21st December 2007 Friday

Do you, Mr/Ms XXX standing here in the presence of God and these witneses, solemnly pledge your faith to Ms/Mr XXX. Do you promise to live with her/him according to God's ordinance in the holy state of matrimony? Do you promise to love her/him, comfort her/him, honor and keep her/him, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, keeping yourself only unto her/him, and through God's Grace to promise to be to her/him a faithful and devoted husband/wife as long as you both shall live

These are the exact same words that a pastor would ask a to be wedded couple in a traditional church wedding. I don't know how many times this question has been asked. I don't even know how many versions of such wedding vows are there out there. And of course I wouldn't know how many have responded "I do" to the above. But what I do know is that more and more people are taking the above to be a whole load of rubbish. I don't know about you. But to me, responding "I do" to the above meant a lifetime of promises and a lifetime of love. If you are unable to keep to a promise, why make it in the first place? Or have your faith in your spouse gradually faded over the years? Or perhaps you made a wrong judgement? Or perhaps you made a too hasty decision, attributing a broken promise to naviety arising out of youth? Why are promises so easily broken, so easily ignored, so easily forgotten? Or perhaps responding "I do" to the above was never meant to be a promise in the first place but just a lousy excuse to finish a long standing tradition? I don't know. And perhaps I never will know.