Keeping Promises, Big and Small

The alarm clock went off.

Through the fog, I wondered why I had set it on a Sunday morning. The cool weather my city was experiencing made me feel like shutting it down.

A commitment once given had to be honored. That thought came to my mind, even a simple commitment such as the thumbs-up I had given the previous day on a WhatsApp run group, indicating that I would join the run.

Spurred on by that promise, I made it to the start, barely in time. It was great to meet the small but committed crowd of regulars. As we began the warm-up, I noticed the silent and solid presence of the committee member in charge. It reassured me to see that his commitment to this program for over ten years had never flagged, making it the longest running program of any club in my city.

That day’s route was the reverse of what we normally did. As we took off, I broke into an easy run. My thoughts enveloped me.

So many sights came my way, fellow runners waving, trash thrown by someone on the beautiful Parade Road that I just avoided, a parent dropping his child off for cricket practice at the stadium, perhaps a future Rahul Dravid in the making.

My lack of regular running eventually caught up with me. I had to slow down to a walk briefly. Was this alright? my inner voice asked. You are a runner. Finally, I gave in. Who would notice if I slowed down for a minute, walked, and then resumed running? Just as I did this, a voice called out to me from the cricket stadium opposite. It was my friend, about to lead a group of walkers from another club I also belonged to; they were about to explore the city on foot. He asked me to join them, as did another friend in the group who knew me well. “I can’t,” I told them. “I am on a specific run, and a run started had to be completed.”

I resumed my run and ended at the club, drenched in sweat. Strava informed me that I had covered 7 km, adding the detail that I had closed all my fitness rings every day that week so far. Great!

I then headed to daily Mass, and the first reading from Judges 11:29–39a, the vow of Jephthah, transfixed me. Jephthah had made a vow to the Lord for securing victory over the Ammonites. He told the Lord that if He delivered the Ammonites into his power, whoever came out of his house when he returned in triumph would belong to the Lord, and Jephthah would offer that person as a burnt offering. So gory!

We know what happened next. On his victorious return from the battle against the Ammonites, Jephthah’s only beloved child, his daughter, came out to meet him. He was struck by sorrow and could not go back on the vow he had made to the Lord.

Remarkably, his young daughter asked him to remain true to the vow, only requesting two months to go to the mountains and mourn with her friends. The scripture ends by saying that at the end of the two months, she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed.

As a father myself, I could not imagine such a terrible outcome. Why did Jephthah have to make such a rash vow? Even if he did, why could he not retract his words, or even lie, that the first person he came across was not his beloved only child? And how did his daughter so calmly accept her terrible fate, just to fulfill her father’s words uttered as a vow? There did not seem to be any other instance of child sacrifice in the Bible, even
Isaac’s sacrifice was averted at the last minute.

I struggled to find meaning in these verses.

But we are told that every word in Scripture has a purpose. After much reflection, the lesson that stood out for me was the absolute commitment and faith that both Jephthah and his daughter had to the Lord, sticking to what was promised, come what may.

In our transient digital world, where words are said and taken back so easily, something I have been guilty of myself many times, I was educated by this incident in the Bible not to use my words lightly. To do what I said I would do. Always.

These verses validated the understanding: “It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it." Ecclesiastes 5:5 “Who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind.”  Psalms 15:4 “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words, you will be condemned.” – Matthew 12:36-37

I must not utter any words unless I mean them completely.

Help me, Lord.

(Tom Thomas, a Catholic entrepreneur and writer based in Bangalore, South India, contributes articles to Catholic magazines and media platforms, both in India and abroad.)