Friday of week 7, II

Solemn oath

Mark 10:1-12

Among Filipinos, we are not fond of relying on our oaths.  We sometimes say, "I'm coming" but we don't.  We say, "I'll give a solemn promise" but that promised gets nailed down.

But there is one Tagalog word that somehow encapsulates the real meaning of oath.  The word is "Bahala".  It is a shorter word for "Bathala"  which means "God".  When we say, "Bahala na", we're actually saying that we are letting God take over our lives because His word will be fulfilled.  But when we say "akong bahala", we're actually going back to the corrupted notion of an oath.  For an oath, to be binding, needs a divine witness; and only God is our witness.

So stop giving solemn oath unless we mean it.  Let us leave it entirely to God to bless our solemn promise.


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