Oath

Sigma Phi Epsilon does things a little differently since we don't have pledge classes. When someone accepts an invitation to join our Fraternity, they become Sigmas. As they grow as individuals and from their experiences in the Fraternity, they go through the rituals of Phi and Epsilon accordingly.

Without going into too much detail, because we have different stages, we have multiple Rituals. Which means individuals progress at their own rate, and not with the rest of the brothers who joined at the same time. However, multiple Rituals means we get to reaffirm our Oath numerous times, each and everytime we have one of those Rituals.

The Oath is my favorite part of the Ritual, for one simple reason. It explains the life long commitement I made to living a life of purpose and high principles.

Some Brothers in my Fraternity do not see it this way... they see it as just another obligation... Just another time when they have to dress in pin attire and "show up" so that they don't get fined. This pisses me off more than any other thing in my individual fraternity. Other things get to me more (like sex, drugs, and fraterol... and don't get me started on recruiting with alcohol) but within my Fraternity, I don't agree with this mentality. Each time we do the ritual, it is an opportunity to relive the first time we did the Ritual, and repeat the promise we made in the Oath. Each time we do the Ritual we are once again showed how we should be living our lives. Not to mention the fact that it our our duty to be there for the Brothers who are going through the Ritual for the first time.

I had someone last night tell me they didn't know what it meant to be a Sigma Phi Epsilon. My answer was simple. Someone who has not gone through all of the Rituals will not have a defined answer to that question. However, they are to make their own answer off their individual experiences with Virtue, Diligence, and Brotherly Love... Our highest Principles. And if you do not know who you are after going through the first time, Maybe you should do a little more than "showing up" to the Ritual the next time, you might learn a thing or two. considering the fact that the little book hidden in the closest defines the person you should strive to be.

Happy Monday

While working today, I found myself with a case of the Monday Morning's, so I decided to listen to one of my favorite songs. Here is the link. Hopefully you like it too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erPnyi90cIc

Ritual

So I realize I am writing this blog is coming a little late, especially since we already talked about it in class, but I have had a really long week trying to stay on top of everything I have going on so I didn't quite get to my blog.

So getting into it, what are my secret thoughts on Ritual. Well as Julie said, and many others after our discussion yesterday, Ritual isn't much of a secret. Everyone knows we have one, that we perform one. They all know we have knocks, passwords, handshakes, candles, music, dim lighting... I think you get the picture. I think the secrecy of the details (for example the specifics in our rituals and how we go about performing them) separate us as individual fraternities and sororities. However, we are not really separated, once again as mentioned in class, because of the Life long commitment we pledged to upholding ourselves to the principles defined in our Ritual, and doing so to the highest extent.

So ya we have Ritual. Webster's Define's Ritual as follows

Ritual \Rit"u*al\, n. [Cf. F. rituel.]1. A prescribed form of performing divine service in a particular church or communion; as, the Jewish ritual. [1913 Webster]

2. Hence, the code of ceremonies observed by an organization; as, the ritual of the freemasons. [1913 Webster]

3. A book containing the rites to be observed. [1913 Webster]


I thought a lot of that sounded pretty familiar... So if Webster's published it, how can it be that secret?

We'll like Brandon mentioned, I like the little secret details that we have as our individual fraternities and sororities, as define in our Ritual.

But because we made a commitment to upholding these principles, we have the responsiblilty to portray these principles in our everyday actions... in other words, living the ritual... bet you didn't see that one coming.