ARE YOU TRUSTWORTHY?

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” - George MacDonald

Trust

Plato said, “You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” To trust, and be trusted, there’s always ‘our part’ to be played, in every relationship. Play your part well, then leave the other person to do theirs.

In his little book Illustrations of Bible Truth, H.A. Ironside pointed out the folly of judging others. He related an incident in the life of a man called Bishop Potter. "He was sailing for Europe on one of the great transatlantic ocean liners. When he went on board, he found that another passenger was to share the cabin with him. After going to see the accommodations, he came up to the purser's desk and inquired if he could leave his gold watch and other valuables in the ship's safe. He explained that ordinarily he never availed

A BROTHER'S KEEPER

"The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves." - Plato 

Brother's Keeper

The nice thing about apathy is that you don't have to exert yourself to show you're sincere about it. It comes naturally. Whose responsibility should it be to make it right, or lend a helping hand, everyone, or someone?

When Rosina Hernandez was in college, she attended a rock concert at which one young man was brutally beaten by another. No one made any attempt to stop the beating. The next day she was struck dumb to learn that the youth had died as a result of the pounding. Yet neither she nor anyone else had raised a hand to help him. She could never forget the incident or her responsibility as an inactive bystander. Years later, she saw another catastrophe. A car driving in the rain ahead of her suddenly skidded and plunged into Biscayne Bay. The car landed head down in the water with only the tail end showing. In a moment a woman appeared on the surface, shouting for help and saying her husband was stuck inside. This time Rosina waited for no one. She plunged into the water, tried unsuccessfully to open the car door, then pounded on the

The Curse Of Injustice

Wisdom Nuggets: The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.

                                                                                                          -  Richard Bach

confident injustice

In the next couple of days I shall be drawing your attention to an explosive truth which many in this generation either do not know or ignore. It is called The Curse of Injustice. Many are aware of The Power of Blessings. That is why in the US you hear people say "God Bless America". But what is equally potent is the power of a curse provoked by injustice.

Understanding the complexities of human existence in all ramifications; acknowledging the inevitability of our defenselessness and vulnerablilities can help us understand the inherent dangers of injustice. There exist designed laws which make it obligatory for the strong to protect the weak, the informed to protect the ignorant and the powerful to protect the defenseless. To violate that law is to attract a curse (Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the foreigner...)

In 2009,  I sat next to a young man from Miami Florida to Haiti, on board an American Airways flight, and we naturally became friendly. It was my first trip to Haiti and it was soon after the earthquake. I was on a fact finding mission to see how my country could assist Haiti. So I was quick to befriend the young man so I could find my bearing when I arrived Port au Prince. On arrival, we drove around. I was shocked at the sorry state of Port au Prince, many months after the earthquake. Corpses were still trapped under the rubbles, collapsed buildIngs still leaned against one another, people still lived under the UN refugee tents and hunger was endemic. My Haitian friend had told me even the eggs sold in Haiti were from the nearby Dominican Republic. Turning to him, i told him i needed to change some dollars so I could take care of my hotel bills and other miscellaneous expenses. So he drove me to a dirty street, asked me to wait in the car, called a friend with whom he disappeared for a while. When he returned, he told me that the exchange rate was 1$ =30 Haitian Gourde. I was so shocked because I realized how poor the country was and I couldn't reconcile it with the high value on their currency. But I felt I was in the protective custody of my new found host and thus, couldn't dare question his facts (and figures). After all, his wife had joined us. They both communicated in Creole and I couldn't understand a word of what was said. I exchanged about $700 (because he had insisted I must take him and his wife to the most expensive restaurant in Port au Prince). Then I got to my hotel and asked the receptionist who told me the rate was $1= 35,000 Haitian Gourde. Next day my friend insisted that I paid him $500 dollars for taking me around in his car for half a day. As I boarded my flight to leave Haiti the next day I said to myself, "Now I understand why they are so poor !"

We're all defenseless foreIgners. The new staff in your office, the new girl or family in your neighborhood, the new student in your class, the new member in your church/club, the new entrant into your line of business, and the new wife your brother just married into your family, without exception, are all vulnerable and defenseless foreigners whom the fates have brought across your path. Before you take advantage of them remember the words of Plato, "He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it."

 Don't  ever forget, the wheel of injustice always spins around. Today it is someone else, tomorrow it may be you. Whatever a man sows, that he will reap.

Photo Credit: johncalvinmusic.bandcamp.com