A moment of petulant, self-centeredness—(alright, maybe a year, or five, or so)—does not and will not ruin our fundamental intention to genuinely lean in together to do better, together. Among other things, “to form a more perfect union.”
If I do not trust that you will lean in, I will not truly lean in either. I will tell you that I’m all in. I will want to be.
And, unless I can see clearly that you’re holding steady, I’m secretly making plans to bail. And, because I’m secretly doing that, I project and assume that you are too.
These are not the pathways to trust.
Trust happens when I make a choice, a decision ultimately within myself, to put myself at risk no matter what you or anyone else decides.
If I stand for freedom with social responsibility, equality—that’s it—equality that is equal for all, not for some, and I stand for your dignity as a birthright as genuine as my own, and I do so stand and not merely state, then
I will stand so in love. I will not fight you or argue about it.
And I will stand alone if that be,
As I would not ask or pray for someone to stand in for me.
And, yet, I have never felt more surrounded by the love than I do now, as I watch and participate in love’s rising up from within us all.
Such is the mystery and magnificence within us all.
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