Vow. A powerful word. Stronger than promise. Promises are made to be broken. A promise to God. Not to be taken lightly. A broken vow is a tragedy.
Vows are most often associated with marriage. My wife and I declared our vows in 1968. We promised "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and to obey, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth." Except we didn't include the "obey" clause. We felt this implied an unequal partnership and a surrender of individuality. Maybe so, maybe not, but 50+ mostly happy years we are together and still love and cherish.
We were married young, many thought too young, and we were not exactly flush with cash. So we chose to get simple gold bands to exchange. We decided to engrave a meaningful bible verse on the inside of the bands. In part, because both our mothers were named Ruth, we chose Ruth 1:16 KJV "... wither thou goest, I will go". However, the engraver inserted a typo - a single little letter and the engraving became: ".. whether thou goest, I will go". We had a good laugh. We each wonder if it was other's doing. However, in hindsight I think this reinforced our partnership and agreement to collaborate and not blindly follow. It's worked out pretty well.
Now days, the word "vow" seems to be thrown around haphazardly in all kinds of contexts and has lost its solemn imperativeness. I find this troubling.
Copyright © 2019 Dave Hoplin
Congratulations on 50+ years of marriage! There are fewer and fewer in this 50+ club as years go on. It is something to be very proud of - that both partners stayed true to those vows uttered so many years ago. Blessings to both you and Carol.
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