So... I can trust no one... but does that lead me to live in fear and hiding? Must I become a hermit or constantly live with attitude of self-defense? Not at all. This is because there is one Person that I can completely trust, and that is our triune God.

Forgiveness of sins has been partnered with repentance and baptism from the days of John the Baptist. On Easter night, the Risen Lord breathed on the apostles and promised: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld" (John 20:22b-23).

But as bad as I may have it, nothing compares to the indignity which Mary and Joseph endured, traveling 90 miles in a late term pregnancy to be enrolled (taxed in the King James), or the burden which first century Jews bore paying taxes to a foreign empire, all so that some semblance of peace could be imposed on them.

Jesus teaches us to ask for the simple basic things of life -- food, forgiveness, guidance, deliverance from evil. It expresses our dependence. We depend upon God our creator for each breath and for each day's food. But such a request offends our pride, our longing for self-sufficiency, our hubris. Swinburne expressed this attitude when he wrote: "Glory to Man in the highest, for Man is the Master of things."