Official Organ Of the Slavonic Benevolent Order Of The State Of Texas, Founded 1897. BENEVOLENCE
VOLUME 56 — NO. 49
HUMANITY
BROTHERHOOD
Postmaster: Please Send Form 3579 with Undeliverable Copies to: SUPREME LODGE SPJST, POB 100, TEMPLE, TEX 76501
DECEMBER , 1968
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK Annual Meetings. Some of the local lodge annual meetings have already taken place, while others are still to be held during December. We all know the primary purpose of these meetings. This should be the best attended meeting of the year. Unfortunately, it isn't. As Brother Ferda Miculka of Moulton pointed out in his Czech letter a week or so ago, so many of the younger members stay away bemuse they are afraid they might wind up with a lodge office or some other responsibility. Duties and responsibilities are meant to he shared, and the more people who share them, the easier it will be on all concerned. No one person can shoulder all the work and responsibility. However, if you're only out for whatever money there Is in it, you might be disappointed. A careful survey will show that some of our most successful lodges arc those who pay their officers and working staff very little if anything at all. There is then no question about one's motives or sincerity in doing his lodge duties. Once you start reimbursing for everything done at the lodge, it becomes more of a commercial enterprise and business. This is getting away from the basic concepts of fraternal.isrn. If too many demands are being made on lust a few people, then not enough people are
in-
QUOTES TO REMEMBER . . . "My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. Fe told me to try to be in the first group; there is much less competition there." —Indira Gandhi 4
"Even as we were developing a greater national conscience, many of our people lost resnect for law and order, for hard work, for courage, for integrity, for love of countr y, for the very things that made us a great nation. We lost control of ourselves," —Gen. James H. Doolittle (Ret). volved in the activities. In the final analysis, this must be determined by each lodge. In any event, don't let anything keep you away from your lodge's annual meeting. Go see and hear what. they're doing with your money, You'll i4 a.rn something and you may ,even like it enough to come back soon. It is also an important opportunity to exercise your voting franchise in electing your lodge leaders for another year. • Wat Do You Expect? The most on the dissappointed person
local lodge level is the person who feels that everything must go his way — or else! Life is full of defeats, and lodge work is no exception. If you're on the winning side of a proposition, that's fine. If you lose, don't assume the attitude that "if it doesn't go my way, I'll pick up my marbles and go home!" This is a childish attitude and befits the behavior of children, not grown folks. If you do lose, take the loss gracefully like an adult should, and then pitch in to help all you can. What if everyone in the lodge took that attitude, and then stuck to it? How far would you get? By the same token, too many people expect too much credit — too much too often and too soon. They expect it every time they turn a hand and if they don't- get it in generous enough amounts and at the right time, they are awfully bitter. This is the wrong attitude in fraternal work. Nine times out of ten, you'll get the credit due you without asking for it or getting others to shovel it your way. After all, making a success of something is usually reward enough. Take satisfaction in what you do and proper recognition will automatically come your way. But if it doesn't, don't take the wrong attitude and become bitter at every one around you. Success speaks louder and