Lent 07: Day 20 – Commitments and Honor

We are half of the way through our journey, and I will tell you that it has been tough keeping up with the demands of posting. However, I love blogging and blogs. The Internet has given us all chances to read the thoughts of many of the great writers and thinkers of our age. Just a moment ago I read a post from the Chicago Boyz blog, written by a group of University of Chicago graduates.

In a posting by Ginny (see, boyz can include girlz), I found this biting analysis.

Words were once commitments – our integrity rode on our ability to live up to those words. This is no longer true – that movie of a half century ago [Caine Mutiny] followed in the path of those like Prufrock, who see their lives as revised and revised again. We are not committed by our vows, by our loyalties, by our words.

Think about it. The U.S. Constitution, the Bible, these are words that were once commitments, not so any longer. Yes, they both get lip service, but in the places where you would expect those commitments to be honored, the halls of Congress and the pulpits of many Christian Churches, everything is revised and revised again.

What kind of love is it that only gives lip service? It is not the kind that gave their lives to be able to write those words on which this country is founded. It is not the kind that went to the cross to purchase life with blood and indelible script written on the heart of those who truly respond with love.

In the world being fashioned by the failure to live up to the commitments of the words we claim to hold dear, a world that accepts revision after revision, what is there left to hold onto? Agape, or better yet the agape of God.

Despite what is done by those who have abandoned the integrity of commitment to vows, loyalties, and the words they profess, we should never forget that God sits eternally outside the protestations of the compromised. His love spans time and circumstance and is not dependent on the manipulations of the irresponsible, but on his own will and testament.

As the world spirals into insanity, hold fast to the agape of God and the words that make it known. God speaks and holds fast to his commitments, honors his vows and his words are the rock on which we stand.

Grace and peace be with you today, my brothers and sisters, grace and peace.

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