Trust Me

I ask that you trust me.

Will you?

I hope so. Someday.

But only when I earn it.

Same goes with you.

Ask me to trust you and I will. Someday.

When you earn it.

'Trust me' doesn't square well in our drive-thru-grab-a-burger culture. To earn your trust I'll do two things,

Go slow.

Be honest.

In other words, earn it.

Smart people say we live in the attention age.

I say we live in the distortion age. A moment when truth struggles amid spinners, dissemblers, liars.

Big government wants my trust. Its done everything possible this century to crush my belief.

Big business wants my trust. There's a new GM ad where the CEO swaggers about his shop floor bragging he's repaid taxpayers in full, ahead of time and with interest.

First time I saw this ad was during MEET THE PRESS just minutes after a leading US Senator declared GM would never repay all it owes. Trouble buying the word of a car pitchman and a politician on a Sunday morning news show? No news there.

My Church wants me to trust that Jesus walked on water. Really? It'd be neat to ask the Pope about that.

Oh, wait, that won't work. I trust him and his boys as much as big government and big business honchos.

How about Joe the Regular Guy? He wants to rant about how great or how crappy the big health care bill is. He wants to use up my time and hold my trust reciting talking points he boosted from some talking TV talk show head. Sometimes I am Joe.

This is my favorite question of 2010,

"Have you read the whole health care bill?"

If so, you've earned my trust and you can use up my time. If not, please stop talking at me.

It's been a quiet spring. I wonder.

Will you trust me? Will I trust you?

Hope so. God help us.

Until we earn it.

--tim

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