David Brooks, New York Times writer, has recently penned an essay on loyalty that I find very instructive. I would like to share some of his thoughts and make some comments along the way. Brooks’ title initially captured my attention: “Your Loyalties Are Your Life.” In the essay Brooks reflects on two nineteenth century philosophers. The better known of the two is William James. James was a high-class Bostonian who had all the wherewithal to be an impressive public figure. The other philosopher, Josiah Royce, clearly is much less known. I have read a little of Royce’s works, but claim to be not too well-informed.
Brooks’ characterization of Royce, the first major philosopher to come from the west, is an interesting one. Brooks tells us, “He grew up in squalor, was stocky, lonely and probably knew more about despair and the brooding shadows that can come in life.” I like his further picture of Royce. Brooks calls him “tender-hearted” and “spiritual.” Of course this got my attention!
David Brooks is interested in how these two men talked about the good life. Once more, I will follow Brooks’ characterization of Royce, since he is the one Brooks thinks brings the most to the table for our own age. About Royce, Brooks says, “the good life meant tightly binding yourself to others — giving yourself away with others for the sake of a noble cause.” Obviously, we are on a good track, as far as I am concerned. The way Royce is portrayed, the good life turns out to be paradoxical. If you want the good life, give yourself away! This seems counter-intuitive and makes it easy to see why most Americans would dismiss this. If we are egocentric, we certainly don’t want to read this philosopher!
Brooks calls Royce the philosopher of “binding and connection.” And he argues, this is exactly what our country and our age very much need. I agree with the critique that says our individualism and egocentricity have led to fractures in our communities and families. We are a divided country seemingly careening from one crisis to another one. It seems as if we don’t know where we are going and certainly don’t want a bunch of folks we don’t like on the bus with us. Maybe it is time to read some Royce.
Royce ties together the twin themes of meaning and loyalty. That makes some inherent sense to me. He was convinced that “people make themselves miserable when they pursue nothing more than their ‘fleeting, capricious and insatiable’ desires.” Simply put, we can make ourselves sick. We can pursue our own desires and never be happy. That too is ironic.
Brooks brings some interesting details to what Royce offers to us. Loyalty connects us to a cause. And “The cause gives unity and consistency to life. The cause gives fellowship, because there are always others serving the same cause. Loyalty is the cure for hesitancy.” Loyalty to a cause and to others can make us bold. We worry less about risk and failure. In turn this will make us more creative and innovative. Another big gift that loyalty affords us is the gift of community.
The gift of community is probably the most important feature for me. In the work I do with adults and young adults, I find there is a yearning for community. Of course, people find it in different ways: athletic teams, musical groups, sororities, etc. These are all good and do offer a modicum of community and ask for our loyalty. But I am not sure they offer the ultimate level of meaning and community. The ultimate has to do with the spiritual.
It can reasonably be argued this is what churches, mosques and synagogues used to offer. And they do it even today for a smaller group of people. But these religious institutions are just that: institutions. They tend to operate at a level like many other organizations. They ask us to be members. Today’s adults and young adults are not looking for membership so much as a sense of belonging. Membership and belonging might be the same thing, but often they are not. Members don’t necessarily experience community. And membership often divides folks, rather than unite.
I appreciate Brooks bringing me back to Royce. I agree that engaging the process of finding a group or a cause and developing loyalty can become a powerful way to discovering meaning and purpose. And it puts us in the right place to experience belonging and be given the gift of community. Loyalty is healthy because it asks us to get over ourselves. Life is not just about us. Loyalty makes us “other-focused,” instead of “ego-focused.” We are asked to serve and serve again.
Thinking about loyalty causes me to introduce one final element. To become loyal means we make a commitment. I am not sure folks in our contemporary culture make commitments. Or better said, our commitment is to get what we can get out of any situation and then move on. However, to become loyal means making a commitment and sticking with it. It means to serve without thought of what I might get in return. And then, the paradox kicks in. By serving I get more than I imagined.
Ultimately, loyalty is not a concept so much as a way of life.
Brooks’ characterization of Royce, the first major philosopher to come from the west, is an interesting one. Brooks tells us, “He grew up in squalor, was stocky, lonely and probably knew more about despair and the brooding shadows that can come in life.” I like his further picture of Royce. Brooks calls him “tender-hearted” and “spiritual.” Of course this got my attention!
David Brooks is interested in how these two men talked about the good life. Once more, I will follow Brooks’ characterization of Royce, since he is the one Brooks thinks brings the most to the table for our own age. About Royce, Brooks says, “the good life meant tightly binding yourself to others — giving yourself away with others for the sake of a noble cause.” Obviously, we are on a good track, as far as I am concerned. The way Royce is portrayed, the good life turns out to be paradoxical. If you want the good life, give yourself away! This seems counter-intuitive and makes it easy to see why most Americans would dismiss this. If we are egocentric, we certainly don’t want to read this philosopher!
Brooks calls Royce the philosopher of “binding and connection.” And he argues, this is exactly what our country and our age very much need. I agree with the critique that says our individualism and egocentricity have led to fractures in our communities and families. We are a divided country seemingly careening from one crisis to another one. It seems as if we don’t know where we are going and certainly don’t want a bunch of folks we don’t like on the bus with us. Maybe it is time to read some Royce.
Royce ties together the twin themes of meaning and loyalty. That makes some inherent sense to me. He was convinced that “people make themselves miserable when they pursue nothing more than their ‘fleeting, capricious and insatiable’ desires.” Simply put, we can make ourselves sick. We can pursue our own desires and never be happy. That too is ironic.
Brooks brings some interesting details to what Royce offers to us. Loyalty connects us to a cause. And “The cause gives unity and consistency to life. The cause gives fellowship, because there are always others serving the same cause. Loyalty is the cure for hesitancy.” Loyalty to a cause and to others can make us bold. We worry less about risk and failure. In turn this will make us more creative and innovative. Another big gift that loyalty affords us is the gift of community.
The gift of community is probably the most important feature for me. In the work I do with adults and young adults, I find there is a yearning for community. Of course, people find it in different ways: athletic teams, musical groups, sororities, etc. These are all good and do offer a modicum of community and ask for our loyalty. But I am not sure they offer the ultimate level of meaning and community. The ultimate has to do with the spiritual.
It can reasonably be argued this is what churches, mosques and synagogues used to offer. And they do it even today for a smaller group of people. But these religious institutions are just that: institutions. They tend to operate at a level like many other organizations. They ask us to be members. Today’s adults and young adults are not looking for membership so much as a sense of belonging. Membership and belonging might be the same thing, but often they are not. Members don’t necessarily experience community. And membership often divides folks, rather than unite.
I appreciate Brooks bringing me back to Royce. I agree that engaging the process of finding a group or a cause and developing loyalty can become a powerful way to discovering meaning and purpose. And it puts us in the right place to experience belonging and be given the gift of community. Loyalty is healthy because it asks us to get over ourselves. Life is not just about us. Loyalty makes us “other-focused,” instead of “ego-focused.” We are asked to serve and serve again.
Thinking about loyalty causes me to introduce one final element. To become loyal means we make a commitment. I am not sure folks in our contemporary culture make commitments. Or better said, our commitment is to get what we can get out of any situation and then move on. However, to become loyal means making a commitment and sticking with it. It means to serve without thought of what I might get in return. And then, the paradox kicks in. By serving I get more than I imagined.
Ultimately, loyalty is not a concept so much as a way of life.
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