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From July-August
2004
The Penalty of Leadership
By Michael L. Hildebrand, KCCH
The following text appeared as an advertisement for the
Cadillac Motor Car Division of General Motors in the Saturday
Evening
Post on January 2, 1915. As a Mason, I saw a direct relationship
of this ad and Freemasonry. In part, the ad read as follows.
In every field of human endeavor, he that is first
must perpetually live in the white light of publicity.
Whether
the leadership
be vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation
and envy are at work. In art, in music, in industry, the
reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward
is widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial
and detraction. When a man’s work becomes a standard
for the whole world, it also becomes a target for the shafts
of the envious few. If his work be merely mediocre, he will
be left severely alone--if he achieves a masterpiece, it
will set a million tongues a-wagging. No one will strive
to surpass, or slander you, unless your work be stamped with
the seal of genius.
The leader is assailed because he is a leader,
and the effort to equal him is merely added proof of
that leadership.
That
which is good or great makes itself known, no matter how
loud the clamor of denial. That which deserves to live—lives.
We can easily apply this to Freemasonry. Masonry has always
had its detractors. Why? Because its members have not sat
idly and let the world pass by. Instead, they have helped
bring about change to make the world a better place to live.
Just think for a moment what our own country would have
possibly been like if not for the many Masons who helped
to form our
Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Yet not only
have members of our Gentle Craft often been ill-treated,
but Masonry as an organization has received similar abuse.
Even today, attacks on our Fraternity continue. Not until
I read the Cadillac ad above did I fully realize why.
Masonry, like the Cadillac automobile, has always set a
high standard for the whole world to follow. Because of that,
Masonry also has become a target for belittling detractors.
As the ad states: “The leader is assailed because he
is a leader, and the effort to equal him is merely added
proof of that leadership. Failing to equal or to excel, the
critic seeks to depreciate and to destroy--but this only
confirms once more the superiority of that which he strives
to supplant. There is nothing new in this. It is as old as
the world and the human passions of envy, fear, greed, ambition,
and the desire to surpass. And it all avails nothing.”
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Michael L. Hildebrand,
KCCH, is a member and Past Master of the Consistory
of the St. Paul, Minnesota,
Scottish Rite Bodies. He has served on many of his Valley’s
Degree Teams as well as a member of the cast in the Remembrance & Renewal
Program. He is a Life Member of the Scottish Rite Research
Society and has written many articles for the Valley
of St. Paul. Raised in Montgomery Lodge #258, St. Paul,
with a dual membership in Tusler-Summit Lodge #263, Roseville,
Minn., he has Life Membership in Pacific Rim Lodge, Vladivostok,
Russia, and the Royal Order of Scotland. A member of
St. George Conclave of the Red Cross of Constantine,
he currently is the Illustrious Potentate of Osman Shrine
Temple in St Paul. Contact: hcimlh@aol.com |
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