10/08/2026
After 89 years of life and 63 years as a Mason, this is a painfully true statement.
Power Doesn't Reveal Your Position. It Reveals Your Character.
It's easy to be kind when life is easy.
It's easy to be humble when no one is watching.
It's easy to speak of virtue when you're the one taking orders.
The real test comes when the roles are reversed.
When you're elected Worshipful Master.
When you're appointed to a committee.
When you're entrusted with authority.
When someone looks to you for leadership.
Abraham Lincoln is often credited with saying:
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."
Freemasonry isn't about creating men who seek power.
It's about creating men who are worthy of it.
The Working Tools remind us that leadership is never a privilege to be enjoyed.
It's a responsibility to be carried.
A man who uses his office to dominate has misunderstood the purpose of leadership.
A man who uses it to mentor...
To encourage...
To educate...
To unite...
Has begun to understand the Great Work.
Titles eventually fade.
Jewels are returned.
Chairs are occupied by someone else.
But the way you treated your Brothers while you held that authority...
That becomes your legacy.
The strongest leaders don't demand respect.
They earn it.
Not through fear.
Not through ego.
But through humility, integrity, and service.
In the end, the greatest measure of a Mason is not how high he rose within the Lodge...
It's how many others he helped rise with him.
Power doesn't change a man.
It reveals the man he already is.
