As good fathers continue to teach their sons to be good men, we will always have good Masons.

.....This being June, the month when we celebrate Father’s Day, I would like to share with you, my Masonic Brethren, these thoughts. My father, Wilfred “Bill” Chabot, made me a Mason. Now, he has never belonged to any Masonic Lodge, but he made me the kind of person who would want to associate with other men of good will, and he did this through his lifelong way of teaching me, by example and without even trying, to live by the principles shared among good men. It is an example from which I still learn every day, though I am an adult and my parents are retired.
.....By his example, my dad gave me the values that Masons share in common. By having friends of various nationalities, he taught me to consider all men my brothers, regardless of their race or ethnicity. By being active in Scouting, he taught me to cherish its devotion to God and Country, and to the service of one’s neighbor. By working for the defense industry, he taught me patriotism. All of these lessons predisposed me to cherish the values held dear by Masons, and to know that I would find a place of belonging in the Masonic Lodge.
.....By getting up every day and working to support the family (with, of course, the aid and equal contribution of my mother, but that’s an article for Mother’s Day), he taught me how men should act --- responsibly. By working with his hands, he taught me to admire the work of craftsmen. By belonging to the Better Business Bureau as a small business owner, he taught me to be honest in business and to expect the same from others. By loving, respecting, and being dedicated to my mother, he taught me the importance of a stable and nurturing family life. All of these are ideals cherished by Masons.  We learn them from an admirable man in our life. These ideals enable the interior notion of fraternity to take root in our hearts, which is why we seek out a Mason and ask how we can join the Fraternity.
.....Finally, my father taught me to enjoy reading and to try to understand and benefit from what I read. This provided the path to my career which, as a clergyman and teacher, has always centered around learning, and it led me directly to the Masonic Fraternity. In following his example, I began to read manly poetry, such as that of Rudyard Kipling. Brother Kipling’s writing got me interested in Masonry by giving me a good impression of the Craft so that I knew I would be welcome, even before I ever met anyone who was a Mason.
.....My dad is not perfect, of course, and neither am I. That is another thing he taught me, humility. He taught me not to take excessive pride in my accomplishments, but to strive to imitate the excellence of good men around me. In writing this article, I am not seeking self-aggrandizement, but rather to pay tribute to the institution of fatherhood, for the good of our Order, which is founded, as is family life, on the passing of wisdom and goals from one generation to the next, from the instructive tongue to the attentive ear.
.....My father is not a Mason and never has been one, but by being a good man and teaching me to be the best man I can be, he made me a Mason. So, Brethren, I salute all Dads and hope you will join me in honoring them.
I congratulate those of you who were initiated, passed, raised, or otherwise instructed by your own fathers. As good fathers continue to teach their sons to be good men, we will always have good Masons.