Dear one,
Regarding “trust,” culturally it appears that we are nearly bankrupt: only with grave skepticism do we trust those in authority over us. In a culture that vaunts individualism over the collective good, perhaps this is a recurring phenomenon; but we seem to have few coins in our “trust” account. This “withdrawal” was no doubt evident prior to covid, nonetheless, covid has accelerated our unwillingness to trust those in authority.
For some time, I’ve pondered the relationship between the word “author” and the word “authority.” That is, the word “author” is derived from the Latin word, augere, which means “to increase, originate, and/or promote.”[1] Thus, an author might be one who increases our understanding or knowledge; who originates a new or different perspective; and who promotes that understanding or perspective. Such a derivation accords well with our common description of an author, that is, of one who writes authoritatively in one sphere or another.
Ah, but therein lies our cultural disconnect. We might trust an “author” to bring an increase into our lives through an original thought or perspective; but more and more our tendency is to view “authorities” as those who promote their own agendas, thoughts, or perspectives for their own gain. If this is true, even though “author” and “authority” have the same derivation, our tendency is to view an author positively and an authority negatively. Again, this might not be a new phenomenon, but seemingly our political, governmental, religious, academic, scientific, and medical authorities have faltered, stumbled, and fallen regularly. Distrust has been earned.
Recently a C.S. Lewis observation gave me pause: “Believing things on authority only means believing them because [we] have been told them by someone [we] think trustworthy. Ninety-nine percent of the things [we] believe are believed on authority.”[2]
His observation, I think, aligns with experience: we believe those we trust, we trust those we believe; and when we reach a moment of distrust, we simply shift to another author/ authority, who might be no other than me-myself-I. Thus, as these pandemic days have revealed, our author-authorities are those who most regularly inform and reinforce what we believe-trust. We differ and/or distrust one another according to the sources we deem authoritative.
As one who is very much a part of the Christian church, this I’ve experienced and observed: Jesus remains the trustworthy Source, even when we of the church falter, stumble, and fall. He once warned: “Watch what you hear” (Mark 4:24).
Trusting Him,
Stan
[1] Cf. New Oxford American Dictionary.
[2] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.), p. 62.