SERVING THE MILITARY COMMUNITY

The image of a single penguin moving out onto an ice-covered plain is stark and telling. And there is a companion image, one showing a large number of penguins huddled together in a group. It’s said the probability of the single penguin surviving for very long alone is just about zero. The environment is just too cold and hostile to make it possible.

We need to consider our chapter and its members as community. We talk about serving the military community, and our chapter is exactly what we’re talking about. We’re one body; we belong to each other; and each of us needs all the others.

We live in a society constantly sending a counter-cultural message, namely that we do it “my way.” We love our independence, but real success doesn’t come from independence but interdependence. We need each other. We operate within a wonderful community and we should use it to advantage.

We need others to walk with us. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together; instead, let us encourage one another.

Community is one answer to loneliness. As each part does its work, it helps the other parts grow.

It’s safer; there’s strength in numbers.

It’s supportive; when we do things together we develop synergy and get more done than when operating alone.

It’s smarter; we have access to the knowledge and experience of others.

We need others to work with us. There’s a story of a basketball team member who was ordered by the coach to do 2,500 pushups or he would be cut from the team; when he failed, and because he was a respected player, the others pitched in and did the work for him. We have a lot of work to do; serving the military and wider communities can be a difficult and complex undertaking. There is a mission to accomplish, purposes to carry out, and military members and families to serve and support.

Two people are better than one as they can get more done. Three or more are better yet. Community is an answer to fatigue. We need to work for the benefit of all, starting with those closest to us. Doing the work of the chapter is easy when there are many contributing to the effort.

We need others to watch out for us. Some communities have so-called neighborhood watch groups where those living in the immediate area keep an eye on the well-being and property of others. We want and need to watch out for our own interests and the interests of others. One person alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, because a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Community is an answer to defeat. If one person falls, others will reach out and help; people alone who fall can be in real trouble. Who will help meet those special needs from time to time?

We need others to wait and weep with us. There will be a crisis from time to time; that’s life. Some say it’s enough to belong to National MOAA and get the magazine, that membership in a local chapter is unnecessary and a waste of money. But it’s not sufficient. In a sense, we are like a big happy family full of sympathy toward each other; if one part fails, every part suffers.

We need people who will be there for us, to give us rides to membership luncheons, visit us in the hospital, help us understand our earned entitlements, and even attend our funerals. Community is an answer to despair. Studies show that people are more prone to sickness when there is a lack of social support.

We need others to help share the MOAA message and benefits of professional organization membership. Community is an answer to unbelief.

There are thousands of National MOAA members in California who are not members of local chapters, and for the most part they have little or no passion for MOAA or the military community. We miss out on many benefits because we are not part of a chapter. We need the group to help us understand, and help others understand, the full meaning of MOAA and its message.

There is real value in community, and every time we come together we demonstrate why we need each other.

Silicon Valley Chapter “The Bulletin”
February 2007

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