Worshipful Master Sylvester Davis

As I contemplated what message would be appropriate for a group of people who have given so much energy, time and compassion to so many for years, I wanted to express my gratitude for a job well done and to encourage everyone to approach the new year with renewed vigor and enthusiasm.  A new year brings opportunities, as well as challenges. One of the resolutions that I have made for this year is to see the opportunities in every situation.

"To every person there comes that special moment when he is tapped on the shoulder to do a very special thing unique to him.  What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared for the work that would be his finest hour."--Sir Winston Churchill

For Vince Young, MVP of the Rose Bowl and quarterback of the National Champion University of Texas football team, "that moment" came with Texas trailing USC by four points, on fourth down with only 19 seconds remaining in the national championship game.  Stephen King could not have created a scarier scenario in one of his novels.  Texas had trailed USC by 12 points in the fourth quarter, yet Vince Young and the Longhorns never seemed to take their "eyes from the prize," the undefeated, national championship that had been their goal all season.

There were so many life-lessons presented to young and old during the game, if one paid attention to everything that happened instead of just watching a great football game. First, the Longhorns made many mistakes. The fumble on the kick-off return that set up USC's first touchdown could have set the tone for the 'Horns; it didn't.  Additional fumbles, significant penalties, a missed field goal and a missed extra point that grew more and more important in the back of the minds of all Texas fans seemed to be placing UT in serious jeopardy.  The members of the team, led by Vince Young never gave up.  They did not lose sight of their goal; they simply moved their focus and intensity to the next level.

Second, the Longhorns did not have two Heisman Trophy winners on their team (bad choice by the voters on the Heisman in my opinion); they had a tremendous team comprised of young men with unbelievable talent.   Many of the players, especially junior running back, Selvin Young, could have become disenchanted because they had to share playing time with other, younger players; but they didn't.  They were a TEAM on a mission and the ultimate goal of National Champions superseded any egocentric focus on personal fame.  They gave all they had when they were on the field and they encouraged their replacements and cheered them on to achieve greatness.  The TEAM won the national championship; the Heisman Trophy winners did not.  Certainly, Vince Young rose to an unprecedented level of leadership and greatness, but he credited the team effort for their success.  He, a very young man, taught a lesson in leadership, humility and team work to everyone who watched and listened to him on January 4.

Third, there are several large universities in Texas, and there are some tremendous rivalries between their football teams, but on January 4 it seemed that all Texans were cheering for the University of Texas Longhorns.  Aggies came out in droves with tee shirts stating, "Gig 'em, 'Horns" and showing a caricature of Bevo with band-aids holding "Varsity's" horns together that had been sawed off of the famous Longhorn.  All Texas was united to support UT against USC.  Bias and differences did not seem to matter, because it interfered with the goal-having a Texas university win the national championship in football. I was reminded of the same sense of pride that our lodge felt when we came together and put on the Ebony Fashion Fair Show.  We had petty differences, bias, and rivalries, turf battles all evaporated in favor of the Lodge pride and unity. What a wonderful thing!  Imagine what can be accomplished in real-life on an everyday basis, if we follow that example.

Congratulations to the Longhorns, thank you Vince Young for serving as an example to us all.

"Success fame and fortune they are all illusions, all that is real is the friendship that two can share"