Greetings Brothers!
As we approach the holiday season, Thanksgiving in particular, let us be spiritually and intellectually mindful of our many individual and collective blessings. Let us also remember that although giving thanks is a reflective act, like history itself, the act of giving thanks also has prospective implications – or at least it should.
I am thankful for Omega for many reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is that over the arch of time Omega has done what Nietzsche meant when he penned, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.” It is in this process that Omega has sharpened the steel of an organization whose agency has lived up to the biblical standards of salt and light for 108 years. That’s the reflective part.
In 1933, Brother W. Montague Cobb wrote an article titled, “New Frontiers in Anthropology.” Cobb began his article with a quote from Alexander Meiklejohn, then president of Amherst College, that read “There are two ways of facing life, two kinds of wisdom for man – dread, the other the way of confidence. One rests on fear and cunning; the other on hope and faith . One is for man, the beast; the other for man, the spirit.”
As we turn to the prospective part of this thanksgiving act, I’m hopeful you’ll join me in my belief that our Founders would have us face our future with hope and faith; as it is elemental, if not fundamental, to the spirit borne of their vision. As we grapple with the challenges of our time, let us not forget that spirit we are charged with nurturing – that standard history calls us to live up to. Let us not give way to fear and cunning for Nietzsche also said, “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” Moreover, the Sermon on the Mount tells us “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Please read and give thought to the attached short article by H. Albion Ferrell, Grand Chaplain Emeritus and son of the Third District.
History is watching Brothers. Be thankful.
Read More – RememberingEAL_Oracle1983Spring
Have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving, and as always, be noble!
F.I.E.T.T.S.
3rd District History and Archives Committee
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The Monday Pearl is provided by the Third District History and Archives Committee and is a weekly sharing of fraternity content, commentary, and research of historical value we hope Brothers will enjoy and from which Brothers will draw inspiration. Previous “Pearls” can be found at http://3rddistrictques.org/about-us/overview/monday-pearl/. The Committee encourages your feedback. Should you have reactions, comments, information, anecdotes, documents, and the like, related to any of the content we share, we’d very much like to hear from you. Please send all communication to 3dhistoryandarchives@gmail.com.
