La Cosa Nostra

Many are the times I've felt that I am a member of some venerable secret society. I have lived and breathed it; each family gathering, the signs and questions are exchanged. Our loyalty to the cause is unquestioned and unalloyed. It would therefore be poignantly and mordantly insulting should collateral members, associate members of the grand old association dare to think of me as disloyal.

These would be people who at some deep level just do not understand what it means to be of the Family, of the Cause. They might have tried to make it their own, they might have done much in the service of the House. But they would certainly not be Family. They are likely not of the Cause. Sometimes, one might have cause to worry whether they, at the very least, have even the Faith.

Of course, we invite new members. Of course, we change with the times. It is a matter of the course that all things must take, adhering to the fundamentals (gravity, chemical and physical erosion) while allowing the odd meander and diversion. But sometimes, there are those who just cannot get it, to whom loyalty is a false flag to be replaced with one of their own.

But in the end, our own loyalty to such a cause might be an equally false banner. What should not be forgotten is that the Family, the Cause, the House - the entities whose virtues are sealed in the Badge and the Anthem - obey a deeper and greater covenant. And it is to the Master of the Covenant, eternal and almighty, God of all ages, of all hosts, that we should look. The Family is nothing without allegiance to the Master, and we would do well to remind ourselves of it always.

Community

Over the years, one develops a sense of deep community with certain groups of human beings. Of course, to put up links identifying my older communities might be embarrassing to some people who do not belong, some people who do, or some people who just get easily embarrassed.

Here are two of my latest communities - do check out the work of the NYAS and the SHS.

I strongly believe that all professionals, to be considered so, should be members of their own professional bodies. It's one of the ways you show that you consider yourself not beneath your profession or above it - but part of it as a member of the community of your peers. And to widen your circle of professional bodies or interest groups merely makes you more human a person, more entwined in the fabric of humanity and committed to the tapestry of life.