Victory requires Loyalty; Divinity demands Piety
I have joked a few times this summer about how "it sure has been a hot summer for the AFA". We have had some people, inside and outside the AFA both, raise doubts about if the Asatru Folk Assembly is the Church of the Aesir in Midgard. Some of them have even left the Asatru Folk Assembly to start anew, creating democratic organizations that they think will empower them to have a greater say in "Asatru". The problem is these endeavors are doomed to fail. The most obvious reason is that they are founded against something instead of for something, and that they are founded by quitters instead of people who see things through. People that would quit their church over anything short of theological differences never really believed in that church to begin with, and when they do this the quality of our membership improves by the subtraction. I these mixed-up times our Folk deserves leadership who will make decisions for the greatest good over the longest run. There is no one ever who won by quitting. Trust and loyalty to the Asatru Folk Assembly and to our Alsherjargothi are not optional if we are to claim victory for our Folk Soul.
The Gothar of the Asatru Folk Assembly represent our Folk to the Aesir when they make Blot. Our Gods are real, they are alive, they exert their will in our world, and they can see us. When a Gothi or Gythia gives a gift, an offering, to the Gods and that gift is always in reciprocation for gifts the Gods already have given us. It is made of the gifts they have given us, and it is made by the gifts they have given us. It is a thank-you, and we hope that in giving it that the Gods choose to continue the gift cycle with the Folk that the Gods started at the beginning of our world. The Gothi or Gythia is there to receive the gift on behalf of the Folk. This gift cycle is the basis of our faith, and our Gods and Goddesses are divine, and so piety is not optional even if we cannot be perfectly pious.
Witan Clifford Erickson
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