Oath: A Matter of Expectations

To begin this post in kind of a cheesy way....an oath can be defined in a couple different ways which are contrasting:
#1: an oath is a formally affirmed statement or promise accepted as an equivalent of an appeal to a deity or to a revered person or thing;affirmation.
#2: an oath is also considered a swearword or curse

These two opposing definitions I find interesting because every one of us took an oath to their respective chapters, many of which pledge to live by their ideals for the remainder of his/her life. Can an oath be in a way setting your own fate? Destiny? Or not even relevant to either of those two options?

Summarizing a line out of TriDelta history/purpose/statements: ...it does not give you the right to, in any way, make you higher or greater than anyone else, but it does give others the right to expect great things from you.

I feel this encompasses an oath really well because although, like rituals, pledges, purposes, etc..they are more sacred/secret/really only understood by the specific members, but to outsiders they do expect great things from us when we publically acknowledge and allign ourselves with a specific organization.

For example, let's make a list for everything that you take an oath or promise to/in:
-court, spouse, fraternity/sorority, other relevant organization, the President, many officers & leadership postions that transition new members, contracts in general, etc..


By agreeing to the terms and conditions set out that you promise to abide by, others are entitles to think higher of you and expect more things out of you. We expect the President of the US to take care of the nation as a whole. The Greek community expects us council exec's to keep everyhting running smoothly, to expand Greek Life, to make it better. Other TriDelta's expect me to abide by our purpose and everything else that we stand for and want our members to emulate on a daily basis.