Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Contradictions

I've been posed with a moral and societal dilemma this week. If you think about human nature we are taught two contradicting values. One is to believe in the human spirit and the other is to not trust just anyone easily (especially as a female). Isn't believing in the human spirit trusting that our overall intentions are for the best?

With that in mind, the other night I was out with some of my friends and we met this couple. They seemed nice enough so we gave them some time and attention. A couple of days later they got a hold of us and invited us out for a day at the lake on their boat. I want to trust that their intentions are right but at the same time I have red flags not to trust them. I just met them - I literally know nothing about them. So of course we declined the invitation but that led me to this question. Were they really just being genuine and generous, or was their intent selfish and malicious? I'll never know but it is interesting that these two values are widely accepted and completely in conflict with each other...

Perhaps I'm over analyzing this situation...BUT when it comes down to it I don't think I'm over analyzing the values we are taught to accept...

AND I'll leave you with that for now!! ;)

XO

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I read your social Dilemna and I am running into that all the time. It could be a personality thing. But two thoughts to ponder, one is what would make one think that someones intentions are malicious or lack integrity and the other thing is-something that I've found true is that my instincts are always correct. I believe that if you are in tune with God he does give us signals and we should listen to them. That said, hopefully we both can continue to learn to give people the benefit of the doubt so we don't miss out on good friendships.

Anonymous said...

You simply followed your instincts. You have them for a reason. Wouldn't it be nice if we could trust everyone? Don't feel quilty for wisely discerning the situation.