Why should man be trustworthy irrespective of the evil surrounding them? If I am honest with myself, I should then be honest with everyone. Those are the words that resounded in my ears as I ate popcorn last night. If indeed, truth was valued by everyone, if only they understood the magnitude of its importance, the world would be in peace. If I forget to pick my phone from the booth where I was drinking from, why should someone pick it and deny? Why kidnap a baby and claim it is yours when you very well know that you have never been pregnant? And lastly, why kill someone and deny?
I have come to appreciate the significance of trust. Day by day we live the way we live because we trust. If we did not, we would find it extremely challenging to live in this world. The world has very many people from different tribes, societies and with different culture and lifestyles. However, we believe that we can live harmoniously with such people without necessarily scrutinizing one each of them. A stranger bypasses your house selling goods. Perhaps they are edible or not, you buy from them because of the trust you have within your heart. I think that trust is something we are born with. It is a quality that God created in us. When we violate it, we lose value in our communities and in our lives.
When I went to a restaurant at lunchtime yesterday, I ordered the waitress to serve me with salad steak and a mildly chilled coke. While I waited, I decided to make some phone calls. I talked to my friends about coursework and how far they had gone with their homework. I then called my mother inquiring how she had spent her day off work. I was wondering if she wanted any driver to take her home in case she had over drained her throat with vodka. But she said everything was fine and I should not worry about her. The aroma wafting my nose made my mouth watery as the cooks prepared my food. I looked at my watch. It was 1:12pm. I still had time to prepare for the next lecture. I went off wandering in the slum, I saw my classmates and people I shared hostel with.
I was crossing the road to meet my friend Baraka when my phone rang. I removed it from my left pocket and answered without looking at the screen. It was the waitress. My food was ready. Hunger momentarily filled my intestines as I grabbed my plate. I ate very fast, without much chewing or looking sideways. When I had quenched my hunger and thirst, I gave the waitress my credit card and I waited till she put it in her computer and removed it. She returned it and gave it to me. I hurried to my hostel so that I went through the last bit of notes before the lecture began. However, something kept me from my books. There is something I wanted to think about, and it was trust. I learned that it was because I trusted the waitress, I asked them for food. I also ate the food very contented.
I didn’t think something would go wrong, after all that was their work! And who had given them the work, I do not care. They knew better. Assuming I lost trust in them that they could do something bad to me. What if someone targeted me and asked them to poison me? If I began to think about all those things, then that would mean mistrust. I do not trust them. I must say that in this world, we live by trust. If I board a taxi to take me to town, I am trusting the driver that he will actually take me to the real destination without any disturbances.
Therefore, everybody should strive to be trustworthy. We should know that it is the greatest value in this life. We should trust God and hence trust ourselves.