OUR HOUSEHOLD MOTTO

We have chosen as our Household Keppeler motto the phrase "Obedience, Submission, Stability."  We see this motto as a summation of what we believe to be best about our Household's inheritance of the traditions of the leather community and what we have gleaned from the 1500-year-old tradition of the Rule of St. Benedict.

To help understand our motto, we offer the following brief explanation:

OBEDIENCE, the first virtue in the motto of Household Keppeler, is surely the foundational virtue of the Dominant/submissive lifestyle.  Whether as a Dominant or as a submissive, the serious leatherman is called to be obedient to the traditions, code of honor and protocols of the leather tribe.  Each is also called to be obedient to his own particular calling in the Dominant/submissive lifestyle: Dominants to lead and direct; submissives to follow and obey.

SUBMISSION, the second of the virtues in the motto of Household Keppeler, is a significant step beyond obedience in the Dominant/submissive leather lifestyle.  Whether as a Dominant or as a submissive, the serious leatherman is called to submit himself to his superiors, seeking to know and do the will of the Master before and without being ordered.  Submission is serving humbly before service is asked or ordered, expecting no reward except that Master is pleased.  Submission is seeking to know the will of Master and the Household Council and acting on that will.  Submission is the conforming of one's own will to the will of Master and the Household Council.  Submission is going the extra mile, doing more than is asked, with a willing and cheerful heart.

STABILITY, the third of the virtues in the motto of Household Keppeler, is perhaps unique to our Household among leather households.  It is something that we learn from the Rule of St. Benedict.  By it we mean that the committed Household member, whether as a Dominant or as a submissive, seeks to live his life, hopefully for the remainder of his day, within the loving structure of the Household, finding here his satisfaction and the fulfillment of his needs.  Such Stability requires conversion of life, that daily committing of one's self to being changed by the communal life of Household Keppeler.

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