We all have ties to other people and principles, some of which are stronger than others, of which these ties are created so that we bond, for instance, with our family, our friends, our fellow laborers, our community, our fellow church members, and our country. To the degree that these bonds are in conformance one with another, all is good; but, to the degree that these bonds are not compatible with each other or in conflict one with another, such thereby determines which of those bonds actually is of more significance and often of more merit.
After all, each of us has a responsibility to uphold the integrity of whom and what we really are, and what it is that we are thereby representing. So that, when one bond conflicts with another bond, a determination must be made as to what we will be true to; in which, therefore, there must be a hierarchy of where each of those bonds resides within our given psyche.
The true test of anybody’s faith, belief, or ties one with another, is when that faith is tested by something else that is tugging upon the conscience or commitment of that person. So that, as it has been said, a house divided, will not stand; for each of us must either be wholly one thing or wholly another, or else our integrity will not only be called into question, but such will vacillate from time-to-time and day-to-day, making us, at best, a fair weather friend, that stays true only to the direction that the prevailing wind is blowing at that moment.
This signifies that each of us must take a thorough inventory of who and what we really are, in the recognition that we will be tested in the real world, and that in acknowledgment that those that are prepared fare far better than those that are not, we thereby prepare ourselves. For if we are not true to that which means the most to us, than our lack of courage and integrity reflects that we are not in reality, the type of person that honors their most important bonds.
The ties that bind us most closely to others are those ties that we stand by, come what may. This means that the decisions that we reach and the actions that we subsequently take, should be in harmony with those ties that are of utmost value to us. So that, we are consistent that our beliefs and thereby our actions, are true and inviolable.
Those ties that bind us most intimately to one another, are those ties that when combined with similar believers, makes those bonds appreciably higher than they ever could be, separately. This indicates that the very best communities and families are those communities and families that have found a common cause, typically that is beyond their own self-serving interests, that benefits the collective in whole, in which, those that have joined together into one body politic, will not break; for that which has bound them one to another, has made them wholly one.