Good Morning!

An early Saturday, but I'm not going far; I have a rather rare opening shift at the store today. It's also supposed to snow...so it's probably going to be a madhouse. Too bad we did the spring floorset earlier in the week. (No, really!) Where were you in October when we were stuffed to the gills with winter stuff?

But on to the matters at hand.


I've sworn a lot of oaths in my life. Beginning from when I was about 8 years old, with one you might have heard about:



I've spent much of my adult life teaching boys the meaning of these words...things like honor, duty, and the importance of keeping a promise.

Some 30 years ago now, I made another promise to a small group of friends while in high school...men I'm still in touch with today, and the origins of the term "Your Loyal TriSec". This also perhaps kindled my interest in politics; it's a total geek thing, but if anyone is familiar with micronationalism, you might have some inkling what this is about.

The oath I take most seriously, and one that has been a guiding principle of how I conduct myself and my affairs comes from Scouting's honour society...I won't quote the whole thing, but the relevant passage is thus:



Ah, but this is all Scouting, which to many is a world unto itself. As far as I know, the only candidate with any Scouting background was Rick Perry (who is an Eagle), but is no longer playing.

Scouting isn't the only place where there are oaths...I'd have to guess that at one time or another all of us have participated in one kind of promise or another. There's another one that a lot of us are familiar with, and it usually goes something like this:



For many, this is the single most important thing you will do in your life. This is perhaps the only oath among them all that contains the phrasing "till death do us part". No authority gives this Oath; it's one you give freely of yourself, on your sacred honour and trust. This is perhaps the most powerful authority of all.

While I am loath to agree with any Republican candidate on anything, I do have to tip my cap to Mr. Perry again...for during a prior debate he nailed it dead-on:



I take my oaths very seriously. This is something I promise to someone on my sacred honour; this is the one thing that isn't given to me by authorities or even God. These things can take a lifetime to earn, and can be destroyed in an instant. I know how powerful this can be...it's happened to me twice, both times leading to life-changing decisions.

People do many things for many reasons....but things like honor, duty, and trust should be sacrosanct. After all, if something as imposing as "until death do us part" means as little to some persons as it seems to, what hope do we have that another oath might be followed and indeed kept?