The purpose of Chivalry-Now is to foster heroic qualities in those who awaken to it. It is a philosophy based on such virtues as truth, thoughtful conscience, civility, and strength of character—but it is also based on deeds. It was never meant to be an armchair philosophy for feel-good introspection. Chivalry has always been a call to action for what is right. Our quest for justice reflects the deepest strivings of our human impulse. To accomplish this, it teaches us to discern the difference between right and wrong, and then take our places in the world as forces for good. Real good.

It is natural to look for a meaningful cause to represent. The final choice will be decided by many factors, not the least of which are our own talents and interests.

Of course, choosing a primary mission does not excuse us from responding to other worthy causes. We fight the evils that life brings us. That’s how the quest trains us to become Knights. If we don’t respond, we don’t advance.

Climate change is a threat that people of conscience cannot ignore. It stands before and beside us at every moment. It challenges our propensity to wait for someone else to handle. It challenges our ability to reason, to examine scientific evidence and evaluate it honestly. It challenges us to speak out even among the nay-sayers and change our habits in sometimes dramatic ways. No one ever said that the challenges of Knighthood were ever easy.

Our Chivalry-Now Concepts bear this out: “Areté” judges us by how well we apply reason to virtue. “Nature’s Law” tells us to utilize the moral dictates of conscience through reason. “Telos” encourages us to become our very best. “Anagnorisis” separates us from the stagnation of ideologies that impede moral discernment.

And then there is “Ordo Mundi,” the way of the world, the way of nature. The Grail legend describes a kingdom that became a Wasteland because of the king’s pride, a debilitating wound that only the purity of a compassionate, inquiring mind could mend.

Here we are, now, facing the advance of a real Wasteland caused by climate change. We see the consequences happening today, with more devastating hurricanes, droughts and floods. Shifting and unusual weather patterns. Forest fires growing more difficult to combat, adding even more carbon into the atmosphere. Shrinking ice caps. Agricultural challenges. Rising sea levels. And, quite frankly, unknown threats that have yet to be predicted.

We also see evil fighting to constrain an effective response. Metaphorical demons and dragons work in concert to divert us. Like the Grail knights before us, we each come from our own tangled forest of perceptions, eyes wide-open and anxious.

What kind of culture warrior shall we be? Those who fight among themselves for no good reason? Those who succumb to the demons of ideology? Or the ones who faced the gravest of challenges with true resolve to restore nature to its life-sustaining fullness?

Chivalry-Now tells us to find our Inner Knight! Let’s do that by responding to this challenge in thought, word and deed.