Trust

Pamela Alexander
10-1999

Since the settlement of Orren’s divorce this September, there has been only one topic of conversation here at the Farmhouse: a Land Trust. The conversation begins with the first cup of coffee, threads itself through the day until lights out, and sometimes it even extends past lights out, into the small hours of the morning. Every visitor, every phone all, the constant theme and variation. Advice is being solicited, the opinions of professionals is being sought, research is being done, and I feel a bit useless.

My area of expertise, if I have one, is in aesthetics: the look, feel and occasional flash of inspiration. I serve as a sounding board for more sophisticated folks while trying to learn the ins and outs of the whole trust thing, but speaking rather frankly, when I hear the word ‘amortization’ or any of its wealthy brothers, I start looking around to see if the cat urgently needs waxing. (No, animal lovers, I have not yet waxed the cat as a reaction to my fear of real estate language, and I promise that I won’t, until it really needs it.)

But the concept of a trust is intriguing all the same. How to hold the Land of Four Quarters in perpetuity. You know, forever-wow! In this light, the concept of trust becomes real to me. Forget tax structures, forget the 501(c)3 status for just a minute and think about trust.

Trust is never something that is just given, for if it is free, it’s worthless. Trust is an earned asset. Trust is based on experience and knowledge, trust is a way of saying, "I can be vunerable to you, I can take the chance of you hurting me, because I know very well that you will not violate what is between us." Trust is earned when a relationship passes many tests; it is the act of giving the best of who we are and what we have. Trust is sharing the best of the present, with our hopes for the future.

That type of trust is something I can wrap my brain around, tightly. And when I realize that the word ‘Trust’ essentially means the same thing to me that it means to the lawyers, accountants and even the IRS; it becomes no challenge at all to understand the Four Quarters Land Trust. I trust the Church, I hope the Church trusts me, and I have listened and learned enough to know that this time my act of trust giving some money: in trust. So, I gave some, nowhere near as much as many folks have, but enough that it hurt. Because I trust. Because trusting is the building blocks of the future. Trust is the stuff that makes families, and babies, and Churches, and Stone Circles.
And yes, in these things, I trust.