  Visible matter is characterised by a single mass scale; namely, the proton
mass. The proton's existence and structure are supposed to be described by
quantum chromodynamics (QCD); yet, absent Higgs boson couplings, chromodynamics
is scale invariant. Thus, if the Standard Model is truly a part of the theory
of Nature, then the proton mass is an emergent feature of QCD; and emergent
hadron mass (EHM) must provide the basic link between theory and observation.
Nonperturbative tools are necessary if such connections are to be made; and in
this context, we sketch recent progress in the application of continuum
Schwinger function methods to an array of related problems in hadron and
particle physics. Special emphasis is given to the three pillars of EHM --
namely, the running gluon mass, process-independent effective charge, and
running quark mass; their role in stabilising QCD; and their measurable
expressions in a diverse array of observables.
