I Do Solemnly Swear

"I do solemnly swear that I will support, obey and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth and that I will discharge my duties with fidelity with no regard to lucre or profit," I heard these words, or words very similar, spoken a number of times recently as I witnessed our county officials take the oath of office. As I heard the words stated then repeated I was...solemnly....affected! More so because our son also took his oath as he became a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. The Declaration of Independence ends with these words, "And for the support of the Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Have we strayed as a nation from valuing our honor above our lifestyles, our personal security, even our futures? I do not doubt that these fifty-six men meant what they signed onto in this document. I took an oath when I entered the army in 1969 but was too immature to really understand the solemnity of it. I took wedding vows in 1976 and through God's grace I am still united in this gift. More recently, I took an oath as a juror and by this time in my life I felt the weight of the words I had spoken. Christianity itself is grounded on an oath...an oath taken by God alone. He led men of Old Testament times to know the importance of a covenant in order to covenant with them. Today we often witness the repercussions of a broken oath in a courtroom or before Congress, the result being an indictment of perjury, but even here do we go beyond the legal ramifications to what the signers of the Declaration of Independence referred to as sacred honor? When Mitt Romney took an oath in the Mormon Temple that he understood that if he revealed the secret oaths and vows thereof that he would pay with his life, did he believe it? Or was it something between a game and a life and death oath?  Barack Obama took his initial oath of office on the Capitol steps, with his hand on a King James Bible used by Abraham Lincoln.  There were some mistakes made by both he and Chief Justice Roberts that were labelled by some The flub heard round the world. Barack Obama began to repeat the words of Chief Justice Roberts a little bit early which in turn threw the Chief Justice off. After considering the situation, the oath was taken again the next day in the White House, with no Bible. The promise still was to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution. It was said that the first oath of office was valid.... but just in case. The Bible was obviously not important here but what about the meaning of the words? Or was that just protocol? I don't know how many times that while sitting on the beach on vacation someone would walk up and offer a very nice gift if only we gave a few hours of our time looking at a condo. The answer was always "no thank-you." Most recently, at Barefoot Landing in Myrtle Beach, dinner and a show..for two, was offered. There is no way on God's great and wonderful green earth that I am going to buy a condo. I tried to explain this but the response was that the owners fully understand the situation but make the offer anyway; but I'm the only one that fully understands the situation so the answer still has to be no thank-you. I can't take a quarter left in the change slot of a candy machine.  God  knows us more than we know ourselves. Therein is the key. To the politician, to the lawyer, to the juror or witness, to the groom...whether it be an oath or just a statement to another person, we should know that God records our words. Herein is but one step in America's recovery, that our elected and appointed leaders take that oath very seriously, and also in the vein that it is meant. How can one consider the Constitution to be a living document and take that oath? For the intent of the writers thereof is not subject to the readers interpretation. In this primary season, it might be very helpful to ask each and every candidate to express their opinion on the solemnity of the oath of office that they would take, and to expound on their opinion for it is not a question that can be answered in only a few sentences.