Who do we TRUST #BlogElul 5

Yesterday I was seen by 3 different doctors who all looked in my mouth...

• my dentist who took x-rays last week and suggested I see...
• the periodontist who took more x-rays and passed me on to...
• the endodontist who after taking x-rays identified a problem, but wasn't sure it was THE problem that was causing me pain

At the end of the day I was on antibiotics, have a scheduled root canal to retreat a previous root canal, have my fingers crossed that this will actually resolve the situation, and my hand on my wallet hoping I don't need a new crown.

This all left me thinking about the trust we put in medical professionals. I believe that all three of these doctors are good, know what they are doing, and I trust them when they suggest a course of treatment. And they all looked at x-rays and came up with different hypotheses of what was the *root* problem (sorry, couldn't resist).

I consider myself a good google-r, but there is no way that I can amass the knowledge to equal the years of schooling and hours of continuing education that these doctors amass. So, I trust that the treatment they suggest is the way to go. I trust that my dentist trusts the periodontist and so I should pay attention to what he says. Likewise they both agreed that I should see the endodontist, so ultimately I went with his assessment.

As people who live in community, we must place trust in so many people around us - we have to trust the other drivers on the road, trust our teachers, our spouses, our friends. For some of us it is a challenge to open ourselves up to trust and believe in others (guilty). For others it is a challenge to not trust everyone since by being open we can be vulnerable (guilty of that one too).

So as we think about the year that has passed and the year ahead we need to struggle with being confident in who we trust to help us make the best decisions and choose the best course of action...and we need to act so that we are worthy of others trusting us!