An elegy for oaths

After Matthew 5:33-37

 

Continuing the successions

of “you have heard it said,”

he now turns to the subject

of oaths. It sounds confusing,

at first; one wonders if

all oaths are to be set aside.

The “you have heard it said”

refers to the familiar practice

of sworn testimony; how could

it not be among the contentious

and litigious? But it’s more

than that. Oaths, in fact, are

not about words. And how can

that be? An oath is spoken;

of course it’s about words. 

But consider that it may not be

about words at all, or shouldn’t

be. What if it’s about actions, 

about what you do? What if

your life is to be lived as

an oath, a testimony that

stands on its own, without

the need for words? What if

an oath is what you do, not

what you say?

 

Photograph by David Veksler via Unsplash. Used with permission.