The theme kept coming back to me like a song, insisting I pay attention to the refrain. Recently the famous author, Gail Sheehy, wrote in Newsweek about “the insurmountable trust deficit,” and how it was affecting “the fundamental bedrock” of our society. So I began noticing where the topic recurred, having just read in Yuval Harari’s interesting book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, that trust between strangers was a necessary element in establishing trade relations. This correlated with part of my theory about Onamonalonton’s civilization (The Urantia Book, The UB, 79:5.8), that he built it on a foundation of trust, achieved in part through the stone medicine wheels which served as sacred negotiating places, temples of trade as well as places to honor spiritual brotherhood.

Trust ringing like a bell, calling us to some task, resounded again in Jeff Wattles’ blog, Universalfamily.org, on March 8, 2018: “God has faith in us—that we can host the gift of his spirit presence and become like him by following the path of love. And we can have faith in others, too. This does not mean trusting a stranger with your purse or wallet. But it does mean a quality of basic, person-to-person trust that is worthy of who we truly are—brothers and sisters in the family of God.”

It is very difficult to hold onto a trusting attitude in our chaotic and troubled world where fear tends to dominate. Somehow we must resolve to do it, to have the courage and “good cheer” of Jesus. “Suspicion is the inherent reaction of primitive men; the survival struggles of the early ages do not naturally breed trust. Trust is a new human acquisition brought about by the ministry of these planetary seraphim [The Spirits of Trust] of the Adamic regime. It is their mission to inculcate trust into the minds of evolving men. The Gods are very trustful; the Universal Father is willing freely to trust himself—the Adjuster—to man's association.” (39:5.7)

And though we are beset by uncertainty on every side, “In the more advanced planetary ages these seraphim enhance man's appreciation of the truth that uncertainty is the secret of contented continuity. …They heighten man's taste for the sweetness of uncertainty, for the romance and charm of the indefinite and unknown future. (39:5.9)

The yogis, although not fully realizing that the High Self they speak of is a divine spark of the greater power, also teach, “Self-confidence cannot come without trust in the Self. By the Self, we mean the real part of you, the timeless, eternal, never-been-born-never-died cosmic Soul. If you cannot trust others, the mechanism within you to trust your Self is closed off, too. That doesn't even mention the lack of trust in a power even greater than your Higher Self. Doubt in others energetically manifests in your field as distrust in yourself. You cannot begin to live the life you deserve until Trust, with a capital T, becomes a part of your very nature.” (Ramdesh Kaur,yoga and meditation teacher)

In trust lies the hope for the institutions of our civilization. “The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master's teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust.” (194:3.12)

In the history book I just finished reading, Sapiens, Harari concludes that there will be transformations in human consciousness, a point of view that many readers of The Urantia Book hold as divine truth. However, in Harari’s scientific vision of the future, it would come about through cyber mind and means, artificial intelligence installed somehow in the human body, a new kind of Frankenstien’s monster, a machine man. My belief is the transformation will be founded on a more ancient pattern, the eternal ground of God. We both could be right.

“Come let us build the ship of the future in an ancient pattern that journeys far. Come let us set sail for the always island through seas of leaving to the summer stars … Scattered we were when the long night was breaking but in the bright morning converse again.” (The Circle is Unbroken by The Incredible String Band)