It’s funny, I wouldn’t really have thought that promises, vows, and oaths played that big of a part in our modern, largely secular lives. Oaths seem old fashioned, archaic, don’t they? And my generation is famously ambivalent toward marriage vows. But since working on this issue I see them everywhere: on the news, making for narrative tension in tv shows, in the lament of a friend over a conversation about a broken relationship. Perhaps most poignantly in the discussion of Queen Elizabeth’s coronation oath made nearly 70 years ago. This is what I came to after editing the pieces in this issue of @ploughmag : Our lives take on the shape of the promises we make and keep (or break). So we should think deeply about them, about what they mean, about how to keep them. There are so many good pieces in this issue. Let me give you a taste: “Bring Back Hippocrates” by Lydia Dugdale. Did you know most medical schools no longer take the Hippocratic oath? This essay explores the history of the mythic oath and makes a case for it to be recovered (if amended) in the present day, to help us establish a common vision of moral duty in medicine. “Can Love Take Sides” by Wendell Berry. This is drawn from Berry’s recent (500 page!) book on race in America, arguing against the idea of a “side of love.” “The One Who Promises” by King-Ho Leung. Taylor Swift cares about the making, breaking, and keeping of promises, vows, and oaths, and so do philosophers down the ages, like Philo, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and Giorgio Agamben. “The Adventure of Obedience” by Norann Voll (@norannvoll ). This essay explores a costly promise, an unexpected life in the Outback of Australia, and the fruit it bore. There are so many other beautiful and fascinating pieces in these pages, like Caitrin Keiper’s essay about the promise at the heart of Les Mis, collections of baptismal vows through the ages, an excerpt for GK Chesterton, poetry, and reviews of books that are making us think. You can read all of these online through the link in my profile, or by getting a subscription. Happy reading. May your vows be made good.