Swearing Oaths

“Will you swear to be my friend for ever and ever?” demanded Anne eagerly.

Diana looked shocked.

“Why, it’s dreadfully wicked to swear,” she said rebukingly.

“Oh no, not my kind of swearing. There are two kinds, you know.”

“I never heard of but one kind,” said Diana doubtfully.

“There really is another. Oh, it isn’t wicked at all. It just means vowing and promising solemnly.”

“Well, I don’t mind doing that,” agreed Diana, relieved. “How do you do it?”

~From L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables

Anne convinced Diana that this kind of swearing was okay–but, in fact, this was the complete opposite of Christ’s words.

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”

~Matthew 5:33-37

Christ intended that His followers not swear oaths–because He wanted their word to be their oath. He intended that every word from our mouths be truthful, and that we do everything we say we will do.

So what happens when a Christian swears an oath–say, that her hair belongs to her husband, that he can do with it what he wishes?

Then say a dozen years passes and her husband is nowhere in sight.

She’s been doing little with her hair, waiting for that husband to come along and tell her what to do.

Then say a hairdresser friend comes along, points out her split ends, and offers to cut and layer her hair.

What should she do?

She’d sworn an oath, she’d made a vow–not under compulsion, but willingly. Her hair belongs to her husband–the husband she doesn’t have.

How would he have her care for her hair?

And there we have it.

Care for her hair.

Surely he would have her care for her hair. Not leave it to develop split ends and ragged edges. Not ignore it until he shows up to give her cues.

He would have her care for it, right?

And that is why I am resolved. I will take Gena’s offer and let her cut and layer my hair. I will care for it.

Husband of mine, should you wish any different, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Lest any of my readers also be Facebook friends and be fearing that I am making my decision in reaction to a resident’s ill-judged attempt to tell me what to do with my hair (I may not know who my husband will be, but I do know with certainty that it will not be him)–I am not. I had already made my decision and written this post prior to that conversation.

Though it does help to know that at least three of my aunts are in favor of the chop :-)