Our new 114th Congress took their oaths of office yesterday. These were some of the words in that oath... "I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same..." What was going through their minds as the oath was read? How many actually concentrated on the words and not the tradition?
A number of years ago I was confronted with a dilemma. I was to make a profession of faith, with certain vows, to become a member of what is now the church I am a member of. I looked forward to professing aloud my faith in Jesus Christ to the entire congregation, but I more than hesitated in agreeing to the vows, for I was to use the words 'I promise' five times. I can promise many things, things that I am quite certain that I can fulfill, but the promises in these vows required something greater than I perceived myself alone capable of. My membership was delayed for quite some time as we prayerfully sought an answer to my concerns. The result was that it was read to me, and I repeated... "Through God's grace....I promise." The addition of "Through God's grace" satisfied my concerns.
I do not have a problem with the vows as they stand in our church. The problem was in my supra sensitivity to making a promise in such great matters. Maybe this is so because I had broken so many promises in my life? I may have jury duty soon and if I do, there would be no one in that room taking the oath more seriously than I will. The following few paragraphs are taken from a 2012 post:
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.
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 look beyond the legal ramifications to what the signers of the Declaration of Independence referred to as... sacred honor?
God knows us more than we know ourselves. Therein is the key. To the politician, to the lawyer, to the juror or witness....whether it be an oath or just a statement to another person, we should know that God records our words. Herein would be 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 was meant, for how can one consider the Constitution to be a 'living document,' its meaning subject to change through time and personal preferences, and then take that oath? For the intent of the writers thereof is not subject to the readers interpretation.
A number of years ago I was confronted with a dilemma. I was to make a profession of faith, with certain vows, to become a member of what is now the church I am a member of. I looked forward to professing aloud my faith in Jesus Christ to the entire congregation, but I more than hesitated in agreeing to the vows, for I was to use the words 'I promise' five times. I can promise many things, things that I am quite certain that I can fulfill, but the promises in these vows required something greater than I perceived myself alone capable of. My membership was delayed for quite some time as we prayerfully sought an answer to my concerns. The result was that it was read to me, and I repeated... "Through God's grace....I promise." The addition of "Through God's grace" satisfied my concerns.
I do not have a problem with the vows as they stand in our church. The problem was in my supra sensitivity to making a promise in such great matters. Maybe this is so because I had broken so many promises in my life? I may have jury duty soon and if I do, there would be no one in that room taking the oath more seriously than I will. The following few paragraphs are taken from a 2012 post:
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.
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 look beyond the legal ramifications to what the signers of the Declaration of Independence referred to as... sacred honor?
God knows us more than we know ourselves. Therein is the key. To the politician, to the lawyer, to the juror or witness....whether it be an oath or just a statement to another person, we should know that God records our words. Herein would be 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 was meant, for how can one consider the Constitution to be a 'living document,' its meaning subject to change through time and personal preferences, and then take that oath? For the intent of the writers thereof is not subject to the readers interpretation.
