Jacket

We must put on the team jacket and work toward our goals. That jacket is a mark that we belong to a group. It gives us cover — physically, from wind, rain, and cold — but also mentally, because we embrace the cohesion of being part of something bigger than ourselves. And it can be spiritual too, when we embrace moral principles and an ethical code that unites us as a brotherhood.

A jacket can represent the group but also be personalized — with the person's name or initials, for example. There we find a symbol of individuality within the group. This is an example of carrying both sides: the group and the individual. Both matter.

In society we must also find the coexistence of both. We must allow the development of the individual and the group as one. And we must learn where to draw the line — where one part begins to endanger the other. The liberty of the individual must not put the liberty of other individuals or the group at risk. Nor must the liberty of the group put the liberty of the individual at risk. We are speaking of liberty here, but the same applies to rights and obligations.

This is what it means to wear the jacket of brotherhood. Are we all wearing the same jacket?