Really liked this piece, Steve. In fact, I want to come to read it again and watch The Faith Report video.
In terms of trust and faith, I am quite a skeptic about most people. It takes me a long time to trust people, mostly because once I do, I’m incredibly loyal and long-suffering. Re faith, I tend to believe everything’s going to be okay.
Thanks, Jen! I think you represent the ideal: faithful and skeptical. I'm also incredibly loyal, and those I'm loyal to are long-sufferers of my annoying behavior!
I would like to believe that everything is going to be okay. But I've got a lot more therapy to do before I flip the needle from catastrophizing.
Also, I have been a terrible keeper-upper of my favorite 'stacks -- life has a way of taking over (not that 'Stacking isn't a part of life). I'm hoping to Pretend I'm Good At maintaining keeping up as soon as my current move to a new house (and getting it set up and getting the old house ready for sale) is done or mostly done. That is a good Pretend I'm Good At subject, now that I think of it.
Moving piece, Steve, and generous as well. My parents betrayed us in truly baroque fashion, but that didn't break my trust in people. Perhaps it should have--I'm often told by "friends" that I'm too gullible. I guess if it hasn't changed by now, it never will. Faith? I think when we get to the end of the line, that's it, so it doesn't matter if we have faith.
Thanks, Charles. It seems you don't overthink it or struggle with trust issues (or not as much as I do). I like your reasoning around faith. I don't necessarily correlate it to the afterlife (I don't believe in things like heaven and hell or any post-death locale), but I do think of it in terms of belief in a god or higher power. It's interesting that your "friends" align trust with gullibility, as that seems more naivety than trust.
I guess to the cynic they look the same. As for a higher power, maybe that's equivalent to simply realizing how huge the universe is and how tiny we are. That bothers some people but it actually gives me comfort.
Great piece, Steve! What does my relationship with trust and faith look like? It looks like I'm dating a bad partner that consistently lets me down and then convinces me that this time'll be the last time. As Gen Xers, isn't that coded into our DNA?
I tend to define faith as optimism that people are basically good and the universe is wise, but I also tend to be hyper-vigilant to ensure things will go well. So a bit of a paradox in the trust and faith departments for us both, I think.
Thanks, Ellen! I like your definition. I struggle to find a way to have optimism and hyper-vigilance at the same time. It is a paradox, or for me a bit incongruous or like oil and water. Hard to see the two existing in the same space. See, even your reply is thought-provoking.
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself in this powerful post. Like you, I've had ongoing difficulties with trust and faith that were seeded in childhood.
As for music, there's a lot of it. Today's MotD will be a response to that question.
Thanks, Jackie. I know it’s a long piece and not especially skimmable, so I appreciate you reading it. I’m not sure if your Al Stewart post was the MotD piece your refer to, but it does seem quite apt to me. It felt cathartic writing this, but incredibly draining too, like I just ran a marathon without much training.
Really liked this piece, Steve. In fact, I want to come to read it again and watch The Faith Report video.
In terms of trust and faith, I am quite a skeptic about most people. It takes me a long time to trust people, mostly because once I do, I’m incredibly loyal and long-suffering. Re faith, I tend to believe everything’s going to be okay.
Thanks, Jen! I think you represent the ideal: faithful and skeptical. I'm also incredibly loyal, and those I'm loyal to are long-sufferers of my annoying behavior!
I would like to believe that everything is going to be okay. But I've got a lot more therapy to do before I flip the needle from catastrophizing.
Also, I have been a terrible keeper-upper of my favorite 'stacks -- life has a way of taking over (not that 'Stacking isn't a part of life). I'm hoping to Pretend I'm Good At maintaining keeping up as soon as my current move to a new house (and getting it set up and getting the old house ready for sale) is done or mostly done. That is a good Pretend I'm Good At subject, now that I think of it.
I cover and explore the topic of Trust in my podcast here:
https://soberchristiangentlemanpodcast.substack.com/p/s1-ep-7-scgp-rebroadcast
Well done, Steve. I especially appreciate what you had to say about faith.
Thanks, Glenn. It's such a big topic, it was hard to narrow it down.
Moving piece, Steve, and generous as well. My parents betrayed us in truly baroque fashion, but that didn't break my trust in people. Perhaps it should have--I'm often told by "friends" that I'm too gullible. I guess if it hasn't changed by now, it never will. Faith? I think when we get to the end of the line, that's it, so it doesn't matter if we have faith.
Thanks, Charles. It seems you don't overthink it or struggle with trust issues (or not as much as I do). I like your reasoning around faith. I don't necessarily correlate it to the afterlife (I don't believe in things like heaven and hell or any post-death locale), but I do think of it in terms of belief in a god or higher power. It's interesting that your "friends" align trust with gullibility, as that seems more naivety than trust.
I guess to the cynic they look the same. As for a higher power, maybe that's equivalent to simply realizing how huge the universe is and how tiny we are. That bothers some people but it actually gives me comfort.
Great piece, Steve! What does my relationship with trust and faith look like? It looks like I'm dating a bad partner that consistently lets me down and then convinces me that this time'll be the last time. As Gen Xers, isn't that coded into our DNA?
And breaking up isn't an option. And they refuse to go to couples counseling.
Thanks for reading, Kevin!
Here's an earworm for you both: "Breaking up is hard to do..."
Damn it! That's a good one, Glenn. I do have stories about Neil Sedaka, so don't be surprised if this ends up getting the EW&SL treatment in 2025.
Really thought-provoking post, Steve.
I tend to define faith as optimism that people are basically good and the universe is wise, but I also tend to be hyper-vigilant to ensure things will go well. So a bit of a paradox in the trust and faith departments for us both, I think.
In other words, trust but verify!
Thanks, Ellen! I like your definition. I struggle to find a way to have optimism and hyper-vigilance at the same time. It is a paradox, or for me a bit incongruous or like oil and water. Hard to see the two existing in the same space. See, even your reply is thought-provoking.
Faith in music. Amen! It's my spiritual guidance if I have any!
And film too, I would suspect. Perhaps a bit of TV too!:)
Thank you for sharing so much of yourself in this powerful post. Like you, I've had ongoing difficulties with trust and faith that were seeded in childhood.
As for music, there's a lot of it. Today's MotD will be a response to that question.
Thanks, Jackie. I know it’s a long piece and not especially skimmable, so I appreciate you reading it. I’m not sure if your Al Stewart post was the MotD piece your refer to, but it does seem quite apt to me. It felt cathartic writing this, but incredibly draining too, like I just ran a marathon without much training.
No, Al was yesterday's MotD. It took me a while to write today's; as you say, writing about these things is cathartic and draining: https://musicoftheday.substack.com/p/4-dec-24-rush-faithless