Ki Inspiring Thoughts

          According to the dictionary, the definition of loyalty is faithfulness to commitments or obligations or alternatively faithful adherence to a government, leader, or cause. This weekend is our annual Center for Humane Living martial arts camp, Camp Chaos and this year the theme of our camp is loyalty. Dr. Foley has encouraged all of us to formulate our own definition of loyalty. I would like to share with you a couple of stories which I hope will help you formulate the meaning of this important virtue within your mind and soul.

            The first story is the tale of Sir Ernest Shackleton who is the English explorer who made it his life's goal to travel to the South Pole and explore the continent of Antarctica. He led several expeditions to Antarctica but to his disappointment was not the first explorer to reach the South Pole. In 1914 he set out on an expedition aboard a ship called the Endurance with plans to trek across the entire eighteen hundred mile continent of Antarctica. On December 5th he and 27 hand picked crew members departed from South Georgia Island headed for Antarctica. After six weeks of navigating rough seas, just one day away from Antarctica, their ship was trapped within an ice pack from which it would never be freed. For the next ten months, Shackleton and his crew attempted to free their ship without success and in late November shortly after abandoning the ship the Endurance was crushed by the advancing ice and sank. For the next five months, the men lived in small tents on the ice hoping to find open water so they could escape in the three lifeboats that had been salvaged from the Endurance. Fifteen months after first becoming trapped they were able to set sail on open waters in their lifeboats and ended up on an isolated island called Elephant Island. One week later, Shackleton and five of his best men set sail in one of the lifeboats on a journey of over eight hundred miles through some of the most violent water in the world in an attempt to return to South Georgia Island. This tiny boat and his crew sailed for seventeen days through hurricane and raging seas before they arrived at South Georgia Island. Unfortunately, they reached land on the opposite side of the island from the whaling station from which they departed so Shackleton and two of his men traveled thirty six hours by foot over glacier-covered mountains in order to reach the only civilization on the island. The day after they reached South Georgia Island, Shackleton and his two senior officers set off in a whaling ship to rescue the rest of their crew from Elephant Island. After three failed attempts to reach the island due to rough seas and ice, Shackleton borrowed a steamer boat from the Chilean government. Finally on August 30th, Shackleton arrived back at Elephant Island and rescued all of his men. Not a single man was lost during this dramatic twenty month expedition. Sir Ernest Shackleton had remained loyal to his men to the very end. His Captain, Frank Worsley, said regarding Shackleton, "Behind his every calculated word and gesture lay the single-minded determination to do what was best for his men."

            This unbelievable story illustrates an extreme example of the self-sacrifice that the virtue of loyalty is built upon. When we practice loyalty we must be willing to have the courage to stand firm on our convictions and be faithful to the people, organizations or principles to which we are obligated.

            The second story is about Easy Eddie, who was the lawyer for the infamous American gangster Al Capone. Because of Easy Eddie's skill, he was able to keep Al Capone out of jail for many years. To show his appreciation, Al Capone paid him very well, provided him with a residence that filled an entire Chicago City block and supplied Eddie and his family with all of the conveniences of the day. For many years, Easy Eddie provided for his wife and son by defending Al Capone when he was in trouble with the law but eventually the law caught up with Easy Eddie's client. It was at this point, that Easy Eddie had to make an important moral decision. He decided that doing the right thing was much more important than all the financial rewards that Al Capone had given him. He then chose to cooperate with the authorities in order to try to rectify the role he had played in Al Capone's rein of power. In order to accomplish this, he would have to testify against Al Capone and he knew that Al Capone, in response, would do his best to have him killed. Despite that fear, what he wanted most of all was to be a good example for his son. So he testified against Capone and within the year, he was shot and killed on a lonely street in Chicago.

            Years later, during the course of World War II there was a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. During one particular mission, the pilot realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank and that he would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. As he was returning to the aircraft carrier, he could see a squadron of Japanese Zeroes heading toward the fleet to attack and with most of the fighter planes gone, the fleet was almost defenseless. He had the only opportunity to distract and divert them. Single-handedly, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes and attacked them. The American fighter planes were rigged with cameras, so that as they flew and fought, pictures were taken so pilots could learn more about the terrain, enemy maneuvers, etc. This pilot dove at them and shot until all his ammunition was gone. Eventually, the Japanese squadron took off in another direction, and he and his shot-up plane limped back to the carrier. When he told his story, many did not believe him, but the film from the camera on his plane confirmed his heroics. He was recognized for his actions by becoming The Navy's first Ace of W.W.II and the first Naval aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. Years later, the airport in his hometown was named after him. The heroic fighter pilot's name was Butch O'Hare and his father was Easy Eddie.

          Even though some of the facts surrounding these stories are debated, the stories serve as good examples to discuss the virtues of courage, obligation, loyalty and justice. Loyalty is the quality of showing faithful allegiance to one's lawful government, to an individual, or to a cause or ideal to which an obligation is due. The definition of justice is the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action according to the law or a moral obligation. Justice simply put, is knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing to do the right thing. Living according to the principles of loyalty and justice requires strong moral courage.

            In the first example, for most of his life, Easy Eddie was "loyal" to Al Capone and carried an "obligation" to him for the material possessions that Al provided for him in exchange for his expertise as his lawyer. Ultimately, Easy Eddie was faced with a very difficult moral dilemma. He had to decide between continued "loyalty" to Al Capone, or doing the just thing by testifying against Al Capone, which would put his life in danger. As history shows, Easy Eddie made a decision that can be looked on as just and exemplifies loyalty to his country and his family.

            However, the reason that he found himself in the middle of a moral dilemma was that he had chosen to be "loyal" and carry an "obligation" to Al Capone, who was clearly not an honorable man. Therefore, another important lesson to be learned from this story is that we should choose to be loyal to and carry obligations only for honorable individuals, causes or ideals. Secondly, we should look at every decision from the perspective of justice. No obligation fulfilled is honorable if the act of fulfilling it creates an injustice. Lastly, even in the most difficult decisions, we should have enough moral courage to carry out our convictions.

           In the second story, clearly Butch O'Hare exemplified loyalty to his country and his comrades aboard his home base aircraft carrier. He showed tremendous moral and physical courage by making the just decision to risk his own life in an attempt to save the lives of others. Many believe that this great hero would not have acted in the manner he did without the example of his late father, who gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life, to teach his son these ideals.

           Although all of us make mistakes and do not always act according to the warrior values of loyalty, justice, obligation and courage, we should continue to identify these decisions within our own lives and strive to improve our adherence to these virtues. This is the true essence of the honorable warrior, continuous improvement.

KAIZEN!!!!