State of Love and Trust
I think I'm going to be talking about trust today. We'll see where this goes.
Kid1 went to the doctor a week and a half ago with ear troubles. Ear troubles in Kid1 give Tracy and I stomach troubles. "Nothing to worry about, folks. Simple ear infection. Take the pink stuff and call me if it doesn't go away soon." We breathe a little sigh of relief and say a little prayer of thanks...not necessarily in that order. But maybe. I don't want to sound hyperspiritual or anything.
Yesterday we take Kid1 to the ENT specialist who performed the surgery years ago who checks up every couple of years or so. "Fat lot of good Doctor1 did with that. Lemme clean out the ear, give you more powerful pink stuff and I'll follow up in a couple of weeks. And give me Doctor1's number so I can give her a call." We raise a little question mark above our collective heads and say a little prayer of confusion...necessarily in that order. Without a doubt. I didn't say a prayer of thanks for Doctor2 until later as I don't want to portray myself as hyperspiritual or anything.
But really...how do you know who to trust? They both went to about 15 years of college and they both are respected physicians. I mean, Doctor2 is a surgeon and all but does that make him more trustworthy or knowledgable? I lean on Doctor2 because I get a better existential "vibe" with him. Maybe that vibe is because Doctor1 is close in my suburb and has a nice little office. Doctor2 does surgery in a highly regarded hospital in Big D. Maybe that vibe is biased and wrong...but it's my existential vibe, man.
I've been down this "who do you trust and how do you know" route before...in varying degrees.
Like when I was 13 and heard my mom having a discussion with my grandmother about whether or not to take my father off life support. I mean, we've all heard stories about some other dad somewhere on this continent that somehow got out of a coma and then climbed Mt. Everest (or was in Kilamanjaro?) to prove that he foiled all the naysayers.The doctor said my dad would stay in this condition for a very long time...and he went to college for about 15 years and was a respected physician.
Like when the guy at the oil change place comes out with air filters and tells me that my transmission fluid is some color that it isn't supposed to be (and then takes me out in the bays to show me said color...I don't bother informing him of my colorblindness. I have no intention of having that service done there anyway, so I'm just going out to humor him and then he'll just check "service recommended" on my receipt). He says they can do it in 10 minutes for about $70 bucks. I mean, he's a respected mechanic and has all these certifications on his shirt and I know little, if anything, about cars.
Like when we went through the orthodontia phase of life. Apparently, every suburban teen in America has a mouth that's too narrow (and I wonder what the other teens all over the world do with the same narrow mouths). And when those wisdom teeth come in your child's teeth will point more directions than the home signpost on M*A*S*H*, right? From what we gather, this will inevitably lead to low self-esteem and heroin problems later if we don't fix it. We went to three different orthodontists with three different plans and varying degrees of payment options. These were all respected orthodontists in our area and every kid in our community wears a t-shirt with their names & logos on it and saying something about them being a cool kid who goes to that doctor.
Like when a teacher or counselor suggests that your child might need to skip a grade to be "challenged." Or maybe they need to stay behind a year to "mature" a little more. They're respected figures in our community who were trained to teach our kids all sorts of things.
Like when a coach says that "with a little more private instruction" your child could make the move from the "B" team to the "A" team. He's a coach and knows about the sport intimately and you never played it.
Like when the dentist tells you it's time to replace those old silver fillings with the new ceramic ones. That'll put a stop to any potential TMJ problems. Or maybe that sensitivity you're feeling is a result of grinding your teeth when you sleep, so we'd better put one of those mouthguards in. He's a respected professional who went to plenty of college on his own.
Like when a plumber tells you that you have a slab leak and the cost is going to be upwards of $1,000. It might be less. We won't know until we get in there and see, but it'll cost $475 to get started. Then you call another guy who says it isn't at all a slab leak and he thinks it's a faulty sprinkler system leak but it'll take $475 to fix it, but it might cost more once he gets in there. They're both plumbers with all sorts of certifications on their shirts who've forgotten more about plumbing than I'll ever know.
Like when the Genius at the iPod Genius Bar tells you your iPod is dead. Do you really know? Does she have a magic re-set button that she can hit once he takes it apart, and then when she puts it back together, sells them as re-conditioned? I mean, she's a genius for cryin' out loud. Says so right their on her t-shirt.
I could go on and on, I guess.
And I don't like being so suspicious of people...but in nearly 20 years of ministry I've learned an awful lot about human nature.
And some days I simply don't know who to trust.
So, I just trust God, make the best decision I can with the information I have at hand, and keep on truckin'. It's all I know to do on days I don't know who to trust.
I think I'm going to be talking about trust today. We'll see where this goes.
Kid1 went to the doctor a week and a half ago with ear troubles. Ear troubles in Kid1 give Tracy and I stomach troubles. "Nothing to worry about, folks. Simple ear infection. Take the pink stuff and call me if it doesn't go away soon." We breathe a little sigh of relief and say a little prayer of thanks...not necessarily in that order. But maybe. I don't want to sound hyperspiritual or anything.
Yesterday we take Kid1 to the ENT specialist who performed the surgery years ago who checks up every couple of years or so. "Fat lot of good Doctor1 did with that. Lemme clean out the ear, give you more powerful pink stuff and I'll follow up in a couple of weeks. And give me Doctor1's number so I can give her a call." We raise a little question mark above our collective heads and say a little prayer of confusion...necessarily in that order. Without a doubt. I didn't say a prayer of thanks for Doctor2 until later as I don't want to portray myself as hyperspiritual or anything.
But really...how do you know who to trust? They both went to about 15 years of college and they both are respected physicians. I mean, Doctor2 is a surgeon and all but does that make him more trustworthy or knowledgable? I lean on Doctor2 because I get a better existential "vibe" with him. Maybe that vibe is because Doctor1 is close in my suburb and has a nice little office. Doctor2 does surgery in a highly regarded hospital in Big D. Maybe that vibe is biased and wrong...but it's my existential vibe, man.
I've been down this "who do you trust and how do you know" route before...in varying degrees.
Like when I was 13 and heard my mom having a discussion with my grandmother about whether or not to take my father off life support. I mean, we've all heard stories about some other dad somewhere on this continent that somehow got out of a coma and then climbed Mt. Everest (or was in Kilamanjaro?) to prove that he foiled all the naysayers.The doctor said my dad would stay in this condition for a very long time...and he went to college for about 15 years and was a respected physician.
Like when the guy at the oil change place comes out with air filters and tells me that my transmission fluid is some color that it isn't supposed to be (and then takes me out in the bays to show me said color...I don't bother informing him of my colorblindness. I have no intention of having that service done there anyway, so I'm just going out to humor him and then he'll just check "service recommended" on my receipt). He says they can do it in 10 minutes for about $70 bucks. I mean, he's a respected mechanic and has all these certifications on his shirt and I know little, if anything, about cars.
Like when we went through the orthodontia phase of life. Apparently, every suburban teen in America has a mouth that's too narrow (and I wonder what the other teens all over the world do with the same narrow mouths). And when those wisdom teeth come in your child's teeth will point more directions than the home signpost on M*A*S*H*, right? From what we gather, this will inevitably lead to low self-esteem and heroin problems later if we don't fix it. We went to three different orthodontists with three different plans and varying degrees of payment options. These were all respected orthodontists in our area and every kid in our community wears a t-shirt with their names & logos on it and saying something about them being a cool kid who goes to that doctor.
Like when a teacher or counselor suggests that your child might need to skip a grade to be "challenged." Or maybe they need to stay behind a year to "mature" a little more. They're respected figures in our community who were trained to teach our kids all sorts of things.
Like when a coach says that "with a little more private instruction" your child could make the move from the "B" team to the "A" team. He's a coach and knows about the sport intimately and you never played it.
Like when the dentist tells you it's time to replace those old silver fillings with the new ceramic ones. That'll put a stop to any potential TMJ problems. Or maybe that sensitivity you're feeling is a result of grinding your teeth when you sleep, so we'd better put one of those mouthguards in. He's a respected professional who went to plenty of college on his own.
Like when a plumber tells you that you have a slab leak and the cost is going to be upwards of $1,000. It might be less. We won't know until we get in there and see, but it'll cost $475 to get started. Then you call another guy who says it isn't at all a slab leak and he thinks it's a faulty sprinkler system leak but it'll take $475 to fix it, but it might cost more once he gets in there. They're both plumbers with all sorts of certifications on their shirts who've forgotten more about plumbing than I'll ever know.
Like when the Genius at the iPod Genius Bar tells you your iPod is dead. Do you really know? Does she have a magic re-set button that she can hit once he takes it apart, and then when she puts it back together, sells them as re-conditioned? I mean, she's a genius for cryin' out loud. Says so right their on her t-shirt.
I could go on and on, I guess.
And I don't like being so suspicious of people...but in nearly 20 years of ministry I've learned an awful lot about human nature.
And some days I simply don't know who to trust.
So, I just trust God, make the best decision I can with the information I have at hand, and keep on truckin'. It's all I know to do on days I don't know who to trust.
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