To Trust

“Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.” -- Arthur Miller

I was contemplating betrayal the other day. It seems to be a consistent presence in our lives. It carries about no discernable pattern to its form. People betray other people, regardless of whether or not they love them. Friends betray friends for all sorts of reasons. Our government betrays our trust for many reasons. We betray our instincts and march headlong into disastrous situations, situations that cost momentous amounts of money and loss of human life and tragic suffering.

What is truly lost through betrayals is trust. Who, what, why are all questionable factors now in putting that one foot in front of the next.

Maybe that is one of the reasons that so many people get such gratifying satisfaction from their pets. They can trust them without the possibility of betrayal. Though even after 13 years I still don’t trust the cat. I still often start blindly down the basement stairs only to almost step on it--lazily stretched out on the steps-- and almost take a possible life-threatening tumble. I believe she has been plotting my demise for a long time. The cat is eerily colored to blend in with the carpet. I am sure my wife didn’t consider that when she picked out the pattern. But I always trusted my dogs.

So I ask myself to keep taking the risk of continuing seeking trust.

It is too energy draining to look behind every act, word and supposition to look for the possible betrayal that may or may not lurk there about.