Official Organ Of The Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas. Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 53 — NO. 50
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE, SPJST, P. 0. Box 100, TEMPLE, TEXAS
DECEMBER 15 1965
FR911 THE EDITOR'S DESK THAT "ONCE-A-YEAR" VISIT
AII, YES, CHRISTMAS!
This is the time of the year for lodge Christmas parties, programs, dinners, suppers, and what-have-you, sponsored and put on by the various lodges of our SPJST. It is always a nice time of the year. Joy and laughter abound on all sides, children are happy and smiles can be seen everywhere. One cannot help but notice the "sudden" increase in attendance at these functions. You see faces you haven't seen for 11 months. Of course, you're glad to see them, if for no other reason but to see that they are still alive and healthy. But the question that silently crosses many people's deep recesses is, "where have you been since last Christmas?" •
Heap on more wood! — the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We'll keep our Christmas merry still. There the huge sirlion reek'd; hard by Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie; Nor fail'd old Scotland to produce, At such high tide, her savoury goose. Then same the merry makers in, And carols roar'd with blithesome din. —From Sir Walter Scott (1808)
One often wonders what these people thought the lodge was doing during the intervening 11 months. Who prepared the many lunches and luncheons, dinners, suppers, parties and outings during all that time? Who cleaned up the hall after all the dances held during the preceding 50 or so weeks? Who mopped and scrubbed the kitchen and sweated over the stove back there in the summer? Then you come to the inevitable conclusion: Thank goodness for that small group of loyal workhorses who have stuck with it all these months! They're the backbone of the lodge, like it or not! For 11 months a lot of members have found other places to go; other things
to do, but they manage to find their way back to the old lodge hall around Christmastime. Why is this? Certainly not everyone can be a lodge officer and be a "chief," but there are a lot of other things that need to be done around the place, mostly hard work. Someone has to do it, and the more there are to do it, the easier it will be for all concerned. The height of impertinence is demonstrated by the member who, when asked to help in some way, states, "I didn't come out here to work. I came to have a good time!"; or the member who stated, "I'm tired. I work all day." Who doesn't?! 6
Each lodge heartily welcomes ALL its members. They're glad to see them all. Na one is barred from participating in the fun — and in the work. Your
lodge officers need YOUR help and YOUR support. They'll welcome you with open arms. After this Christmas, go see what's going on at your lodge as often as you can — before the next Christmas rolls around. Take pride in your local unit; it is the backbone and primary structure of our fraternal system. It is as efficient and as good as YOU help make it. A lot is being said about housing, slums, and underdeveloped areas these days. One writer, hoWever, points out something that has perhaps escaped a lot of the planners. He states that houses don't make slums — it's the people who live in them. No matter how humble or poor the circumstances may be, a little hot soap and water (both costing very little) a home can be kept clean and most of all, respected as a home. People must take pride in their home, no matter how humble. The sod houses and log cabins of the American pioneer and frontiersman were certainly no example of modern living, but they were clean and they took great pride in them. If you don't have that, you have nothing. A house never built character. It is the person who has the personal qualities who works for the good of his home, church, and country. The finest villa in the land may not necessarily be a "home." It may be just a shelter, luxurious and all. A national news magazine recently carried a fea-