One characteristic of the spirit in community is its givenness. The members of the community do not create the spirit but rather find it present and waiting for them. It is for them a given which they and they alone possess. The spirit of the Marine Corps was present and operative before any of the present members of it came into it. It is they, of course, who keep it alive and preserve it so the same spirit will continue to be present in the Corps for future recruits to find as they come into it.