Semper Fidelis. Let us now have a word about faithfulness- a word that, I fear, has been lost to the ages. What does it mean to be faithful? In my experience, being faithful isn't always easy, in fact it may be one of the most difficult things a person attempts to do. To be faithful to something takes a certain amount of passion and devotion, two things that have the likelihood of fading with time. All too often we start out on a journey of faithfulness (a spiritual high if you will) and in those early days it is easy to stay committed. We have not yet felt the crushing weight of time or the friction of this corrosive world. Our faithfulness comes in the form of pridefulness, devotion, or, most often, duty. The Marine Corps has a slogan: semper fidelis. This simple, Latin phrase is translated to mean, "always faithful." When I first heard this phrase, I was taken aback. Always faithful? As in, forever? That takes a lot of commitment, a lot of patience, a lot of passion. When a person is sworn in as a Marine, they are essentially giving their life to the values and cause of the Marine Corps. Having several family members who have pledged their lives to the armed forces, I knew the gravity of such a promise. You are not only giving up your life in the sense that time is no longer your own, you are pledging to give up your life in an utterly physical sense. Death. What a morbid thought to dwell upon. Morbid it may be, but noble all the same. I often wondered if I could ever find a cause worthy enough to be "always faithful" too. I also used to think that it took a special sort of person to live out such faithfulness, for the cost of it is very high. Sacrifice goes into faithfulness as much as anything else; sacrificing the desires and wants of your heart for the betterment of the whole. Anyone can become faithful to something, that is easy. The difficult part is remaining faithful. It takes patience and determination, and an agreement with yourself that even when the task of being faithful seems nigh impossible and when other people are questioning your wisdom in remaining so, that you stay utterly steadfast. I think of the Marine who, on the eve of battle, his own life a great question, still remains faithful, still remains determined, though sweat and tears may mar his brow and his hands shake as he cleans his gun. Perhaps it does indeed take a special sort of person, someone with a spirit bigger than the world around them. Faithfulness is lacking in the world today, and I am afraid that all too soon it will disappear entirely. I will not be the one to let it wane away. If the Marine on the battlefield can stay faithful to his cause, even when his own existence is being called into question, then so can I. Faithfulness is born of love, and love is something that does not easily die.
“Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them," I said.
"Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.”
-John Green
