232: Who Can I Trust?

Knowing who to trust for help in making it through life can be hard to determine at times. We’ve all been lied to or given inaccurate information at one time or another, especially when it comes to making important decisions. Today’s episode takes a look at two options to consider when asking ourselves, who can I trust?  

But first, I’m John Certalic, and you are listening to episode 232 of You Were Made for This, the podcast about enriching our lives by reflecting the character, image, and likeness of God in our relationships. It’s what we were made for. We were made for this.

A lingering question from the last episode

In the most recent episode of this podcast, I talked about catching a glimpse of heaven at my grandson’s recent graduation from law school. Click here if you missed it.

One issue I didn’t mention in that episode was the process grandson George went through deciding if he should even go to law school in the first place. He graduated with honors with a degree in business from a local university, and there were a number of careers within that field that interested him. But like a scab on your arm you can’t stop picking, the thought of, maybe I should become a lawyer. I think I would like that kept surfacing.

He talked to a few lawyers and business people who work with lawyers to get their opinion on the legal profession. 

“Don’t do it, George. There’s a surplus of lawyers.”

“We have lawyers in our firm doing paralegal work because there isn’t enough business for them to work on.”

“Law school is really hard and competitive. And it’s expensive. It’s even hard to get into. Are you sure you want to do that?”

The best advice though,  came from an attorney with a solo practice who said,  “The only reason you should go to law school and become a lawyer is if you feel God is calling you to do it. Nothing else matters.”

Different voices. Different answers. For George, the answer to the who can I trust question came from looking outside of himself. To seek what God wanted him to do. He put his trust in God.

Kindergarten requires something different

During George’s graduation ceremony I couldn’t help comparing this event to his very first graduation decades before. I was there for that one, too. 

Unlike the quiet orderliness of the law school graduates marching across the 

stage, his graduation from kindergarten was just the opposite. 15-20 of his classmates scurried randomly to the corner of their classroom. Girls giggling and boys laughing as they poked each other in the arm. They assembled in 3 rows so parents and grandparents could take a group photo. No diploma. No cap and gown. And no processional music.

Once assembled, the teacher said a few congratulatory words, which I don’t recall. What I do remember is how the teacher choked up and was visibly moved in having to say goodbye to these little boys and girls, knowing they would no longer be part of her life. While this was an end and the start of a new chapter for the kids as 1st graders in a few months, it was just an end for her. It was all quite touching.

No tears were shed, however, by the law school dean or professors at that graduation ceremony.

A lifelong question: Who can I trust?

As dissimilar as the two graduations were, they both illustrate the issue of who can I  trust.

To graduate from law school. For example, you have to trust in yourself.  There are hoops you have to jump through alone. You must first earn a bachelor’s degree. Then pass the law school entrance exam, the LSAT. And of course, pass all the classes required in order to graduate. It’s all on you. No one can do it for you. Helicopter parents are grounded for this one. 

To graduate from kindergarten is another matter. As a 5- or 6-year-old, everyone gets into kindergarten sooner or later. And no one flunks unless they are not developmentally not ready to move on to first grade. 

Unlike law school, though, to make it through kindergarten, a 5 or 6-year-old is doomed if they only trust in themself. 

They need to trust their teacher and their parents. When the teacher says “walk don’t run,” they have to trust their teacher is looking out for their best interests. When there’s a fire alarm drill, the kids trust the teacher will lead them to safety. 

To graduate from kindergarten, you need to trust in an authority outside of yourself. To graduate from law school, you must trust in yourself.

What law school and Kindergarten model for us

Who or what we place our trust in also applies to our view of what happens to us when we die. Specifically, how we get into heaven if we believe in life beyond the grave.

One approach is to trust only in yourself, like a law school student. 

The other is to trust in an authority outside of yourself. An authority like Jesus.

We once had a next-door neighbor, a kind and pleasant man who died. There was no funeral because he did not believe there was any form of life after this one ended here on earth. He trusted in his own judgment about this matter, and that those who believed in heaven and hell were wrong.

I wonder if he ever considered there was a chance he might be wrong and others were right. Then what?

A distant relative in our extended family also placed his trust in himself, and no one else, for how to live. At his funeral his family played that famous Frank Sinatra song, My Way, with the refrain, “I did it my way.”  I wonder what Jesus thought about this musical selection.

What kind of funeral of you want?

I also wonder what kind of funeral you would like for yourself. Would you prefer one that’s more like a law school graduation, where you are praised for trusting in yourself for what you accomplished in life. Or would you like one that had elements of a kindergarten graduation where stories are shared of how you trusted Jesus in living life?

Where you did it his way, and not your way.

For me, I’d rather my funeral be more like a graduation from Kindergarten. Instead of Frank Sinatra singing from a family member’s playlist, I’d like  a few friends singing “Pomp and Circumstance,” as we often hear at commencement ceremonies. If you’d like to audition for such a role, let me know of your interest in the “leave a comment” box in the show notes.

Closing

As we close up shop for today, I hope your thinking was stimulated by today’s show to consider who you trust for guidance and wisdom in living life well. Who do you trust in forming the values important to you? Who do you trust for the truth about what happens to you after you die. You and I were made to consider these things every now and then.

Well, that’s it for today. I’d love to hear your thoughts or reactions to today’s episode. Just go to the show notes for today’s program at JohnCertalic.com, then scroll down to the end to the “Leave a comment” box.

Finally, remember to spread a little relational sunshine around the people you meet this week. Spark some joy for them.  And I’ll see you again next time. Goodbye for now.

Most recent prior episodes

231: A Glimpse of Heaven

230: A Delightful Conversation Fueled by Silence

 

All past and future episodes can be found at JohnCertalic.com