Circle of Trust – Blessing of Faith

 

Our founding fathers wrote:  “…all men… are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life , Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the Governed…

 

Loosely paraphrasing; OUR government was created to protect Rights which we already had – Rights which were (and still are) give to each of us by God.

 

“In God We Trust” or so our forbearers thought. “In God We Trust”, it is our national motto, “In God We Trust”, it even says that on our coins and paper currency! “In God We Trust” – what an awesome imprimatur. But; what does that mean and is that of any benefit to US individually or to US as “the Governed”?

 

In broader context, framed by the Judeo-Christian worldview in which it was set, “In God We Trust” signifies that we hold certain concepts and moral values in common – among them The 10 Commandments summarized below:

 

1.      You shall have no other gods before me

2.      You shall not make for yourself an idol

3.      You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God

4.      Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy

5.      Honor your father and mother

6.      You shall not murder

7.      You shall not commit adultery

8.      You shall not steal

9.      You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor

10.  You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor 

 

 

 But all peoples benefit – including those of other faiths, even atheists, agnostics benefit from a “Circle of Trust” implied by our national motto.

 

In a world or where the circle of trust is limited only to that of your family – even the simplest bargain or barter is difficult to transact with strangers. In a society where the family “circle of trust” is extended to the familiar – be that neighbors or expanded to tribesman more complex transactions are enabled including peace treaties, commerce and contracts.

 

Even those that don’t believe in a God can find worldly comfort in dealing with those who profess that they won’t – at least for starters –  murder you, steal from you, lie to you our covet that which is yours.

 

The “Full Faith and Credit” of the United States of America (US or us) is based – in large part – on this expanded “Circle of Trust”.  So even if you don’t believe “In God We Trust” you still benefit from the faith of all those that do!

 

Now, what happens to your “Circle of Trust” if that “trust” is broken? Even if that “trust” is only tarnished the simplest of dealings become more difficult.

 

In a ‘po-mo’ (post-modern) America, where we undermine our national motto we also weaken our “Circle of Trust”. And today, as forces gleefully rally to remove God from our national lexicon we strip the very underpinnings from our “Circle of Trust”.

 

Beware, be ready, for when the “Circle of Trust” collapses you better believe that “Change” will be upon us.

 

 

(special thanks to teacher Ron Peri for the initial “Circle of Trust” concept)