The Unbreakable Vow

So, I’m doing my usual nighttime routine…watching HP…and one tiny little fantasy blip of a conversation started a roaring avalanche of random thinking in my brain.

The Unbreakable Vow

For those of you who have been in a coma or a submarine for the past decade and haven’t read nor seen any of the Harry Potter series…let me give you a little background on the unbreakable vow.

The unbreakable vow takes place between two parties who are literally bound together by magic. The best way to describe it is to use the actual scene in HP. (And no, I won’t “give anything away” to those of you who have lived under a rock.) Okay, so a student is in danger and his mother is worried sick about him. She and her sister, the student’s aunt, travel to the student’s professor’s house. The professor tells the mother that he is aware of the situation and will do what he can to protect the student. The aunt challenges him to make the unbreakable vow to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the student will be protected. He reluctantly agrees. So, the mother and professor join hands, and the aunt binds them together with magic. The aunt asks the professor, “Will you, Professor, do whatever it takes to keep Student safe?” The professor replies, “I will.” The questions and answers continue until the aunt and mother are satisfied that the student will be thoroughly protected…no matter what. They are so sure of this fact, you see, because the consequence of BREAKING the unbreakable vow…..is death! Of course, the professor doesn’t have a death wish, and he IS dealing with a bone-headed teenager. So, he has to make sure that the bone-headed and strong-willed teenager doesn’t do anything STUPID to put HIMSELF in danger. Are you understanding why the unbreakable vow is such a big deal? I hope so…because I have no idea how to explain it any better than that.  

Okay, so I realize that the unbreakable vow is just part of a fantasy world. But it really got the wheels cranking in this dusty head of mine. What if the unbreakable vow WASN’T fiction? What if there were severe consequences if you broke a promise that you made to someone? Wouldn’t you choose your words and actions more carefully?

Take marriage for instance. Here are some vows that may be read during a wedding ceremony:

(Name), from the moment I first saw you, I knew you were the one with whom I wanted to share my life. Your beauty, heart, and mind inspire me to be the best person I can be. I promise to love you for eternity, respecting you, honoring you, being faithful to you, and sharing my life with you. This is my solemn vow.

Sounds sweet, doesn’t it? Sure it does! However…think about if this was an unbreakable vow. You will DIE if you do not abide by what you have said to this person that you plan to spend the rest of your life with. In this case…I think the marriage vows would read a LOT differently. I imagine they’d go something like this.

I promise to love you…as long as you act loveable and not act like an untrained monkey. I promise to respect you…as long as you don’t act like a fool idiot who doesn’t deserve respect at that moment. I promise to honor you…as long as you don’t make some stupid ass decision without consulting with me first. I promise to be faithful to you…as long as you keep putting out and McDreamy never walks into my house naked, ready to go. I promise to share my life with you…as long as you don’t keel over before me…because then all bets are off. This is my solemn vow.

In all seriousness, it is a bit sad that some people don’t take their vows as seriously as they should. Although, I’m not sure I’d WANT someone loving me or honoring me just because they don’t want to die over it. However, I think we should all use this as a wake-up call. Be careful who you make promises to. Be careful what those promises are. It’s so easy to break vows these days…so easy to “go back” on a promise. I wish we could all take them as seriously as an unbreakable vow, instead of something we say because we only mean them while we’re saying them.

Something to think about, anyway.