Master asked me if I have learned anything about trust. I think he was talking about my adventure earlier this weeks when I had to wait. Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it in terms of trust; I was just being obedient. Now that I think about it, maybe there is something behind the obedience.

When I think about being obedient, I can think of several different reasons that I’ve been obedient in my life. When my mom tells me to do something, I do it because I love her. I know that she asks me to do things because she needs me to. When she smiles and says, “Thank you,” it make me feel good inside. When my dad used to tell me to do things, I did them because I was afraid not to. Dad never said, “Thank you,” when I did what he asked; he just expected me to do it, but if I ever didn’t do what he said, he was quick to punish me. Sometimes I do what I’m told because I know in my heart that it is the right thing to do, like when the priest says that I’m not supposed to kill. It make sense to me to follow that rule.

None of those reasons really explain why I stood in the cold when Master told me to. I like him, but I don’t really love him; not like I do my mom. I’m not afraid of him; he’s never punished me and he’s really old. It also didn’t make a lot of sense to do what he said; why should I wait out in the cold. So there must be something else – maybe it’s trust.

I do trust Master. He seems very wise and always does what he says he will. He is also very smart and has had many exciting adventures. The couple of times I doubted him, it turned out that I was the one who was wrong. I guess I am obedient to Master because I trust him – he always seems to have my best interest in mind.

Most of the time I do what he says because what he says makes sense, but when he asks me to do something that makes no sense at all, then I have to trust that he knows more than I do. I wonder if that is what Master was hoping I had learned about trust. Well, if it’s not, I trust he will let me know that, too.