NEAFC 32nd Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEw ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS
But, how .else can we respect the right of universal brotherhood, than only
.by our willingness to receive these new extremes of truth, for it is only then
that we can apply our Understanding.
Some years ago, a French artist was. commissioned to do the murals in the
Public Library of Boston, and one of his friends remarked to him:
~’I do not understand why you have done this job the way that it
has been accomplished, for your craftsmanship is very poor."
And the artist replied very simply:
"I want to make the Americans look at color."
Well, I think it is true that any great artist would say that the craftsmanship
contained in those murals is not of the highest quality; from the standards
of the line and symmetry and proportion in which we have been. engulfed
throughout the past years, it is not the kind of proportion that we might expect,
but if on~ looks beyond that and looks into the delicate shading of the colors
themselves and into the relationship of the figures that are there in those
murals, he somehow or another builds a new kind of appreciation for this
creative concept of the artist.
Therefore, it seems to me that even as new delight is experienced, new
wisdom comes to man. And this is the basic reason why we recall the lives
of those who have gone before us, those who have been of loyal service to the
profession to which we are committed, those who are always: diligent to discover
new proportions of beauty, and new appreciation for the basic concerns of life.
For friendship and loyalty and fair-play and cooperation and service is
the paths of our daily duties, all these and many ’more are the sum-total of
our experience, and with them, we face the reality of our world and strive for
understanding.
The person who lives his best will always transmit the best, because he
will always be able to receive the best from life. And this will be the person
who has discovered the basic meaning of eternal life, for himself and for his
world.
(The Chapel Quartette then rendered another appropriate selection.)
[PRESIDENT FORTIER: At this time, ! am going to call upon Father Collins,
to give the Benediction.
REVEREND MICHAEL F. COLLINS: O God, our Heavenly Father, once
more .today, we recommend to Thy tender care and loving mercy, the souls
of our departed comrades.
We ask You in a special way today, O Lord, that never may You allow
us to forget our comrades, our friends., and our loved ones.
Bless our dead, today, O Lord, and may they always rest in ._peace. Amen.
PRESIDENT FORTIER: I now declare this, Session of our conference adjourned.
(Whereupon, the Monday Afternoon Session was, adjourned at four-thirty
o’clock.)
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