Spring Gleanings

“Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.” ― Virgil Kraft

There really are a lot of things that I like about the winter. I love the look of new-fallen snow and the way it clings to barren branches; the way I’m forced to squint as the sun lights it up and appears to be coming from everywhere at the same time.  I love how all of the familiar sounds are muffled after a snow fall. I even find a sort of comfort and security in the extra layers of clothing that I wear. In spite of all the bad publicity it receives, I still can see a lot of good in the cold dark days of the winter.

Spring is finally here, however. Though a rodent from the 52^nd Masonic District (Punxsutawney, PA is in the 52^nd Masonic District of Pennsylvania) may argue the point, spring officially begins with the Vernal Equinox – literally equal night – and marks the date when the days begin to have more light than darkness.  Passover, Easter, and numerous other religious observances occur, not coincidentally, near the Equinox as it is symbolic of hope, new life, and new beginnings.

Even the land takes on a new quality. Trees and plants, which appeared to be doing nothing for months (though they were actually quite busy), are beginning to unfold their leaves or poke their heads out from under the ground.  Everything around seems to be growing, changing, evolving.

What about your Lodge? What about you? 

Think about it. As the winter came on, the Lodge shed its old leadership. The new Masters and Wardens had the winter to become accustomed to their roles. During those dormant months, new ideas had time to form, take root. Now, with the spring, they can begin the metamorphosis from thought to action. As each part of the budding plant has a role to play in seeing it reach its full beauty, so too does each Mason have a duty in helping the Lodge reach its full potential. What can you as an individual Mason do to help?  For starters, stop waiting to be asked. Let your Master know you want to lend a hand. It can be something you’re already skilled at or even something you would be willing to learn for the benefit of the Lodge.

Next to getting Lodges out of the well worn ruts of old traditions, the hardest thing for a Master to do is find bodies to see projects through. I have seen more than one Master who had great ideas and plans that he couldn’t complete because there were not enough people to help him. Lodges are a lot smaller than they were thirty years ago. In many cases, they are half the size, so that problem will get worse before it gets better. So raise your hand. Better yet, lend it.

I challenge the Lodges to reinvent themselves this year. Discard the things that don’t work.  Seek to be more involved in your community. If we seek only to take care of what’s inside these walls, no one on the outside will care if we survive. Conversely, if we become a presence in our communities, there will be men in those communities who seek a presence among us.

Brethren, I ask each of you to do one new thing for your Lodge this year. You can choose what it is, but it should be something you haven’t done before. Ask to be on an investigating committee, cook one of the meals, do the audit, or even – gasp – try something new. If you have an idea, present it to the Lodge. The best way to do that is start with a sentence like, “I’d like your permission to organize a . . . ,” rather than, “Worshipful Master, you should organize a . . .” I don’t think I need to explain why.

Masters and Officers, as spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world, let it also show what you can do with a sleepy and stagnant Lodge. Stir it up. Shake the snow off of its branches and work to make it bloom into something that both brightens the community and feeds the souls of its members at the same time. Most of all, work so that years from now, when the members look at your picture on the wall of Past Masters, they think, “You know, that was a great year for our Lodge.”

So mote it be.

Singular v. Plural

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

 

That simple children’s tale has its origin as early as the seventeenth century, but its message is as timely for today’s adult is it was for yesterday’s child.  Its message is simple: what may seem like a little problem, if left unattended, can create dire consequences. 

I’m certain that the farrier, on finding nails in short supply, did not envision the loss of his master’s kingdom.  In fact, he probably thought that the shoe would hold just fine without the requisite number of nails.  The bucket of new nails was probably way across the village at the smith’s shop, and taking the time to make that journey would set him back in his work.  If he took that time, he wouldn’t get his work finished until after nightfall.  He would probably miss dinner and most certainly, his wife would be furious with him.  This shoe would hold just fine with three nails, he thought.

It is easy to see how this might apply to your Lodge.

On the back of every Lodge notice is a list of the Officers and Committees.  At the top of that list is the Worshipful Master.  Every other Officer and Committee member is a nail in the Lodge’s metaphorical shoe, and when one of those nails fails to perform, the Lodge suffers for it.

Either a Lodge is strong or a Lodge are weak.  My decision to use the singular and plural forms here was intentional.  A Lodge working in the singular, with unanimity, is a strong Lodge.  All the members are of the same mind. They all want what is in the Lodge’s best interest and they all work together to make it possible.  However, when a Lodge is functioning plurally, it has broken itself down into a conglomeration of individuals – each acting in his own interest, building his own power, manipulating, deliberately defying the Master or circumventing the will of the Lodge on the mistaken premise that he is the only right-thinking man there.  That Lodge is no longer a singular unit.  It is rudderless, at war with itself, and hence I would say that such a Lodge are weak.

I would ask you to consider whether your Lodge is or your Lodge are.  It’s probably fairly easy to tell.  How is your attendance?  Would all members feel that their ideas are given a fair hearing or do you have one or two people who think that it’s their Lodge and you’re simply fortunate enough to be sitting in it?  Do the Officers and members cheerfully do what is asked of them by the Master or do they make excuses, complain and deflect responsibility?

A Lodge that is functioning singularly probably would have good attendance – ten percent or better.  Their members could come before the Lodge with ideas and they would be debated in a friendly way.  Debates would be about ways to improve ideas, not sabotage them.  When asked, members would happily do whatever is in their power to help the Lodge.

Conversely, Lodges that function plurally would have more empty chairs than full ones.  Discussions would be dominated by the few personalities who feel that theirs is the only opinion that should matter.  Attempts at innovation would be squashed, and requests for help from the Master would be met with grumbling, complaints and excuses.  People would pay lip service to work, but the rolling up of sleeves would seldom be seen.

If you feel your Lodge is doing well, congratulations.  If you feel your Lodge are not doing well, there is still hope.  One of the first charges we receive as a Mason is to be obedient to the Master and other Officers.  How well are you doing that?  How well are the other members of your Lodge?

In our Opening Charge we are told that “if we are united, our Fraternity must flourish.”  How united are we?  Are there people who perpetually dissent or threaten to take their ball and go home if things aren’t done their way?  Ask them why.  Perhaps there is a problem outside of the Lodge that is driving them.  We are taught to remind our Brothers of their failings and aid their reformation.  That has to begin with a conversation. 

When you have time to reflect, ask yourself whether you are helping your Lodge to function singularly or plurally.  As Mason’s we are to strive constantly to smooth the surfaces of our ashlar.  That requires us to occasionally stop and check the progress.  In preparing this talk, I became aware of areas where I could improve both my attitude and my actions.  If that applies to you as well, I encourage you to do what you can to change.  Don’t be the farrier content with a shabbily-shod horse.  Demand the best of yourself.  Your Lodge, and more importantly, you, will be better for it.

After Us Cometh a Builder

When I was a King and a Mason -- a Master proven and skilled --

I cleared me ground for a Palace such as a King should build.

I decreed and dug down to my levels. Presently, under the silt,

I came on the wreck of a Palace such as a King had built. 

There was no worth in the fashion -- there was no wit in the plan --

Hither and thither, aimless, the ruined footings ran --

Masonry, brute, mishandled, but carven on every stone:

"After me cometh a Builder. Tell him, I too have known." 

Swift to my use in my trenches, where my well-planned ground-works grew,

I tumbled his quoins and his ashlars, and cut and reset them anew.

Lime I milled of his marbles; burned it, slacked it, and spread;

Taking and leaving at pleasure the gifts of the humble dead. 

Yet I despised not nor gloried; yet, as we wrenched them apart,

I read in the razed foundations the heart of that builder's heart.

As he had risen and pleaded, so did I understand

The form of the dream he had followed in the face of the thing he had planned. 

*   *   *   *   *

 

When I was a King and a Mason -- in the open noon of my pride,

They sent me a Word from the Darkness. They whispered and called me aside.

They said -- "The end is forbidden." They said -- "Thy use is fulfilled.

"Thy Palace shall stand as that other's -- the spoil of a King who shall build." 

I called my men from my trenches, my quarries, my wharves, and my sheers.

All I had wrought I abandoned to the faith of the faithless years.

Only I cut on the timber -- only I carved on the stone:

"After me cometh a Builder.  Tell him, I too have known!"

~ Brother Rudyard Kipling

 

Kipling’s poem tells the story of king who, while he was preparing a site to build his palace, comes upon the ruins of one which had stood there in a past age; and while it was written 111 years ago, its message is still relevant to the Masons of today.

So often, we tend to look at our labors in Freemasonry as individual, unique.  We don’t view what we do for our Lodges or for the Craft at large as part of a continuum, but rather as our own little snapshot in time, an island unto itself.  As leaders, we are easily led into doing things because “we’ve always done it that way,” or dissuaded from breaking new ground because “no one came when we tried that before.”  The king in Kipling’s poem was wise though.  He seized upon the opportunity to utilize those things of value left behind, those stones marked with “After me cometh a builder. . .”

It is interesting to me that he didn’t build a carbon copy of what was there.  He stuck to his plan, but salvaged as many of the pieces of the old palace that he could, changing and repurposing them to suit his vision for the future – cutting, resetting and even grinding some to dust.

Maybe we too need to do that.  Our Lodges have gotten smaller, our attendance more sparse.  If we continue down the same path, with the same reasons (excuses may be a better term) for doing the same old things in the same tired way, we will soon be no more.

Every Lodge should hold at least one open house this year – at the least, one.  If you held one last year that didn’t bring too many people through the door, will you do it the same way this year?  I hope not.  Perhaps, you can call one of the Lodges that did well to find out what their successes were and try to build on them.  After me cometh a builder. . .

Membership is the sine qua non of the Lodge.  Without members, we have neither revenue, attendance nor, when you get right down to it, a reason to exist.  Finding and attracting well-qualified men to our doors is a challenge that we must face head-on.  We cannot save it for the next Master to attend to. It is our responsibility.

The king realized that he was not the end, but just a paragraph in the whole story.  He knew that what he was doing was as important for the now as it was for the tomorrow.  After me cometh a builder. . .

So what are we to do once we have attracted these men to our Lodges?  If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard “These guys get their degrees then we never see them again,” or “They join the Lodge so they can get to Shrine or Scottish Rite,” I would have a bad back from dragging my enormously heavy bag of nickels around.

We have tools at our fingertips to make these new Masons want to come back to Lodge.  The Mentor program, when used properly, can spark excitement in a new Mason.  He can feel that he is part of something meaningful and bigger than himself as he learns about our system of government, our Grand Lodge and the great men of our past.  The online Masonic education courses are designed so that new and old Masons alike can learn about our history, our law and or labors.

Also, the new Mason can earn the prestigious Master Builders award from the Grand Lodge by completing a series of tasks and projects both within his Lodge and his District, but the catch is that he can’t do it alone.  The Mentor program plays a large role in his eligibility, and if your Lodge isn’t using it, you’re doing those Brothers – your future – a great disservice.   After me cometh a builder . . .

We have challenges ahead of us for sure, and a lot of work on the trestleboard.  Our Lodges should continue to work together, attending and supporting each other’s programs, even holding joint events.  We can be greater than the sum of our parts if we are willing to learn from each other, refine or discard the things that are holding us back and boldly strive to offer new and exciting events for Masons and their families. 

After us cometh a builder.  Tell him we too have known.

Companions On My Journey

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
there is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other doesn't make any sense.

- Rumi, Tr. Coleman Barks

Tonight is the final Official Visit of the 2012 season. When I get to this point in the year, I often begin to reflect on what I have written and delivered to you thus far, usually in an effort not to repeat myself. What I have found interesting is that each year some sort of theme usually presents itself. That has never been my goal, mind you, just a manifestation of where my soul is, and what, if anything, it compels me to write about. It is evident to me that this year, my soul has been on a journey of reflection.

I have tried to use this platform to challenge all of you, as well as myself to come to a better understanding of who we are, of why we believe the things we believe and why we do the things we do.  My hope has always been that you leave either inspired, challenged, invigorated, called to action or some combination of those.

Each and every time I sit at my desk and begin what is occasionally the easy, but oftentimes proves to be the daunting task of writing a talk that seeks to do those things, I start by reflecting.  I try to sit quietly and listen to that place in my chest which is constantly seeking light.  I guess if I were completely honest, I write for me.  I write to organize my thoughts, discover who I am, work through my problems, fears and inadequacies and hope that by doing so, the conclusions I come to will empower me to change what needs to be changed and to reinforce whatever I find to be acceptable.

Tonight’s blessedly brief talk is my way of saying thank you.  Thank you all for being my sounding board and for helping me to smooth my extremely rough ashlar.  Thank you for a season of Official Visits that have been incredibly enjoyable, uplifting and memorable.  We have laughed, we have cried.  We have shared things that can only be shared within the walls of a Masonic Lodge.

I have finally come to realize that you, my beloved Brothers, are Light.  This peace, the blessed joy of Masonic fellowship, is what my soul craves.  I look around at your faces and realize I would know virtually none of you if not for this bond.  I would bet that does not just apply to me.  Masonry is the sine qua non of most of the friendships here.  Perhaps some of us would have met by chance through business or family or some other way, but without the gentle spirit of the Craft pulling at our common need for understanding, we certainly would not know each other as well or as deeply as we do right now.

If you feel the same way, I ask you simply to do one thing.  Use the Masonic silence of the summer to rededicate yourself to the Craft.  Return this fall with renewed energy and a commitment to action.  Bring a man to your open house.  Bring two.  Volunteer.  Be an ambassador.  Listen to that part of your soul that is yearning to be part of something great, and nourish it.

Thank you all for traveling with me this year.  I am incredibly blessed to be your District Deputy Grand Master.  I have learned and I have grown both as a man and a Mason and I hope the same can be said for each of you.  I appreciate you having shared your light with me and listening while I shared mine. 

As my own words for how deeply I feel seem inadequate, I will close tonight as I opened, with the beautiful words of Rumi. . .

Those with no energy have gone.

You that remain, do you know

who you are? How many? 

Can you look at a fountain and become water?

Can you recognize the great self

and so enjoy your individual selves? 

Do you run from joy?

Perhaps the lion

should not flee the fox.

Let your loving and your soul

burn up in this candle.

Let a new life come. 

The friend is at the door.

You are the lock his key fits. 

You are a piece of candy,

the choice words of a poem,

the friend and the swallow

of silence here at the end.

Thank you for coming on my journey.

A Man for Others

On May 8th, I visited Tyrian Lodge No. 644.  The evening was absolutely wonderful.  Over 150  Masons packed into Plum Creek-Monroeville Lodge to see Brother Byrl J. Johnson, Regional Instructor, receive his Fifty Year Service Emblem.  Brother Byrl has labored tirelessly for Freemasonry and is a mentor to so many of us.  His love for the Fraternity was the inspiration for my address that evening.

A Man for Others

"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone? How else can we put ourselves in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and the eternal?” ~ Brother Winston Churchill

Freemasons are seekers – seekers of wisdom and of truth.  We seek justice, peace and equality.  We crave understanding.  The principles of Geometry, which form the architecture of our basic teachings were developed as a way to understand.  To understand nature, to find order in what seems at first glance to be chaos; and by finding that order, come to a better understanding of the nature of the Divine.

The Craft has always tried to put itself – as Brother Churchill so eloquently stated – “in harmonious relation with the great verities and consolations of the infinite and eternal.”   From the days of Pythagoras, whose teachings and discoveries form the foundation of much of our work, man has sought to commune with the Great Architect by gaining understanding of all that He has created.

The Masonic path – the quest to find one’s best self – is by necessity one that must be traveled alone.  There are two ironies in that.  First, while it is a solo journey, it cannot be taken without guides.   There is the guide who brings you into and through your Masonic Lodge and then, if you are lucky, there are other souls – kindred spirits – who open you to a greater understanding of yourself and of Freemasonry.

The other irony is that, through this personal formation – this incredibly self-involved act – one finds himself changed into a Man for Others. 

I have said before that the world needs Freemasonry because Freemasons are good, kind people.  We look to ease the burdens of others, to teach, to support and to improve everything that is in our power.  We are not perfect.  We make mistakes – sometimes large ones – but we endeavor at every turn to learn from them and to help teach others not to make the same ones.

As I look around this room tonight, I can honestly say that it is full of my personal mentors, Men for Others.  Some are role models of leadership and dignity, of character and right action.  Others are teachers who expect and accept nothing but my best.  Others still are spiritual friends whose hearts and souls emit a light that helps keep me on my path.  Each of us has someone like that.  He may be sitting next to you or he may have laid aside his working tools.  You may be that man to someone else in this room whether you’re aware of it or not.

I’d like to read a poem entitled “The Bridge Builder” by Will Allen Dromgoole.

An old man, going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near,
"You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you this bridge at the evening tide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him.

After we close this meeting, we will be honoring some within our ranks by presenting Fifty Year Service Emblems.  Each of them has been a Bridge Builder for us.  Without them, and without the ones who came before them, this Fraternity would not be here for us.  They have labored, in their own manner, to shore up our foundation and ensure our future success.  They are Men for Others.

We need emulate these men.  We need to be willing to shoulder whatever burdens come our way, be it raising money for Masonic Charities, leading our Lodges, being ambassadors of the Craft and attracting new men or simply as a laborer who pays his dues and quietly wears the badge of Freemason.

As we leave this sanctuary tonight and go back into a world that is strikingly at odds with the peace we feel within these walls, we must each take what we have learned on our personal journeys and vow to use it in a very public way.  Be like your mentors and “make this muddled world a better place for those who live in it after we’re gone.”  In short, be a Man for Others.

Growing Down

This address was delivered at Infinity Lodge No. 546 on March 14, 2012.  Infinity Lodge is in the process of merging Penn Brotherhood Lodge No. 635 into theirs.  The new Lodge will be a combination of ten previous Lodges.  While this is in many ways a sad commentary on the realities of modern life and the competition for a man's time, Infinity Lodge is one of the most charitable and caring Lodges around.  My Vist there, as it always does, energized and uplifted my soul.

Growing Down 

I find you there in all these things
I care for like a brother.
A seed, you nestle in the smallest of them,
and in the huge ones spread yourself hugely.

Such is the amazing play of the powers:
they give themselves so willingly,
swelling in the roots, thinning as the trunks rise,
and in the high leaves, resurrection.

Rilke, The Book of Hours I, 2

I chose that poem as the epigraph for this talk with the intention of using the growth of a tree as a metaphor for a Masonic Lodge.  I read it, reread it, leaned back at my desk and searched the sky for inspiration, or at least a starting point. 

Nothing.

I started searching for new poems and new stories to inspire me.

Nothing.

Then finally it hit me.  The tree would really be quite a good symbol for a Masonic Lodge if. . .  

If it grew backward.

If each individual Mason was a leaf that stood on its own and the gentle wind of commonality blew us all together, would not that Mystic Tie of our Brotherhood begin to connect us twig by twig?  Small groups of men would join for the common purpose of self-improvement.  As those men met others nearby, they might realize that connecting their branches into a common trunk would give them strength and stability – support for the work that Masons do.  That trunk would put down roots, weaving itself into the ground of the community in which it wants to grow and to which it wants to give protection, shade and comfort.

That’s what I see happening here.  Over the last 100 years or so the branches called Braddock’s Field, Fort Pitt, Homewood, Delta, Justice, Penn, Fox Chapel, Duquesne, Beta and Swissvale Lodges are now poised to be one great tree right here in Penn Hills.  That tree – this Lodge – brings shelter to the school that it neighbors, shade and comfort to those in need and support to the Charities of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

To continue the metaphor, once our tree has established roots, it must feed to grow.  That food can come in the form of new members.  Each Lodge this year will be required to hold an open house.  Opening our doors to those who know nothing about Freemasonry, what we stand for or the good works we do, is one simple way to attract men of good character who want to make themselves better.  At the Pennsylvania Masonic Congress held in March, a survey was taken and the number one reason those men listed for joining a Lodge was that men they admired were already Masons.  We need to open our doors so that we may inspire others to join our ranks.

Once they have entered, we must teach them.  We need to begin to see the Master/Apprentice relationship as more than allegorical.  We must use the Mentor Program developed by Grand Lodge to impress upon the newest Brother our history, our ideals and our mission.

The Online Education program of the Grand Lodge allows all Pennsylvania Masons to take classes on Masonic Law, History of the Craft and the Mentor program with new classes to be added soon.  Each of you should sign up that you might be better equipped to tell a non Mason friend why you’re proud to be a Freemason.

The Grand Master’s theme for his term is “Freemasons: Master Builders. Building for our Future.”   He has given us many ways to nourish our trees.  The Grand Master’s Award for the Lodges who earnestly attempt to make themselves better, the Master Builder’s Award for new Masons who complete a list of items designed to make them active, educated and useful members of the Lodge as well as the other tools I mention above are all food to help our hungry plant thrive.  In return we are asked to do some hard work.  We have been asked to donate funds to the Library and Museum this year and the Masonic Children’s Home next year.  We are expected to open our doors and become beacons in our community where good men gather to do great things.  In short we are tasked with being good Masons.

I would like to close with a poem by Rumi.  To me, it illustrates the connectedness that we all must have to those around us and how that connectedness – like our tree - can lift us all into greatness.

How does part of the world leave the world?

How can wetness leave water?

Don't try to put out a fire by throwing on

more fire. Don't wash a wound with blood.

No matter how fast you run, your shadow

more than keeps up. Sometimes it's in front.

Only full, overhead sun diminishes your shadow.

But that shadow has been serving you.

What hurts you blesses you.

Darkness is your candle.

Your boundaries are your quest.

I can explain this, but it would break the glass cover

on your heart, and there is no fixing that.

You must have shadow and light source both.

Listen, and lay your head under the tree of awe.

When from that tree, feathers and wings

sprout on your soul, be quieter than a dove.

Don't open your mouth for even a cooooo.

~ Tr. Coleman Barks

Better Than I Deserve

Every day, I feel blessed to be part of this Fraternity.  I feel even more blessed that I have been given the chance to be District Deputy Grand Master for the diverse and incredibly caring group of men that make the 54th District.  I confess, however, that sometimes I forget how lucky I am.  I delivered the following talk at Plum Creek-Monroeville Lodge, my home Lodge, on Tuesday night.  They help me remember sometimes that life truly is:

Better Than I Deserve

One of the duties of the Office of District Deputy Grand Master is the presentation of 50 Year Service Emblems.  I consider it the highest honor to be able to present those pins and personally thank my Masonic elders for being part of the continuum of Freemasonry.

It is also a high honor for each of us to listen as those recipients try to condense 50 years of service to the Craft into a few sentences.  At last month’s Visit to Penn Brotherhood Lodge, one of the recipients described his membership in the following way:

“You know,” he started, “when people say to me, ‘How are you doing today,’ I used to tell them I was fine or great, but now I feel I’m finally old enough now to reply, ‘Better than I deserve.’”

Better than I deserve.

That struck a chord with me that night, and as I looked around the room, I could see that it did the same for many.  So often we become complacent about the things around us, the people around us.  We take for granted that they are there and that we have somehow earned title to them.  Society speaks of entitlements.  The television tells us what we need -  or more accurately - what we just can’t live without.

As soon as that Brother finished speaking, I hurried for my notebook and wrote down that phrase, “better than I deserve.”  The next day, I sat at the computer with the intention of writing my talk for the next night's Official Visit around that idea.  The words just weren’t there yet, so I decided to tuck that away for awhile somewhere in the back of my mind.  I resolved to spend a little time trying to figure out what it meant to be better than I deserved.

From a scientific standpoint, in order to determine if something was better than I deserved, I would first have to discover what it is that I truly did deserve.  That prospect terrified me.

We are imperfect people.  We meet as Freemasons to try and perfect ourselves, fully realizing the futility of such an effort.  We come, nonetheless, and for a time strive to reach a place where we feel worthy of some of what has been given us.

If I am honest, I could be a better son, Brother, friend, loved one, teacher, student or any of the other myriad roles I play in my life.  I could listen more and talk less.  I could love more deeply, be more understanding, more empathetic.  Less judgmental.  I think we all could.

Take King David.  He was not exactly the perfect man.  He was a warrior, and a schemer.  He murdered his friend so that he could steal his wife.  In fact, he probably broke all of the Commandments.  In spite of all of that, he was chosen and beloved by God. 

David realized that what he had was better than he deserved, so he chose to honor God by building a Temple.   The Temple was, of course, built by Solomon, his son, but it was nevertheless, David’s recognition of God’s abundant grace that was the impetus for its construction.

So what are we as the allegorical heirs to that grand edifice doing with the gift we have?  Are we doing something every day in Masonry to be deserving of what this Fraternity has to offer?  Young men now get reduced dues and initiation fees if they are enrolled in school.  Have you asked a young man to take advantage of that?  Have you volunteered in your community as a Mason?  Are you going to help at your Lodge’s open house?  Have you reached out to a Brother in need?  Have you helped someone who needed it without waiting for them to ask?  Are you an ambassador for Freemasonry in all you do?  I would suspect that precious few could answer all of those questions affirmatively.  I know I cannot.
 

Each of us is richly blessed, and whether we are each in a place in our lives to fully appreciate that or not, we need be thankful for the gifts we have been given.  We must be grateful for those who love us, and love them back as deeply as our hearts allow - never holding any of it back.  We must be thankful for our Brothers and supply their needs to the best of our abilities, and finally, we must cherish the gift that is Freemasonry by being good stewards.  Just as I thank those who came before me for making this possible for me, I hope to one day stand before a room full of Masons much younger than me and know that I did my part to keep this Fraternity vibrant, healthy and alive for those yet to come.
 

I have no idea if what I have said tonight has touched any of you.  I don’t know if you’ll leave here feeling inspired to action.  I have not a clue if any of you feel lucky to be a Mason.  What I do know, however, is that the next time someone asks me how I’m doing, I will respond with the answer. . . Better than I deserve.