Oaths, or what we swear by

After Matthew 5:33-37 

Oaths, those words we speak

to intone, solemnly, the truth

of what will usher forth

from our mouths, pose 

a problem: they’re facilitated

by those organs of artifice

and falsehood, otherwise 

known as tongues.

 

We utter oaths to God,

Under God, as God is

our witness, and with

help from God. But then,

here he’s saying no

to oaths sworn to heaven,

no to oaths sworn to earth

(one’s a throne, the other’s

a footstool), and no to oaths

sworn on the basis of our own

self-described credibility and

expert opinion. 

 

Instead, consider the idea 

of no spoken oaths; let yes 

be yes and no be no. And 

instead, part two: live 

your life so that you’re

a living oath, a living testimony,

and no one needs to question

how truthful you are, or aren’t.

 

Photograph by Anna Sullivan via Unsplash. Used with permission.

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.