Learning to trust authority again

I was once honest and vulnerable at work. But at a company I’d rather forget, I was hated for my vulnerability, which is my strength, and my honesty was shaped into a dagger and plunged into my exposed heart. Will I ever be safe to entrust myself to anyone with authority over my livelihood? Or am I consigned to live forever behind a partial mask among those who have power to hurt me?

Dilemmas such as these sweeten the prospect of self-employment, even if it will not free me from fear of harm.

My trust in the steadfast provision of the Father was once sufficient to risk unemployment, even court-martial, to be vulnerable and faithful. But my trust has not grown so fast as the increase of people who depend upon my labor for food and shelter.