C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°
Sovereign Grand Commander

In his poem "God Send Us Men," Frederick Gillman writes:

God send us men of steadfast will,
Patient, courageous, strong and true,
With vision clear and mind equipped
His will to learn, His work to do.
God send us men with hearts ablaze
All truth to love, all wrong to hate;
These are the patriots nations need;
These are the bulwarks of the state.

Today, of course, one would write "men and women," but the point is not the gender; the point is the quality of heroism.
This special "Masonic Heroes" issue of the Scottish Rite Journal is filled with stories of people with these qualities—people who hate wrong and love truth; people whose will has been steadfast, who were patient and courageous and strong; people with clear vision; people whose hearts were or are ablaze. And it is certainly true that such people are needed It is amazing how many heroes there are and have been in the Fraternity. Only a few of these good men are known to fame and glory, but the Brothers who have gone unnoticed are heroes, too:

§ Masons who make deliveries for community Meals on Wheels programs, because their compassion has shown them a path of service.

§ Masons who help raise funds for the Scottish Rite Childhood Language Disorders Clinics, because their clear vision sees a world in which children are not imprisoned by a wall of silence.

§ Masons who work in the membership of the Rite, because they know that the Scottish Rite is a source of values and integrity sorely needed in the world and because they want to share what they have found with their Brothers.

§ Masons who take their obligations seriously and show by their thoughts and actions that their task is to live, not just speak, Freemasonry.

§ Masons who understand that service in the Armed Forces of one's country is still a high responsibility and great honor.
Sometimes the entire world sees the work of these heroes-sometimes it is known only to a child, or a widow, or someone in distress. To these men, it doesn't matter if their efforts are noticed or honored. For them, it is the work, not the recognition, which matters.

Heroism isn't a goal, it is a consequence. The person who sets out to be a hero will fail, because he or she is setting out not to serve others, but to gratify their own ego. That produces a bore, but it never produces a hero.

Heroism isn't a matter of convenience, it's an irresistible impulse. The hero doesn't help others when he has nothing better to do; he does it because it doesn't occur to him not to do it.

I hope you are as inspired as I am by the Masonic lives depicted in the pages of this special issue. It is a source of pride to realize there are so many heroes, and it is an even greater pride for me to realize that-just like you-they are my Brothers.