Loyalty. We don’t hear too much of this word anymore. But it’s time for it to make a comeback. What precisely is loyalty? Webster defines loyalty as “the quality or state of being loyal; a loyal feeling; a feeling of strong support for someone or something.” Loyalty can be defined as follows:
A willingness to endure difficulty or hardship in the service of another. Loyalty is tested not when goals are being met but when adversity arises. Reality awaits in all its complexity. Events transcend design; circumstance quells intentionality. Loyalty speaks evenly—quietly, forcefully—when rancor and clamor cry out. Loyalty is actually a form of courage, an act of selflessness—the grit and gravel that continue to hold steadfast in a downpour that shows no signs of ever letting up.
The courage, patience, and fortitude to weather the storm. Risk implies uncertainty of outcome. Risk entails tribulation and discomfiture. Risk engenders unease and disquietude. Loyalty encompasses and surpasses risk, recognizes it for what it is, and conquers it. Today we have maps; in the past, ships would set sail with nothing to guide them. In the darkest, roughest, most storm-tossed part of the sea, it was loyalty that enabled them to find their way.
A sense of devotion and allegiance to something greater than oneself. “A person is disloyal if he treats you as a stranger when, in fact, he belongs to you as a friend or partner,” wrote Christian theologian Lewis Smedes. The military has long placed loyalty at the head of its list of values. So have professions; so have friends and families. So have countries. Being loyal is not a choice to be weighed, but a requirement to be followed. Many, perhaps most, social problems can be traced back to a single act of disloyalty.
“To live loyally.” Loyalty is one compass that always points true north. There aren’t many instruments that work well in all kinds of weather, but loyalty does. It’s not a catchphrase to announce or proclaim, not an ornament to trade or bargain away, just a secret to be kept, guided by, and consistently acted upon. You call out to loyalty when you need it most—and there it is, always, no matter what, just patiently waiting.
