If ever there were a need for good people to be good examples, it is now.

Ill. Dave Thomas, 33°, Grand Cross

Who are today's role models? Television has brought a new hierarchy of idols and superstars, but who is prepared to call them role models, examples for young people to follow? More to the point, what kind of examples are we of what we believe and what obligations and vows we have taken at Masonry's altar without any mental reservation or equivocation? If ever there were a need for good people to be good examples, it's now. An unknown writer described the present age this way:

• "We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints.
• "We spend more, but have less. We buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
• "We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life, not life to years.
• "We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.
• "We've conquered outer space, but not inner space. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.
• "We have higher incomes, but lower morals. We've become long on quantity, but short on quality. These are the times of tall men and short character; steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace; but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition. These are the days of two incomes, but more divorces; of fancier houses, but broken homes. It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom."

Ill. Dave Thomas, 33°, G.C., the founder of Wendy's hamburger chain, dropped out of school when he was 15 and got a full-time job in the restaurant business. Eventually he created Wendy's and became tremendously successful. But he had one great regret, despite his success. He regretted not having completed high school.

He hired a tutor in 1992 and began preparing for the GED, the equivalency exam that would grant him a high school diploma. He passed with no difficulty. A high school in Florida heard of Dave's effort and invited him and his wife, Lorraine, to their prom, where the students crowned them King and Queen.

Bro. Dave Thomas didn't want to encourage people to follow his example and drop out of school, so when other men were retiring and enjoying the fruits of their labor, Dave was going back to finish high school. That's the kind of action and example young people need today. He's a role model for the new millennium.

We need heroes, people who stand tall, people who don't say one thing and do another, people who believe that it is their God-given duty to set a worthy example for others.

In these extreme times, the world needs people of strong faith in God who want to follow His Command-ments and set an example. We're all setting an example, but what kind of example are we setting? We need to understand that our lives are intertwined with others who know us and those who only see how we act and speak. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. But actions speak louder.

James C. Bryant is Special Assistant to the President and University Historian at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia. The author of several books and many articles, he is a frequent speaker and world traveler. This brief article first appeared in October 2000 as a segment of Bro. Bryant's regular series "Our Chaplain Comments" in the Basharat, a publication of Yaarab Shrine Center, Atlanta, Georgia. Bro. Bryant has edited the Basharat for 26 years, and he also writes for the Scottish Rite News, Valley of Atlanta, and serves as the Editor of the Scottish Rite section of the Georgia Masonic Messenger, published by the Grand Lodge of Georgia. E-mail: Bryant_jc@mercer.edu