Personal Commitments: Beginning, Keeping, Changing

Revised edition of a classic text long out of print--a moral analysis of making, keeping, and breaking personal commitments.

In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Farley explores how commitments, rooted in the story of God s love, are acts of free choice and love that yield a claim. Farley s reflections are also rooted in the concrete experiences of people who strive to be faithful to what they have claimed to love: My concern is to name something that I think is, after all, common to all of our lives an experience, a reality, perhaps a problem, a challenge, something that is sometimes a source of joy, sometimes a cause of tragedy.

In eight short chapters Farley explores the nature and meaning of commitment as it is played out in our lives, addressing love, fidelity, a sense of obligation, and covenant. She also reflects on whether each commitment must be kept, and what we should do if, despite our best efforts, our commitments break down.