Good Faith in People

“How are you?”

“Hmm…I am doing OK, if I don’t think too much about it.”

This is an unsatisfying if honest beginning to a potentially good conversation. I know, because one of the best conversations I’ve had “post November 5, 2024” began this way.

Many of us may be feeling very “not OK”.

In an America where polite greetings include the incredibly curt “How are you?”, seldomly followed by enough time to answer that question honestly, finding time to sit down and chat seems more necessary than ever.

Let’s do that.

Meet more in person with everyone, especially those closest to us.

Pay more attention to the relationships that sustain us and to those around us who need sustaining.

Jews sum up all of Judaism in many ways, one of those central teachings that I have felt and aimed for is:

“In order to care for the world, we must start with ourselves, our families, and our communities.”

I don’t have a citation for this, it may be my own digest of several rabbinic aphorisms. I like to think of it as a Jewish communal version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – we can’t take care of anyone else if we aren’t taking care of ourselves first. Like the instructions to put on our own oxygen masks before helping others.

Let’s go back to basics. And when we do that, see what we really need and the people around us really need. Let’s focus on those fundamental needs for ourselves. When we do that, let’s see ourselves as interconnected with a whole lot of other people with fundamental needs. Everyone’s got them.

I don’t know what will work for all of us going forward.

I do know that caring for one another, listening to each other, and believing each other when we say what we’re feeling and what we need, is the start of good faith in each other, and maybe the beginning of a community of people working in good faith with one another.

It’s a start.

I am ready to meet you and go with you into a better future together.