I have a lot on my mind these days... too intimate to describe here but I have been thinking a lot about words and actions and how they often are not in sync. I know the power of good but unfortunately, we are not secured from the bad. So I think a lot and try to work through in my head where I stand, who I am, what are my beliefs. Then I have to ask where I stand among the world and sometimes it is lonely. I think about our created world and how even there, when we choose to call ourselves Anachronists, we manage to recreate the bad while espousing the good. How are standards so fluid if they are standards?

And so I think...

Honor:

From the York Town Societ website..."Honor is the defining characteristic of Western Civilization. It determines what a man must do and what he must not do. Honorable actions are inextricably bound up with the Ability to achieve a desired result, the Courage to undertake it and the Constancy to see it through. We say that a man has honor who accepts, as a duty, the responsibility of rendering necessary and valuable service to his own people and the vital interests of his country, and in so doing puts them above his own self-interests. It is the highest aspect of the Code of the Gentleman and is present only in high civilizations. A man or a nation without heroes, has no honor."

From leader-values.com "A state of being or state of character, that people possess by living up to the complex set of all the values that make up the public moral code. Honor includes: integrity, courage, loyalty, respect, selfless-service, and duty. Honor demands adherence to a public moral code, not protection of a reputation."

from lipoet.com "to show respect for; to treat with deference and courtesy"

Chivalry:

from www.cogsci.princeton.edu 1)courtesy towards women (gallantry, politesse) 2)the medieval principles of knighthood

In the midst of all this I am thankful...for those in whom I still believe. For those who still strive. For those who seek to live the ideals they speak.

You know who you are.

And...likely you know who you are not.