Trusting the Fireman

Bernadette Roberts

There is no use talking about trust until we know how much we need to trust. You have to be in a burning house before you can know what it is like to have to trust a fireman. It makes no sense to just sit in a comfortable house and say we trust the fireman – it is pointless.  You have to be a target for somebody's gun before you can say, I trust the policemen or I trust my bulletproof suit. If nobody is aiming at you and you are not in a position to be shot, then don’t talk about that trust. This learning to trust completely is the preparation for living without self, for going beyond self.

A Passage Through Self, DVD