Trust and Faith

…and the power of a little moon magic

Photo by Sven Brandsma on Unsplash

I’ve been in a funk lately like I’ve never been in before. It felt like I had fallen into a hole I didn’t know how to get out of. So many things—our political situation and a few family situations—are causing me stress and overwhelm.

Then, one night last week, I found a way.

Let me explain something first – and then I’ll share what happened.

I’ve often thought that trust and faith are two words that say the same thing.

Last Thursday, I realized they are shades of the same thing but are different – at least to me.

Trust comes up often in my relationship coaching and when Rich and I co-lead couples’ retreats.

My experience has shown me that trust is hard to get back once it is broken by another, especially when the situation concerns something or someone we care deeply about.

I can trust someone because I have some reason to. When I look directly into their eyes, there is a glimmer, confirming that I can trust them. Something there tells me that when they say “Trust me,” I can. Or perhaps I do have some sort of proof I can. Maybe they have shown me in some way – with their behavior – that I can trust them. There is something there - some element that allows me to trust them.

This is why it is so hard to regain trust when it has been broken. The hurt of the mistrust lurks underneath, and it’s hard to let it go. In most cases, the experience of the pain and hurt of the mistrust lingers.

Faith, on the other hand, for me is bigger than trust. Maybe because faith is often associated with religion, we have been conditioned to have faith that something will happen or has happened. There is little “proof”. We have to believe in it. Or we can have faith in someone or something when we have no real reason to. We just do. We believe.

Faith feels a bit blind to me. We may not have any “reason” or “proof” to put our faith and trust in this person or thing, but we do because of our strongly held beliefs.

These two words came to me last Thursday night after I woke up 15 minutes before the alarm I had set before I went to bed .... (Another question for us to answer at some point is why is it when I set the alarm to get up at a time I usually wouldn’t --- I wake before the alarm? Now, if I only had trust (or faith), I would wake up at that time….I may not need the alarm … )

Anyway, it was 2:10 a.m., and I grabbed my slippers and robe and went out into the chilly early morning night to look up at the moon. I had heard there was supposed to be a lunar eclipse, and I wanted to see it.

There it was. Luckily, the sky was clear. Stars were out, and the moon was up above me, full and bright. I stood on my porch and watched the moon slowly become covered until it was a sliver, and its shadow became an orange globe glowing in the dark sky.

An image I captured during that moment of awe. L. Riedman 3/14/25

Whenever I look up into the night sky, I feel insignificant. It reminds me of how small we all are and what a miracle it is that I am here, on earth, living my life, and there is a whole universe out there beyond us. That there is something so much greater than me... than us.

Last night, watching this miracle before me—watching this lunar eclipse unfold slowly right before my eyes in its beauty and grace—I gained a larger perspective that I believe will help me overcome this depressive and anxious funk I have been living in for the past few weeks.

As I returned to my warm bed and snuggled in the covers, the words faith and trust came to me. I realized then that the facts, as I saw them, make it so hard to trust that things will be OK.

Yet, looking at that magnificent miracle of a moon, I realized one thing. I can have faith that things will turn out OK.

So, faith, it is my friends.

Let’s have faith that something bigger than us is at hand.

It’s not that we don’t need to take any action and just put our trust in something larger than us to save us from what we fear may happen. We do need to take action. But having faith that things will get better will help me get out of the inaction of the funk I was in and do something.

I am starting to recognize how I can apply faith and trust to many things contributing to my funk.

Perhaps I can have faith about the future of our country and what is happening politically. Maybe this is one of those times when things may have to get a bit worse before they take a turn for the better. How many times have I heard about people who have faced major life challenges—such as addictions, for example—that when things get to their absolute worst when they hit rock bottom, it is then they find their way back up and rise again?

That gives me faith that we as a country will rise again, too. No matter what side of the aisle we may be politically, I think we can all agree that major things have been broken for some time. Maybe some of our policies need to be undone entirely so they can be rebuilt back up but in a much better way. (Note: I do not happen to believe that the way they are being busted up is the right way, but nevertheless, it will have to be rebuilt.)

Faith and trust also give me hope that perhaps when someone I love very deeply gets a serious medical diagnosis, they do have some aspects of their life they can control, that they do have some agency around it. Maybe they have an opportunity to do the hard work to make healthier choices so they, too, can rise above this challenging situation. Perhaps it is this health scare that will finally push them to ask others for help when it is usually they who rush out to help others.

Faith and trust also help me know that my family will be OK. Whatever struggles we may come up against, together, we will find a way.

Thank you, moon, for showing me the way toward faith and trust.

Before I closed my laptop (after saving the document), I looked out my window to see the moon still there, shining above me.

“Good night, moon,” I whispered.

I trust I will wake up tomorrow (possibly before the alarm). I know it will be a new day, a fresh start, a new beginning.