C. Fred Kleinknecht, 33°
Sovereign Grand Commander

We must have faith in ourselves and in God's guidance of all things.

Of the seven deadly sins, envy, with its close companion jealousy, is perhaps the most potentially destructive of human failings when it comes to the welfare of our Fraternity. Envy is described in Webster's Dictionary as "chagrin, mortification, discontent, or uneasiness at the sight of another's excellence or good fortune, accompanied with some degree of hatred and desire to possess equal advantages." Jealousy is defined as "unpleasant apprehension, suspicion or resentment, arising from fear or mistrust of another," particularly in cases closely affecting one's own happiness. The word's root, zeal, means the "exacting of exclusive devotion" and "intolerance of rivalry."

In the Eighteenth Degree, we are told that the Cross and the Rose, combined, are a symbol of fraternity where each Brother shares his Masonic Brother's sorrows and rejoices in his joys. Also, the three great constellations of Faith, Hope, and Charity in this Degree serve as guides to overcoming emotions or actions that are beneath us as Masons.

In the Olympic games, in Sydney, Australia, the participants displayed some of the finest examples of that noble behavior which takes the place of envy or jealousy. I was particularly struck by a hurdles runner. Obviously, she had trained very hard her whole life. All her hopes and desires were set on winning a gold medal, and she was clearly a serious contender. All her preparation was on the line in a race of only a few moments' duration. Perhaps this would be the last opportunity in her life to achieve her dream. Not even halfway into the race, she pulled a hamstring and was forced to halt far short of the goal. After the race, when asked to comment on her feelings, with the pain of frustration on her face, she said, "Well, I guess God had other plans." While still feeling anguish and disappointment, she had already come to a place of understanding within herself. She was not envious of the other runners or jealous of the winner of the race. She was at peace with them and herself.

Though you may see disappointment on the faces of those who do not win Olympic gold, you rarely see envy or jealousy. Rather, there is an acknowledgment, by those who best know what he or she endured to get there, of the great effort the winner expended in achieving the goal. The competitors understand that the winner's achievement furthers their entire sport and strengthens the bond that unites them, their love of the sport. They use another's achievement to inspire themselves to still better performances.

We must have faith in ourselves, both in our ability to perform and in God's guidance of all things. It is that faith which inspires us to act with confidence. If we are confident that a desired end will come about, we do not worry about when it will happen. We just proceed step-by-step with whatever action it takes to get us there. We do not waste time begrudging that another has completed the steps quicker than we have. If we fear we will never achieve our end, however, then we cannot be content when another achieves the goals we desire.

Hope, which is desire mixed with the expectation of success, implies confidence. Envy, in the final analysis, implies a lack of the same. It is important to remember that if we do not achieve our ends when we think we should, we must look back within ourselves to find the faults that prevented us from reaching our goals, identify and eliminate those faults, and then try again until we do succeed. Someone once said that our successes are no more than evidence that we have learned from our failures. It is the failures that prove valuable, for it is from them that knowledge springs—if one can be honest in the evaluation of that failure. It is by a process of constant refinement that we ultimately gain what we desire.

Charity is the final and greatest guide to our actions. When we have the confidence of sure, if eventual, success, we can afford to be charitable. We so often think of charity only as giving of ourselves. Its fullest meaning is love in all its forms, and our real duty as Masons is to act in accordance with what we believe—the great principles of Faith, Hope, and Charity. If we do, then we will find no place for envy or jealousy. When you see a Brother, friend, family member, or loved one achieve something that is important, let them know how happy and proud you are of them. Understand that the success of another with whom you share the bonds of fraternal association, or any association that ties people closely together for great and noble causes, is evidence of your own success. Let it inspire you to joy and to greater deeds. In doing so, you strengthen yourself and the causes to which we are all committed, and, thereby, you strengthen the Fraternity. Then may we say, in truth and not only in word, that we are Knights Rose Croix, each sharing the other's sorrows and rejoicing in his joys.