Trust but Verify

In an age where data, information, facts, rumors, and ideas unendingly flood our senses, we should hold a Russian proverb close to our souls; trust, but verify.  Some will accept or reject without consideration.  If something fits within one's established parameters, then it is accepted without criticism.  Otherwise, it is rejected without a passing thought.  There is a different approach that we would do well to consider – trust but verify.
When those before us heard about a new idea, like when “Jacob heard there was food in Egypt and sent our fathers to scout it out,” (Acts 7.12) there was a willingness to imagine the possibilities.  Far too often, I believe I know the limitations of what is possible.  People are contained within the box of their historical limitations.  Ideas are constrained by limits of feasibility, acceptance, and probabilities.  Even options are boxed within the norm of society's acceptance.  Life is often seen in black and white even as high definitional color goes unconsidered.
The issue is often framed by the way I see decisions.  I must rank, prioritize, and contrast the choices at hand.  My options are A or B, never both.  My choices are a Y in the road.  Going down the middle is not possible.  Yet, life rarely works that way.  I want it all!  I know, somewhere and somehow within myself, that heaven is possible now.  Letting go of my limits is the start of seeing what might be.  This in turn takes me back to the today's proverb – trust but verify.
With today's dawn, I want to trust that compassion is a gift that I can share with those around me.  I can look to verify, yet first I need to trust.
I want to trust that mercy's importance exceeds that of justice.  I will have opportunities to see how restoring others to their potential can be a better choice than exercising judgment and extracting revenge.
I want to trust that community is my home; being alone is never ideal. 
Trust first, verify by living with God.