Jan-Feb 2010
A Timeless Lesson
Recently I found myself zoned in front of the TV with my daughter, watching a
kids cartoon. She’s five and … well … she gets to watch kid shows. This one
caught my attention as it was a rendition of the famous fable “The Tortoise and
the Hare,” but with a penguin on a scooter and a frog. The frog, being the fastest
frog in the world, taunted and teased the slow moving penguin on a self-propelled
scooter. The penguin kept saying that he was “sure and steady” and would
undoubtedly finish the race. This determined little penguin, demonstrating a very
good moral lesson to the kids, somehow made me think of another story that is
not geared to kids at all!
His “sure and steady” was our “time, patience, and perseverance.” This message
geared towards my five-year-old daughter is the same one we hear in the
Lodge!! Now how is that??? I’ve often noticed that the simplest tasks are sometimes
the hardest to do. It is easy to become inundated with details and lose sight
of the goal at hand. Whether you are five or 75, this re-occurring theme is something
to take to heart. The reiteration of this simple lesson in OUR ritual is a striking
reminder to US that by being “sure and steady’ and having “time, patience,
and perseverance,” that without a doubt we will accomplish all things.
Jason Stitak, PM
LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS OF A LODGE OFFICER
Leadership is the ability to produce unified Lodge action toward an objective by
the effective use and cooperation of its members. Leadership is also the ability to
inspire others to accomplish tasks they once might have believed quite difficult if
not entirely impossible.
Great wealth and worldly possessions are not necessarily an indication of leadership
although they frequently results from this ability. Some men are fortunate
enough to be born with a natural ability to be leaders, while others must acquire
this faculty by diligent and long hours of practice.
What constitutes good lodge leadership? The ability to speak, the ability to
understand, the ability to utilize the capability of others, the ability to get along
with people. Good leadership also requires incentive, desire, confidence, assurance,
energy, endurance, enthusiasm, concern for others, sincerity, integrity, fidelity,
appearance, optimism, tact, respect and knowledge.
Just because Freemasonry has been successful in the past, of course, is no insurance
in itself that it will be as successful in the future. Freemasonry, like all similar
institutions, must sell itself anew to each succeeding generation. The leaders of
past generations are no longer with us to guide us today. Each generation must
produce its own leaders with the foresight, the ability and the creativity to chart
the course and follow it through the assaults of the age, at the same time projecting
a favorable image to the world.
Each Lodge, each Master, each Mason has a responsibility in this struggle for
survival. We must never forget that our image, and hence our attractiveness, is
derived from the image each individual projects to the profane. Every time a
Freemason lowers himself in the eyes of the public, Freemasonry suffers. Every
time a Mason neglects his obligation to his God, his neighbor or himself, Freemasonry
suffers. Every time a Mason neglects his obligation to his Lodge, Freemasonry
suffers.
A large measure of Freemasonry’s survival is due to the energy, the dedication
and the devotion of those who came before us. May those who follow us be permitted
to say as much of us.
Ill. James T. Schultz, PM, 33º, L.E.O.
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