Oooh, trust today. Nice one. Trust is a very interesting concept. What do we mean by trust? I’m reminded of those stupid icebreaker games where a person has to let themselves fall and be caught by the people around them.

It’s scary as hell to do things that way, because you never know when somebody might let you down, and then you’ll crash hard. But you still have to let yourself go, because there is no alternative. If you never trust anybody, you will never get anywhere and you will have a tiny, bitter life. That kind of life is not something I aspire to, to put it mildly.

There is something very damaged about people who can’t trust, or who are perennially suspicious. It’s one thing to be careful and to pay attention to the subliminal warning signals, it’s another to assume the worst of the world. Albert Einstein said that the most important question is whether the Universe is a friendly place. I think that the whole question of trust comes down to that. Do we believe that the world is a friendly place?

In the fundamental prayers of Judaism, we do declare that the Universe is a friendly place. We declare that G-d loves us and that we love G-d, and that is the basis of a friendly place, isn’t it? One where we know that there is no evil or malicious intention towards us. How many people go through life believing that everyone and everything is out to get them? Such a sad way to live.

Sometimes in life we do find that we are not in a friendly place, especially if we live somewhere that has a lot of ethnic or religious conflict. Sometimes people will want to kill you because of who you are. It sounds crazy when you put it like that, doesn’t it? Yes, bad things happen to good people. Children die, stupid and senseless violence occurs. Circumstances can be very bad. The question is, what do we choose to do with the hand we are dealt?

While acknowledging that bad things happen that we do not understand, I do believe the Universe in general, or G-d, or whatever you want to call whatever pervades the fabric of our existence, is not malicious. Einstein said so, so it must be true. How’s that for trust?

The heart of that odd concept called The Secret is a trust that the Universe will provide what we very intensely desire. I’m still not sure I believe in actual manifestation, but I do believe that all the opportunities we desire are out there, and it is a matter of noticing when they show up and catching them with both hands, and trusting that the Universe will provide.

In these days leading up to Rosh HaShanah, as we search our souls to try and improve ourselves for the coming year, it’s important to reflect on trust and abundance, and to accept that everything will be there for us, if we truly desire and look for it.