The idea that trust is an important component, in leadership, in marriage, in parenting, and many other parts of our lives is not new news.

But it seems to have taken on a new dimension in our hearts and minds today—or at least, its absence has.

When institutions lie, it takes just a moment to destroy what it has taken years, even decades, to build. Why is there so much vaccine hesitance? Because the Covid epidemic was cluttered with authoritative statements that proved later to be false, uniformed, or not backed by science, and therefore, lethal, resulting in the destruction of our trust in foundational health institutions that we once thought of as oracles and now have become pariahs.

There is much to be concerned about: corporations that provide misleading labeling or usage advice, food companies that purport to promote health but actually make us sick, websites that advertise one thing but sell something else, governments that promote false narratives, pastors that do not live what they preach, corrupt scientists that publish bogus research, and let’s not even talk about scammers and hackers who make the Internet untrustworthy and our lives miserable. The evidence is endless.

As our society becomes more and more roiled by false narratives, shaky science, dubious social media messages, political spinning and spurious theories, deflection from obvious science or evidence, as well as entrenched polarization, it becomes harder for us to trust those bastions of authority that have guided us for so long.

So what can we do? Well, of course, we can expose and challenge lying and corrupt organizations, government and instituions, and all of us have a responsibility to do so.

More important though, is to look at ourselves. Let’s start at home. “Am I trustworthy?” “Do my friends and family trust me?” “Are my actions and words authentic?”

Even while we criticize the untrustworthiness around us that causes us to be hesitant and question the wisdom of our decisions, we can, at the same time, start by modeling the virtues we believe in, that are centered in our hearts, and that we don’t see being practiced around us. Let’s model the behavior we wish to see in others and set the standard that we want those in power to emulate. Let’s vote for trustworthy politicians, seek out, work for, and buy from, trustworthy organizations, let’s ask challenging questions of power and authority. When the bar is set low, we can be suckered into doing the same. Let’s not do that. As Gandhi so famously said, “We need to be the change we wish to see in the world”, and Francis of Assisi said, “Always preach the gospel, and where necessary, use words”.