Jenny quietly climbed up on top of the kitchen counter. Mommy had told her not to get the Kool-aid without her help, but Jenny didn’t want to wait, mommy was too busy giving the baby a bath.
Slowly she opened the cabinet door and grabbed one of the pretty cups.
Silently she climbed down from the counter and made her way over to the refrigerator where she pulled out the pitcher of Kool-aid.
As she poured the sweet red drink into the cup her mommy suddenly walked into the kitchen. Jenny jerked in surprise and the cup slipped from her small hands and tumbled to the floor.
As it landed with a thud, the cup broke into several pieces, along with the trust that her mommy had in her to obey.
Broken trust is not much different than a broken vessel.
Like Jenny’s cup, the pieces may be picked up and glued back together, but the likelihood of it holding liquid again is slim to none. The cup will bear the marks of the fracture and its nature to hold things has changed.
The process of restoring trust requires energy.
Sorrow and repentance serves as glue in the process of restoration, but it isn’t as simple as sticking it together (saying your sorry) and letting it dry (waiting for the hurt to pass) that completes the process. The road to restoration takes time and consistency in reestablishing trust, and requires energy not only from the offending party, but on the part of the offended as well. One has to work at reestablishing trust, it will not happen overnight. Perhaps its designed this way to prove the offenders sincereity. It is the consequence earrned for the pain given. And unfortunantely there are no guarantees of regaining trust from the one offended. the other has to work at accepting their sincerity and honor not to break it while allowing them the opportunity to earn it.
It is better not to drop the cup of trust.
As stated, trust, over time, can be restored if the proper energy is invested in recapturing it, and the other party is open in accepting the effort. But the marks of the fracture may always loom in the background making it fragile and weak. It is better not to dropped the cup of trust then to spend the energy in repairing the fracture and obtaining a weaken state of it.
Trust is a beautiful and valuable open door.
Trust should be treated as a precious gift, valued above gold, diamonds, and rubies. Perhaps if we saw trust in the valuable light that it resides in, we wouldn’t mishandle it, but instead…… cherish it.
Just a thought
Donna
The Path 
Ah, we can all relate to this. Trust may be freely given, but once it is broken you sometimes pay a heavy price to get it back again, and it is never the same.
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You are so right Mark. Once trust has been fractured it becomes fragile and both parties are affected, both have to make a conserted effort towards “restoration”.
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