Line by Line - Verse 23, Lines 19-20

(But) when there is not faith sufficient (on his part), a want of faith (in him) ensues (on the part of the others).
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He who does not trust enough
Will not be trusted.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who do not trust sufficiently, others have no trust in them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Trust your instincts, and others will trust you.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Another version of what goes around, comes around.

When I think of the word trust, I often think of the film, Pay It Forward.

Young Trevor McKinney, troubled by his mother's alcoholism and fears of his abusive but absent father, is caught up by an intriguing assignment from his new social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet. The assignment: think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward -- repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in the lives of himself, his mother and his physically and emotionally scarred teacher, but in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him.

When we trust in the synchronicity of life, we can accept whatever comes around the next bend. Of course, as most of us know, that is a lot easier said than done!

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.