CROSSED FINGER PROMISES

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“CROSS MY HEART and hope to die; stick a needle in my eye.” Do you remember that? It’s about like making a deal with Iran or China!  Or, do you remember King’s X? That’s when you have your fingers crossed. You really didn’t mean it!

But Matthew 5:37 is not talking about politics or companies. It’s talking about me. “Simply let your ’yes’ be ’yes’ and your ’no’ be ’no’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” For instance, people used to swear on a Bible. Then some went beyond that to “swearing on a stack of Bibles”, or “swearing on my mother’s grave.”

Well, can anything get crazier?  Yes, it can.  St. Louis County councilwoman, Kelli Dunaway,  swears into office on a Dr. Seuss book being held by her two children!

When your word is conditional on anything, you can find compromises that can be made, or you can find extenuating circumstances that can get you by. One of the characteristics in Psalm 15 for a person who dwells in the Lord’s sanctuary, is that the person keeps his word even when he “swears to his own hurt.” That’s not to say that there are never “extenuating circumstances” but even then it is imperative that we are sometimes seen as a “stand-in” for God.  We should behave in accordance with giving honor in the name of the Lord and, as much as possible, let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and our ‘no’ be ‘no’.

About oneta hayes

ABOUT ME Hello. To various folks I am Neat’nee, Mom, Grandma Neta, Gramma, Aunt Neta, Aunt Noni, Aunt Neno, and Aunt Neto (lots of varieties from little nieces and nephews). To some I’m more like “Didn’t you used to be my teacher?” or “Don’t I know you from someplace?” To you, perhaps, I am a Fellow Blogger. Not “fellow” like a male or a guy, but “fellow” like a companion or an adventurer. I would choose to be Grandma Blogger, and have you pull up a chair, my website before you, while I tell you of some days of yore. I have experienced life much differently than most of you. It was and is a good life. I hope to share nuggets of appreciation for those who have gone before me and those who come after me. By necessity you are among those who come after me and I will tell you of those who came before. Once upon a time in a little house on a prairie - oops, change that lest I commit plagiarism - and change that “house on the prairie” to “dugout on the prairie.” So my story begins...
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3 Responses to CROSSED FINGER PROMISES

  1. we are a people of white lies—while some members of our senate and congress refuse the Bible–opting for the Koran…or as we now see, Dr. Seuss…would Theodore Geisel be proud or not…

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