I trust you, brother
When you stand at the junction and ask me for money for a ride to Haifa, I give right away, and I don’t make up excuses to myself that it’s for drugs, or that you have plenty of money at home and are only asking because of some mental disorder.
I trust you, sister
When you tell me about your product in the shop, I simply pay without arguing, and even if I paid a few shekels more — I am so glad to support what you do.
I trust you, brother
When you explain to me at the tire shop that the tires are worn down and life-threatening, and recommend replacing all four, I’m glad you care about me, and I don’t think you’re out to make money off me.
I practice innocence. Not the innocence of foolishness, but of conscious choice.
Because one of the deepest and also simplest secrets is this: the world is a mirror.
If I am innocent and loving — whoever faces me will be innocent and loving too.
If I am angry and uptight — those around me will be angry and uptight.
This is true in 95 percent of cases.
And what about the remaining 5 percent, where my innocence will be exploited?
It doesn’t bother me one bit. I only ache for the exploiter, because it means that in the mirror image of his life he will get “screwed over” in 95 percent of cases, while for me — it is only the 5% standard deviation….
Try for a moment to think: which people do you love? The answer is infuriatingly simple: those who love you. When you feel that someone likes you, even if he has every flaw in the world — you will love him. On the other hand, an amazing person who for some reason “ignored you” or gave you a bad feeling — you will immediately find in him every fault.
King David distilled this secret in a beautiful psalm:
With the kind You show Yourself kind;
with the blameless You show Yourself blameless.
With the pure You show Yourself pure;
and with the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
What I project — is what will be projected back onto me.
As water reflects face to face, so does the heart of man to man
I choose to trust people, choose to believe in them, choose to be innocent
