Traveling the Rock Road

“Trust is faith that becomes absolute, approved, and accomplished. When all is said and done, there is a sort of risk in faith and its exercise. But trust is firm belief; it is faith in full bloom. Trust is a conscious act, a fact of which we are aware.” E.M. Bounds

When you’re a small child the world can be a very confusing place, not always understanding what’s going on around you or why.  I suppose the same is true, at different moments when you reach adulthood.  As I see it, the largest difference is how we react.  In the adult world there is worry about the unknown and what might or might not happen.  But the mind of a child, they do not see these situations lurking around the corner.  They rely and trust in the wisdom and guidance of someone else older, wiser and bigger to care for their needs, namely a parent or parents.  In my case it was one parent, my mother that I looked to for security and answers.  Single parenting can certainly be called a norm (unfortunately) in this day and age, but back in the 50s it was much more of a rarity.  But that’s the scenario that my mother found herself in and joyfully accepted as her place in life no matter what came; and sometimes what did come wasn’t always pleasant.

Mom and I had just arrived on the bus to the bustling city of Baltimore, Maryland where there was the promise of a job and home for the two of us.  “We’re going to have a place of our own, Johnny, a home for the two of us,” she would tell me often as we journeyed to this new land so foreign to the rural, small town life to which I was accustomed.  Quietly I would ponder her words, trying to imagine what our new home would look like with never a worry of what lay ahead; I was with the person I trusted and loved more than anyone else in the world.  But as I mentioned, life isn’t always that easy when you’re an adult when faced with unexpected and unseen misfortunes.  For reasons not worth going into,  the hope and dream of a new home was suddenly gone and getting back on the bus was out of the question also with the little money Mom had.  So panic time, right?  You don’t know my mama!!  The little woman with the hearing disability and an 8^th grade education had grown up being a survivor and that wasn’t about to change, especially since she now had a young, wide-eyed son who hung on her every word and action.  Leaving the bus terminal mom hailed a cab and had them take us to an area of the city that she was familiar with from other times she had been to Baltimore.  Exiting the taxi and with suitcase in one of mom’s hands and my hand in the other, we started walking down a residential street that was lined with tall, house like buildings, all resembling each other and all with porches and double doors.  “Are we almost home, Mama?” I asked, very tired and not waning to do this march. “Just come along, you’ll see soon,” mom answered.  And then, “There!” mom blurted out as she pointed to one of the row houses that had a sign out front, “There’s home!”  Retrieving the sign from the rail, we walked up on the porch and mom knocked on the door.  A very nice looking, almost elegant, elderly woman answered.  Inviting us in, she took us to the kitchen where she served mom a cup of hot tea and me a glass of chocolate milk. She spoke funny, I remember thinking.  That was because she was the 1^st person I ever met with a pure English accent.  She and her husband had immigrated to America before WW2 and settled in Baltimore.  The conversation between mom and this lovely lady didn’t concern me; I was too busy with my chocolate milk.  But later I learned mom told her we didn’t have any money, but if she would let us rent the furnished apartment she had available, mom would get a job and pay her as quickly as possible.  There was a period of time that passed after that with more tea, chocolate milk and sandwiches; then we were shown to our new apartment.

Quickly getting everything unpacked I was ready just to stay put, but mom said we had to go somewhere else.  Two blocks from the apartment house sat a small grocery store owned and operated by an eastern European couple.  Walking in, mom asked to speak privately to the owner.  Expressing to him our plight, she made him the same promise as she did the landlord.  A short time later we were heading back to the apartment, mom with two bags of groceries and me working on a generous sack of candy! The next day she did find work and shortly thereafter made good on her promises and paid all that she owed.  Now, try to get people in this day and age to work together in an atmosphere where the only binding contract there is, is your word and trust and see how far you get.  Yes, I’m sure some extra compassion was shown to a young woman with a small child in tow, who possessed the boldness to ask total strangers for help.  And yes, things were a whole lot different in the world some fifty plus years ago.  If I have a question, it’s not “when” did the practice of showing grace, mercy, trust and living up to one’s word go out the window, but, why?  Please take note; I pose the question to each position, the giver and the receiver.  I’m no expert on world affairs and economics, but I strongly believe that if all would practice diligently the four attributes that I just listed, the world and our country would be a much better place to live for all.

That is what drew me to the Christian belief and where I take my stand today. (Remember, I’m not a religious man, but a man of faith, of trust.)  I had a problem, many problems just like everyone (Romans 3:23) and I went to who had what I needed (Romans 6:23) and I made a promise (Romans 10:9) and the Store Owner, the Landlord, the Proprietor of the Universe said, “Okay, we’ve got a deal, and just to seal it forever between you and me, I’m turning your debt over to my Son (John 3:16).  Grace, Mercy, Trust and Love all came from the Giver to this indebted man.  The price on my end, well, that’s found in Ephesians 2:8-9.  The whole deal is based on nothing more than pure trust, on faith.  Personally, I think I got the best deal, but from what I’ve read, God feels the same way!

“Don’t trust to hold God’s hand, let Him hold yours. Let Him do the holding, and you do the trusting,” Hammer William Webb-Peploe

Looking for help? Go to Him boldly and ask!  Has He got a deal for you!!!  🙂