world, and there I was, never having taken a step beyond my comfort zone.

 

Within a few days of determining to go to the big city, I gave notice at my job and packed up my most important possessions.  The items that were not essential went into storage, so that my brother would be free to use my old room. My dad was a bit surprised by this; he had assumed that I would contract a bout of homesickness and return fairly quickly.  But I was determined.  Packing up my non-essentials to put into storage was, in and of itself, a leap of faith: I was confident that I would not be returning home anytime soon.  And so, I said my goodbyes and off I went with my sister, the soldier.

 

As we were leaving Illinois to head toward Virginia, she made that leg of the trip into an adventure for us.  Instead of heading straight to our destination, we took a detour through Kentucky, where my dad had spent his childhood and where we had once lived as small children.  But once that great little adventure was over and we “landed,” reality set in.  I would have to find a job and adjust to a new way of life in unfamiliar surroundings.  I must have driven my poor sister crazy at times, especially when I started dating.   She did, however, enjoy one perk with me as her roommate, since I enjoyed cooking and she was not fond of spending time in the kitchen.  I often wonder if she’d had any regrets, but we weathered our period of adjustment.  I stayed with her for nearly three years until I took my second leap of faith, the one that would impact me for the rest of my life.

 

One of my co-workers had introduced me to a nice young man, interestingly enough (as you will soon see), on Valentine’s Day!  The calendar date was February 14th.  We then went out again the following week.  After dating a few more times, he proposed to me the following month.  In April of that same year, we were married.  Talk about a whirlwind romance!  Truth to tell, when he had proposed, I did not give it much thought. I just spoke from the heart when I said, “Yes!”  Trust me, I wasn’t blinded by the diamond in the ring he’d bought, because it was not that big.  Nineteen years after I took that huge leap of faith, my husband and I are still happily married!

 

So, if your gut or her heart tells you, “This is what you want” and your mind is not quite made up, or maybe you are afraid of making the wrong choice, you have to forget all of your doubts.  You just have to leap and hope that your landing is a soft one.