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For Real The challenge is to make Knighthood real. Some people want to become Knights like they want anything. They add it to their resume and then move to get something else. Others, in contrast, use the title to impress others. Still others treat it like membership to a prestigious club. Why? They can’t help it. They are products of the world in which they live, where values of spirit, personal growth, and the moral principles that underly everything cannot compete with the latest shiny object. Being a Knight isn’t a shiny object to attain. It’s more a question than declaration. It constantly inquires: are you being a Knight right now – in the words you speak, the thoughts passing through your mind? Are you truly dedicated to improving the world not for personal prestige but for its own sake? Forget the word “Knight” for a moment. Are you being a genuinely kind, courteous, responsibly compassionate human being? Are you adding your unique contribution to humanity’s development, rather than waste the incredible miracle that is your life? Think of today’s Knighthood as an ideal to strive for – better yet, your own idealized self, the potential you were born with that nature urges to become. This inner aim (or “telos”), meaning our development for the greater good, as the 1st Trust tell us, defines what the Quest is all about. As human beings, capable of reflective thought, we need to learn and fulfill what the Universe intends. Living our lives for that purpose is a meaningful purpose. Being a Knight means living up to Knighthood’s ideals – not just when convenient but all the time. This is incredibly challenging. That’s why Chivalry-Now encourages us to be “aspiring Knights,” as in ever reaching for that ideal. No room for complacency. The value of the “impossible dream” is found not in the dream but in the inspiration it sparks. Here we find our catalyst for personal change – with modern chivalry offering thousands of years of collective wisdom in the making. In the grand scheme of things, perhaps it’s enough to see the world anew and base one’s life on reason and conscience – as human nature intends. Progress comes faster, however, when we build on a time-tested foundation, which Chivalry-Now painstakingly attempts to be.
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