Cynical

A healthy skepticism is probably needed to get by these days. From the phone calls I get everyday telling me I've qualified for a $250,000.00 business loan (and I don't even have a business), to the offers from folks thru e-mail who want to help me get rich and all I have to do is to give them enough personal banking information to make the deposit. It’s a good thing that I’m not willing to swallow every false claim that comes my way. 



It's easy to become scarred by all these false attempts. I don’t want to become cynical or go through life believing that behind every act of kindness there is a hidden motive. It seems to many people that inside every silver lining there is a dark cloud ready to pour bucketfuls of water on their parade. I don’t want to grow wary of every stranger I meet or turn a suspicious eye to any good thing that comes my way because of cynicism. I want to trust people. 

It is not nearly so important to hone a sharp edge of skepticism as to be somebody with a keen ability to trust. Relationships that work, after all, are built on trust. Trust in families is essential if want to raise healthy, happy children. As adults, we want to be trusted by others and our closest friends are usually people we can depend on. And what’s left in marriage when trust is shattered? 



I have discovered that I can live far better without cynicism than I can without trust. So I worry less these days about swallowing everything I hear and more about fine tuning my ability to catch glimpses of whatever good there may be around me. My father-in-law was an eternal optimist who always saw the good in people. He  would always speak what the Bible says about finding something good to speak of. He trusted that there was always something good to find in everybody. Let us pray the Lord will help us do the same.