I have been asked what I mean by word of honour. I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick reaching ever so far into the ground and there is a possibility that I may be able to escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honour never to cross it. Can I get out of that circle?
No, never! I?d die first!? (Karl G. Maeser – educator). I use the above quote to make the point that ?our word? becomes an enormous entity in our lives. All we can hope for is this life is to be perceived as people of our word.
Our character develops as we journey. Our word takes on gargantuan proportions as we set our foot on the path of life with friends. We soon learn that we must not give our word foolishly and the great ?Classroom of Life? soon teaches us to discern the difference. As children we often give our word to keep a secret. There are times ? when pressed by a parent about a buddy?s whereabouts ? we suddenly realize that the pain caused by not coming clean about him sneaking off to the theatre, is more hurtful than the pain caused by breaking the promise. Some promises shouldn?t be kept if the foolishness of the promise becomes obvious.
We give our word to our partners in wedding vows and our character is judged each time we stand by those promises ? or not. Likewise in business, our word becomes the personification of who we are. If the business community sees that we are less than honourable in our dealings we soon become tarred with a black brush and the reputation endures.
As a general principal I agree that keeping our word is important but it seems to me that our wisdom of discernment is an equally important part of the equation.
If I had given my word that I would remain within Maeser?s chalk circle, and someone standing just outside it began to molest my child, I would not hesitate to step out to intervene. If I have promised a grandson that I will take him to the show and my granddaughter falls and breaks her arm, is it wrong to break my word so I can take her to the hospital? I think not. There can be extenuating circumstances that dictate that we use our abilities to discern, but I respect the premise ? ?A PERSON IS AS GOOD AS THEIR WORD?.
Your word is as tangible as your home or your business and is as concrete as your faith but you must remember to be kind to yourself ? keep your word in all things of importance ? but allow yourself the latitude to interpret the circumstances and discern the path to take. Begin each day anew and forgive yourself the yesterdays. Be well on your journey as you strive to ?Give ? and Keep? your word.
