Reflection for Today ▶️ ⏹️

Broken Promise, by Brockli on Deviant Art

When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

Making promises is easy, and although our promises are most often made in hope they tend to be kept in fear, if kept at all. It is the same with debt. The interest to which we commit seems low and manageable, but it accumulates. Our life circumstances don't always allow for regular repayment, and the interest accumulates, making the debt harder and harder to pay. Thus so many find themselves indebted for life, visited by the bailiffs who remove all their worldly goods, and in the not-so-distant past even thrown into prison, or workhouses.

So, curiously, while it is now all too easy to break marriage vows, and other social promises, discarding all such responsibility with little or no consequences, try doing that with monetary debt and you'll have the whole force of the law down on your shoulders, and bailiffs breaking down your door and removing your worldly goods. Somewhere, at some time, our priorities for leading an honourable life became very twisted.