A promise. A vow. A pledge.
It isn’t new to feel compelled to take extra steps beyond your spoken word to ensure the security of a promise.
In today’s culture, a pinky promise, is the entwining of the pinkies of two people to signify that a promise has been made.
Jesus had to tell his culture that they didn’t need to add to their promises to make them more valid.
Matthew 5: 33-37 “And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong. The Message
I made a promise to Gary before a community on March 21, 1987. These marriage vows although spoken by others through centuries were still mine and deeply personal commitments.
Hearing them, reading them, speaking them reminds me not just of my wedding day, but also of a daily challenge and struggle to let my yes be yes and not to manipulate any promise to get my way.
We are all broken personally and in community when a word is broken, when a promise not kept especially a marriage vow, it is devastating.
May our yes be yes and our no be no. No pinky promise needed.