Promise?

"Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’"*

As I say goodbye to friends and family there is one thing in common with them all, a promise to stay in touch! I'm usually pretty good at keeping in contact, it's made especially easy with internet and social networking sites! But I don't just leave it at that promise, somehow each time people ask for me to stay in touch I promise that I will write them a postcard. This is a great idea, and would work splendidly, if I actually wrote down a list of everyone I was making that promise to and their addresses!

I have also promised a few friends that I will catch up with them before I leave, and as the days until I leave shrink I wonder how it's all going to work... but I will try to make sure it does! I have also promised people that when I get back we will catch up -how I am going to remember all this in my head I have no idea! But yes, I have made a lot of promises to many different people in the last few days and weeks. I hope some of my friends will remind me of my promises, so that I can keep them.

Nevertheless, it has got me thinking about promises and carrying them out. And the quote from Jesus above came into my mind. If I say 'maybe' is that actually yes or no? In some cultures -e.g. where I grew up in Tanzania- it means ‘yes’, in other cultures -e.g. in Australia where I live- maybe really means ‘no’. And if I say 'yes' but don't do it, I am letting people down! The context in which Jesus says those words suggests that we should avoid promising on anything that we cannot control or that doesn't really belong to us anyway.

Yet I know that a broken promise is hurtful. When someone says they'll pay you back, and it takes them a little longer than they said, it can put a strain on your trust. When someone promises to help set up or volunteer for something, and are late or forget, that can be frustrating. When I promise mum to help clean up the kitchen and then forget, it's disappointing. Even when I promise myself I will eat less, or walk more, or keep my room tidy, and then I don't do any of those things... It's disheartening!!

I guess part of being human means we are not perfect, and can't do everything we say or hope to achieve. We will let one another down. But that doesn't mean we should stop making promises! I think they help deepen friendships, build trust, establish an understanding, and enable partnership.

One of my favourite board games is RISK. It is played on a world map and each player has an army and a mission to capture certain parts of the world -or achieve world domination! Promises are essential to the game's functioning, in the form of alliances and treaties. I promise not to attack my neighbour on one side for 3 turns, so that I can focus on a different opponent, for example. Yet, in the world of games, part of the strategy -sometimes- is to break those promises while the “enemy/ally” is unprepared and vulnerable! Yet, I do not think that in real life one can or should use strategy as an excuse for breaking promises! Nor is it right to take advantage of people who are vulnerable or unprepared!

It reminds me of the lines of a song I sing in church, "And so we know that Your promises are sure"**. Even if I can't keep my promises, I know that there is one who can and does.  

"For no matter how many promises God has made [and he has made a lot!], they are “Yes” [answered] in Christ."*** 

God knows and commands the future, and so He can make promises and fulfil them. Christmas is an exciting time where I remember that God does fulfil promises.

So I will try and do what I have promised, and if (rather, when) I fail, please forgive me. I won't promise on anything that I can’t control, but say honestly: 'Yes, I will’ to the things I can, while “No, I won’t” to things I don’t plan to do. Letting my yes be yes, and my no be no, and trying to avoid the 'maybe' which is just confusing!

*Matthew 5:37

**'Thanksgiving' by Rob Smith 1988 (http://au.emumusic.com/thanksgiving)

***2 Corinthians 1:20