Re: Clan Memberships

["- Sinclair" <runaway1743@hotmail.com>]

>A Clan is a family.  The word in Gaelic means "Children" you don't >require 
>a piece of paper to be a Clan member.  We all owe as Clansman >our 
>allegiance to one Chief "Caithness".  Before we get embroiled in >bits of 
>paper and organisations we must remember that we are a band of >brothers.  
>We may argue, we may fight but in the end, we surely know >that it is this 
>unique blood that binds us together.

It may indeed be the case that many of us have blood ties, but there are 
certainly just as many whom we don't have blood ties to.  When we speak of a 
Clan Association we are speaking of a legally incorporated body that has 
been setup to represent a particular group.  We have Clan Sinclair USA, Clan 
Sinclair Canada, Clan Sinclair Nova Scotia, Clan Sinclair Australia, Clan 
Sinclair (Scotland) - these include men and women, not brothers, which have 
chosen to demonstrate support and allegiance to their Clan by belonging, as 
financial members, to their country's association.

More to the point, we are not a band of brothers, we are a motley group of 
men and women, who may or may not have blood ties (and in some cases it's 
preferable to think we don't have any ties) who either bear the same surname 
or can directly trace our lines to a progenitor of the surname Sinclair.  
Neither of which guarantees us any relationship to any other Sinclair out 
there.

When it comes to "pieces of paper" - these are what show us in this world of 
ours, where our allegiances lie, and whether we are really prepared to "put 
our money where our mouth is".  Too many people are happy and willing to lay 
claim to belonging to a group, but when it comes to the crunch, there is no 
real support forthcoming.  By belonging to an Association, you have shown 
that you are prepared to follow through on your word, to make good your 
promises, and not just trail along on the coat-tails of someone who's doing 
the hard work for you.

Our clan associations hold their Clan Chief in the place of highest honor, 
and openly and honestly support him in the work in which he does. It behoves 
everyone who bears the Sinclair name or wishes to lay claim to it, to belong 
to their Clan Association, and show their honest and true support for their 
Chief.

Sinclair


________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@mids.org
[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html