Chapter 7 Trust
The Healing Project Book
By Dennis Lantz
Chapter 7 Trust
The definition of trust: to
believe in the reliability, ability, strength or truth of someone or something.
That sounds vague, but really isn’t. ‘Someone’ can be another person or
yourself. ‘Something’ can be many things, i.e., an institution, company, animal
or idea. Intuitively we know what trust is and understand the value it has in
our lives.
I believe that our culture is
becoming devoid of trust. We are bombarded with so much contradictory
information that it is impossible not to be confused. The result is societal
chaos.
While the last
decade has been a perfect storm for social destruction, the erosion of trust
started long ago. Trust in our institutions is at an all-time low. Trust in our
political leaders, our scientific “community,” our government agencies, our
media and news sources, our technology, our academic institutions, our business
organizations… even each other, has deteriorated to an alarming level.
Lies destroy
trust. Unfortunately, our culture has become more and more untruthful. Too many
agendas. Too many people who think that the end justifies the means. Too many
authoritarians. Too much selfishness.
The key to trust
is that one must be worthy of trust. By its nature, it is a process of
connections that are built with time. Ask yourself… am I trustworthy? Do I have
integrity? (Integrity is defined as having strong moral principles and honesty.
It is an integral part of trust.) I want to be trustworthy. I want to have
integrity. Sometimes I fail.
Rebuilding trust,
in personal relationships or institutions, takes introspection, time, and focused
effort. More than anything, it takes the desire to restore or rebuild those
connections that have been frayed.
I’m an optimist.
I believe that there will come a point when trust becomes so important that we are
obligated to reverse the current trend. Just know that there is no magic wand.
It is not going to be easy. And it is not going to happen overnight.
Trust is vital to
healing. Physically, emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, socially, and
politically. During the pandemic, trust in everything plummeted. Too many
agendas. Too many lies. Up until that point, the medical system was highly
respected. Even with my own frustrating personal experiences, I still believe
that most of the doctors, nurses and assistants are incredibly caring people.
They are sympathetic and want to help their patients. Most take the Hippocratic
oath seriously.
As in any
profession, you will find healthcare employees who are just going through the
motions for a paycheck. Or are incompetent. Or even negligent. But they are the
minority… and aren’t the ones we should focus our attention on.
From
conversations I have had with healthcare workers, (but without specific data),
I believe that the public’s trust in hospitals and doctors is recovering far
quicker than other institutions or professions. When covid-19 first thrust
itself onto the world stage, healthcare workers were venerated. They were
called heroic… rightly, in my opinion. But then those with political agendas
got involved, and hospital coordinators quickly became dependent on the
government subsidies… and those same politicians. Anyone who did not follow the
government’s official narrative was ostracized. Cut off from funding and from
any discourse. It did not matter that the government agencies were advocating authoritarian
measures instead of true science. When so many doctors complied with illogical rules,
a large portion of the populace lost trust in them. The truth didn’t matter.
Coercion did.
I am not a doctor
or a scientist. I have opinions and will state them freely. However, it is not
my intention to rehash the inconsistencies or improbabilities of the pandemic.
I’ll let the professionals do that. But I will write about the importance of
trust… as it relates to healing and to life in general.
If you don’t
trust those giving you advice, you will not listen. Even when that advice is
exactly what you need.
I discovered the
importance of trust while reading The Trust Edge by David Horsager. The topic
struck a chord with me because I realized my faith and trust in so many of
society’s systems had diminished substantially. I’m unsure if it will ever come
back.
Unfortunately, destroying
trust takes far less time and energy than building it. But it must be rebuilt,
not least because without it we are unhealthy and suffer. According to
Horsager, everything of value is built on trust, from financial systems to
relationships. Reading his book, I was struck by the realization that the
consequences of lost trust are significant. Without trust, our society is
dysfunctional. If such a state continues, society could disintegrate or
collapse. In my opinion, we are already at the crisis stage.
Think of trust as the
lubrication that keeps everything going smoothly. Without trust, the gears of
society corrode and break down. Personal connections are impaired, and our
health is damaged.
I first wrote about trust in
My Handprint blog, in 2021. I asked myself an important question. Is it just
me? I freely admitted that I had lost faith in our systems, our institutions,
our processes, our companies, our people and even our ideas. But if it was just
me, the solution would be simple. Change myself.
However, when talking to
others, it soon became clear that I was not the only one with concerns. Most
everyone realized how their lives were being affected by societal mistrust.
Some blamed decision-makers in our government. Some blamed a spiritual evil.
Few blamed themselves and their reliance on those corrupt systems. Or misplaced
trust, which I will write about at the end of this chapter.
It’s true that our so-called
leaders can shoulder some of the blame. They lie frequently for personal gain.
They say one thing and do another. They try to control our lives for their own
benefit. They espouse unity, but sow division.
But it isn’t just politicians
who have destroyed trust.
And while I believe there are
spiritual forces at play in our lives, a cosmic battle between the forces of
light and darkness, I also think that we our choices can restore trust. If
there is such a war, it is easy to get confused about who belongs on which
side. My solution to that conundrum is to ask myself a simple question. Does
the policy (action, idea, person, group) result in love and health… or death?
To make the status of trust
clearer, I propose we take a simple survey.
On a scale of 0 to 10, with
10 being complete trust… and 0 being absolute distrust, rate your personal
trust in the following institutions and systems:
(Because language is
constantly being subverted and changed, I will define some of the terms for the
sake of clarity.)
Local government (school
boards, town and county officials)
State government (those
elected to represent you at the state level)
Federal government
Climate scientists sounding
the alarm about change
Climate scientists who don’t
follow the general consensus
Health scientists
Environmental scientists
Pharmaceutical companies
News media
The local justice system
(lower courts and judges)
The federal justice system
(Attorney General and executive officials)
The lower Appellate Courts
The Supreme Court
The healthcare establishment
(hospital directors and boards)
Doctors (those who diagnose
and treat patients)
Nurses and care professionals
Local law enforcement
(Sheriffs, town police)
Federal Law Enforcement
(F.B.I., A.T.F, D.E.A., T.S.A., Homeland Security, etc.)
Public Schools
Private Schools
Higher education system
(colleges, trade schools, etc.)
Government agencies like the
CIA, D.O.D., N.S.A., etc.)
The Federal Reserve Banking
System
Big Tech (those who control
search engines, social media, entertainment, security, etc.)
Big Conglomerate Corporations
Wall Street
Small business owners
Military leadership
Soldiers, sailors, airmen,
marines, etc.
The military industrial
complex (private and public companies and organizations)
Religious leaders of your
belief (if you have one)
Religious leaders of a
different faith
A stranger
The closest people in your
life (spouse, significant other, best friend, children… whichever apply)
Neighbors
…
In my opinion, all of the above
groups have deviated at times from their stated missions. And that erodes
trust. Some are highly untrustworthy. Some, like a stranger, is too vague to
give a proper response. It’s possible you don’t know a lot about some on the
list. I don’t know the ins and outs of the Federal Reserve or Wall Street. If
you don’t have a trust level rating, skip over them.
The higher your scores, (individually
and overall), the more trust you have in our society. There is no right or
wrong score. If you score higher or lower than me… it just means that your
levels of faith and trust are different than mine.
Almost certainly, your scores
were higher for individual people or groups that you interact with on a
personal level. You will have a higher trust level in your best friend than the
head of the CIA. Your trust in your local government will be higher than your
trust in the federal government. Your trust in an individual enlisted soldier
is likely higher than the companies that make up the military industrial
complex.
I could write pages about why
we mistrust those entrenched in power. Or how they keep us focused on our
differences so that we do not see how great we can be if we unite. But this is
a book about healing. And I am proposing that we can improve our trust if we
focus on it. Trust in the individual first… and then, in the institutions. We,
as a society, can rebuild trust and our broken connections by focusing on
healing. It won’t be easy, but we must do it.
Restoring trust can only be
done if we are completely honest. With ourselves and others. Open your eyes, your
ears and your mind. Question everything. Listen to others. Seek out truth. Live
a life of personal integrity.
There will always be those
who purposely alter reality for their own benefit. It is up to you to see
through their lies. Just because something sounds reasonable, doesn’t mean it
is true.
The only solution to increase
trust is to be trustworthy. Mistrust didn’t happen overnight. And the trust
problems for each entity I named above is different… so the solutions must be
different.
This may be redundant, but it
is worth repeating. Everything begins with you. To be trustworthy you need to
trust yourself. Live honestly. Live with integrity. Love yourself. Be
compassionate and kind… but stand up for your convictions and principles.
Listen. Make a difference. Respect those who are worthy of respect. Trust your
instincts.
Our society needs trust more
than ever.
Trust can be misplaced. When an idea is
presented over and over again as undeniable fact… we tend to believe it. Even
if it isn’t true. This happens especially in the arena of science and politics.
It is likely that we have all spouted theories and dogma that we swore was
true… but later found out was not.
No one should be shocked to learn that there
are manipulators. Fearmongers. Gas lighters. Those who speak hyperbolically to
gain some sort of personal power or satisfaction. The controllers allow no
dissent. Opposing views, even truth, is not allowed. Those espousing such are
ridiculed or ostracized. Careers are ruined.
I recommend taking a critical look at all
prominent theories. Usually there is a thread of truth… just enough to cause
you to trust a proposal.
Trust must be based on honesty. And honesty is
based on truth. That isn’t always black and white… but it is also not
subjective.
…
Important note. The final chapters of this book have gone through the least amount of editing. These are still in a rough draft format... and will be completed at a later stage.
Until next time,
Read. Learn. Live.
Dennis Lantz is
the author of Zander's Tale. The Spiders of Eden, and the Pine Street Trilogy
(Pine Street and the Mighty Mutation Circus, Pine Street and the Dino-Beast Clones, and Pine Street and the Mirrors of Freedom.) His nonfiction Summer in Gentlewoods uses journal entries to tell the real-life adventure of living in a
primitive shelter in the woods of his family farm.
Dennis and his
wife, Christy, live in Warren Center, Pennsylvania. They share their home with
Austin, a Texas rescue who is a cross between a Jack Russell and an angel.
For more
information visit www.dennislantz.com or follow Dennis Lantz Books on Facebook.
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