--- title: Trust that breaks and takes long to mend — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Trust that breaks and takes long to mend», a lesson of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Trust is like a glass bridge between two people: one lie can crack it in a second, but mending it takes many careful days --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/) / Trust that breaks and takes long to mend # Trust that breaks and takes long to mend Lesson 82 of the religion ethics course of Mova's primary school: 20 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/0/) — Trust is like a glass bridge between two people: one lie can crack it in a second, but mending it takes many careful days. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/1/) — Tom said he was at the park but went to the river, and now Mum wants a text every time he arrives anywhere for a month; it feels harsh, but each text is one rung on a ladder back up. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/2/) — Forgiveness and trust are different: forgiving means letting go of anger and can happen quickly, while trust is relying on someone again and grows back slowly through kept promises. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/3/) — The Bible shows broken trust that was mended: Peter denied Jesus three times, wept, and was given new work by Jesus, "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17), and Jacob and Esau made peace after twenty years. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/4/) — The quickest road back is a full, honest apology with no "but", making amends in deeds, and being faithful in small things, day after day. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/6/) — An old saying goes: trust arrives on foot and leaves on horseback. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/7/) — Peter said three times that he did not know Jesus, then "went outside and wept bitterly" (Matthew 26:69-75; Luke 22:54-62). - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/8/) — After the resurrection Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" and three times gave him work: "Feed my sheep" (John 21:15-17); Peter became a leader of the church. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/9/) — One accident is forgivable, but a pattern of excuses, like "losing" a borrowed thing three times, becomes a trust problem. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/10/) — You can forgive fully and still be careful: Jesus taught to forgive "seventy-seven times" (Matthew 18:22) and to be "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16). - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/11/) — A small debt carries a big trust; Psalm 37:21 says, "The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously." - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/12/) — Jacob tricked his blind father Isaac to take Esau's blessing (Genesis 27); he had to run away, was tricked in turn by his uncle Laban (Genesis 29), and years later Esau ran to hug him (Genesis 33:4). - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/13/) — Proverbs 16:28 says, "A gossip separates close friends": passing on what you were told in trust is a kind of dishonesty. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/14/) — Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy." - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/15/) — Researchers say a good apology names the wrong, takes responsibility, shows you understand the hurt, offers to fix it and promises change, with no "but". - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/16/) — Jesus told of two sons: one said "I will go" to the vineyard and didn't, the other said "I won't" and then went; the second did his father's will (Matthew 21:28-31). - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/17/) — Zacchaeus told Jesus, "If I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount" (Luke 19:8-9): making amends in deeds earns trust back. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/18/) — Slang in this lesson: «sus» means «suspicious»; in Scotland «a quid» is a pound, «the morra» means «tomorrow» and «dinnae fash» means «don't worry»; «gutted» means very upset; in Australia a «bludger» is someone who lets others do the work, and «zip» means nothing. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/19/) — When Leah's dad was a boy he nicked (stole) sweets from Mr Patel's shop; Mr Patel let him work Saturdays to pay it back, and a year later trusted him with the till. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/82-trust-that-breaks-and-takes-long-to-mend/20/) — Ananias and Sapphira kept part of the money from a field and pretended they had given it all (Acts 5:1-11); the wrong was the pretending, not keeping some. - ← previous: [Why honesty matters: trust holds everything together](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/81-why-honesty-matters-trust-holds-everything-together/) - next →: [White lies: the ugly jumper and the bad drawing](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/83-white-lies-the-ugly-jumper-and-the-bad-drawing/) - ↑ back to [Religion ethics](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/)