Commitment and Trust

Mythmakers of ancient England described a monster in the shape of an emaciated cow called “Chichevache” that ate nothing but faithful wives. The British let that bit of lore fade away as silly, but the Irish menfolk, who kept a tight rein on their wives, couldn’t relinquish the myth that provided a bit of long-lived Irish humor. They claimed the old cow finally starved to death.

Think of the word “commitment,” and then an associated word or idea. Most people respond with the phrase “fidelity in marriage,” or something similar. Doubtlessly fidelity in marriage is a major commitment in our loose-moraled and uninhibited society; a disheartening percentage of married folks have never heard of, or don’t want to hear, the biblical injunction that husbands and wives should “be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Eph 5:20, emphasis mine).

Yet, commitment demands a far wider outreach for most people. It includes hundreds of commitments to such things as child-rearing, income-providing, giving good example to one’s children and to others, one’s parish activities and its financial support, one’s job, maintaining one’s health, providing child support, obligations to vote, protecting the environment, and so on. One often-overlooked commitment is that of striving to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

The theme of trust can hardly be defined without using the word “commitment”--or at least the basic notion. The biblical summary of the entire concept of commitment as trust in the Lord is found in the profound scripturalcounsel: “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act” (Ps 37:5, emphasis mine). You can’t make the matter more succinct and complete than that.

This excerpt is from the book Pathways of Trust, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.