Pillars of Cloud and Fire: The First GPS

My first Official Visit of 2012 was held at Bethel Lodge No. 789 last night.  I had the great honor of presenting Fifty Year Service Emblems to three members of the Lodge.  One of them journeyed from Columbus, Ohio to receive the award. 

I have missed the fellowship that these Visits afford me.  Though there is work involved, my soul is refreshed. 

My address to the Brethren follows.  Feel free to respond with your thoughts.

Pillars of Cloud and Fire: The First GPS

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. - Buddha

The Book of Exodus in the Bible tells the story of the Israelites’ escape from Egyptian captivity. The Lord promised that he would guide the Israelites to the Promised Land by appearing as a pillar of cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night. The Israelites did not have a map, they did not know their final destination and they did not know the route that lay before them, but with Pharaoh’s army at their back, they set off on their journey with the trust that they would be delivered. The Pillars were, in essence, the first GPS.

There are many challenges that face our Fraternity. Some are challenges from within, and others are challenges from without. How we meet these challenges will, in no small way, affect our future both at the Lodge level as well as the Fraternity as a whole. Would it not be wonderful, then, if we had a GPS to guide our Lodges and our Fraternity to prosperity, higher meeting attendance, increased membership or some other destination or goal that we would like to reach?

The beauty of a GPS is that it makes it possible to set off on a journey of several hundred miles to an unfamiliar destination without even looking at a map or planning a route. The machine does all the work. Ironically, the terror of a GPS is that it makes it possible to set off on a journey of several hundred miles to an unfamiliar destination without even looking at a map or planning a route. As I have traveled to various Lodges around the state or through areas that are wholly unfamiliar, I have thought about how utterly lost I would be if my GPS decided to utter its last direction at that moment; I have no doubt that the Israelites felt much the same way.

Our new Grand Master, Jay W. Smith, has implemented programs that will help the Lodges reach some of their goals. He has made it easier for men who have been suspended to return to the Fraternity by streamlining the process and forgiving the dues that were in arrears. He has made it more affordable for young men to join by reducing the initiation fees and dues for men ages 18-23 who are enrolled in college. He has continued the Grand Master’s Award for Lodges who meet a series of goals with regard to attendance, growth, community service, mentoring and several other factors. This award will serve as a GPS of sorts to help the leaders of the Lodges guide the Lodges to a state of vibrancy, prosperity and relevance.

To help the individual Mason, the Grand Master has started the Master Builder certification for new Masons. The cornerstone of the program is the new online Masonic Internet Education Program. Currently courses are available for Masonic Law, History and the Mentor Program. They are self guided and have quizzes to mark your progress. I would encourage everyone here to avail himself of this great tool to become a more educated Freemason.

There’s a funny quirk in my GPS system, and I’m sure that many of you have experienced it too. Sometimes it takes me on one route to my chosen destination and a completely different route home. As I choose to take the route that I’m more familiar with, Jill (that’s what I call her) will get irritated with me and try to get me to see things her way. At every opportunity, she will try to have me make my way back to her chosen path or even to make a u-turn – only when it’s safe of course, because she really does care about me.

Lodges can be a lot like that too. There are a myriad of ideas about how to best run a Lodge and there is usually no shortage of less-than-bashful people to tell the Master and Wardens that they have deviated from the chosen route. If you are the leader, you have to be confident that the plan you have chosen will work. If you are one of the less-than-bashful people who think you know a better way, you have to be more willing to suggest than to command.

If we are to succeed as an organization, it is important that the Brethren unite with their Worshipful Masters, the Masters with the District and the District with the Grand Lodge. It is through unity that we can accomplish great things.

Whether you are called to be a leader or called to be a laborer, what you do for Freemasonry is important. You may not be a great Ritualist or aspire to the East, but you may be an ambassador.

As I was organizing my thoughts for this talk, it occurred to me that Freemasonry itself is sort of a GPS – we can even call it a Guiding Principal System. The tenets of Freemasonry, when coupled with the tenets of an individual’s Faith, can help guide a man to be the best he can be as a father or son, a citizen, leader, and – forgive the pun – a pillar in his community. The man you are, and the virtue you show in your everyday life, may inspire someone to knock at the West Gate of our Temple. Your participation, therefore – in whatever form it takes – is essential to the success of the Craft. There is another Buddhist saying that a drop of water is a small thing, but it will not dry away if united as a lake.

In today’s world, we do not have a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire to guide us. What we do have as Freemasons is our individual faith and the working tools of the Craft to act as our GPS – our Guiding Principal System – to help make ourselves, our communities, and our Lodges the best we can be. I challenge each of you to begin that journey tonight.

A Brief Meditation

This address was delivered on May 23, 2011 at Lodge Ad Lucem No. 812, our Traditional Observance Lodge.  I chose this format as a way to encourage discussion afterward at the Agape Feast.

Disclaimer: I in no way hold myself to be a literary expert.  I am not a Rumiologist, but rather a Rumiphile.  The views expressed here are my own and based solely on the emotions and thoughts evoked by my reading of the poem.  If you read the poem and have other insights, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.

As I have been preparing these papers for publication on The Point Within a Circle, I realize that I quite often (nearly constantly) quote Rumi.  I am of two minds on this.  Part of me feels that I need to broaden my stable of quotable poets, as there are so many great ones from which to choose.  The other part - obviously the one that is winning - feels that there is such a gold mine of elegant and simple metaphors and life lessons within his words that I should mine it until the lode is gone.  Every reading and re-reading (and there have been countles re-readings) opens something new to me.  When I finish reading, I am always left with a fresh question, and occasionally, if I'm lucky, the shadow of an answer...

In the Arc of Your Mallet

Don't go anywhere without me.
Let nothing happen in the sky apart from me,
or on the ground, in this world or that world,
without my being in its happening.

Vision, see nothing I don't see.
Language, say nothing.
The way the night knows itself with the moon,
be that with me. Be the rose
nearest to the thorn that I am.

I want to feel myself in you when you taste food,
in the arc of your mallet when you work,
when you visit friends, when you go
up on the roof by yourself at night.

There is nothing worse than to walk out along the street
without you. I don't know where I'm going.
You are the road and the knower of roads,
more than maps, more than love. 

That poem by the Persian poet Rumi, while written hundreds of years prior to what we think of as the beginning of Craft Masonry, captures what I believe is the essence of what we as Freemasons are constantly seeking: a reconnection with the Divine.

While an individual’s reasons for seeking our Fraternity and the Light it can offer is as variable as the weather, the message that he will receive and the lessons he will learn – assuming that he applies himself – are changeless.

When stripped of all its trappings, the essential message of Freemasonry is the search for perfection and a connection with the Divine.  Each and every working tool, every ornament or jewel within the Lodge and even the allegory of the Master Mason’s degree speak in some way to the loss of or hunt for perfection.

In tonight’s brief meditation, I want to read the stanzas of the poem and allow you to apply them to your profession as a Freemason.  Tonight I will ask questions rather than supply answers.  Tonight, you will work upon your own Trestleboards. 

Don't go anywhere without me.

Let nothing happen in the sky apart from me,

or on the ground, in this world or that world,

without my being in its happening.

To whom is the poet speaking?  What is he asking for?  What would you be willing to do to have that kind of connection with your God?

Vision, see nothing I don't see.

Language, say nothing.

The way the night knows itself with the moon,

be that with me. Be the rose

nearest to the thorn that I am.

Is there a reason that the poet chose vision and language as the first two symbols?  Is there a Masonic connection between vision and language?  Can it be said that a cathedral or great edifice is itself a prayer to Deity?  What is the connection between how the night knows itself with the moon and how a man can better know himself by Freemasonry?

I want to feel myself in you when you taste food,

in the arc of your mallet when you work,

when you visit friends, when you go

up on the roof by yourself at night.

In this stanza, God is given very human qualities.  He eats, works, socializes and relaxes.  Perhaps we need to ask ourselves if we feel that He is present with us when we do those things.  Are we bringing our best selves to our Agapes?  Our labors within the quarries of the Craft?  What about our relationships with our Brothers?

As men who are seeking Light – more accurately, knowledge – is there anything worse than not knowing or understanding your God?  Can we be sure of anything without the help of “the road and the knower of roads?”

Those questions are not necessarily meant to be answered out loud.  I do not have the answers and I most assuredly do not have your answers, but take a little time to reflect on those lines.

Perhaps a poem that is over 800 years old can help you be a better man and Freemason today.

Going the Extra Mile - or 26.2

This address was given on May 10, 2011 at my Official Visit to Valley Lodge No. 613.  Rather than edit the text and tense, I chose to leave the address as it was delivered that evening.

Going the Extra Mile - or 26.2

Ability is what you are capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.
--Lou Holtz

Four days, 10 hours and 30 minutes from now, I will be standing with 15,000 other people at the start line of the Pittsburgh Marathon waiting anxiously for the gun to sound, signaling the beginning of my journey through the streets and neighborhoods of Pittsburgh.  Measured purely in distance, it is 26 miles and 385 yards of running.  Measured in preparation, it is 500 miles through snow, rain, wind, heat and whatever else nature cares to throw my way on any given day, it is sheets of Moleskin to ease blisters, 40 hours of last minute physical therapy for a knee that hates me a little bit for what I’m asking it to do, it is the mental preparation necessary to suffer and push through the last miles when every fiber of your body is begging you to quit.  I know that many of you have heard me talk ad nauseum about this and you may all be thankful when I move on to a new subject.  Marathon running is not necessarily for everyone, but there are lessons we can all learn from what it takes to train and complete one.

I noticed something interesting as I was training for this race.  When I took my first fifteen mile run, the last mile was difficult.  When I took my eighteen mile run, mile fifteen was easy, but again the last mile was difficult.  Same with my twenty mile run – eighteen was not difficult, but the last mile was miserable.  Now, I cannot say that in the seven days between each of those runs, I got in markedly better shape.  So why is it that the last mile of the run, regardless of the length, is such a struggle?  Why is going the extra mile – or in this case, the last mile – so daunting?

T. Alan Armstrong said, “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in the hours, weeks, months and years they spend preparing for it,” and whether we are talking about running a marathon, running a Lodge or making yourself into the best man and Mason you can be, that is true.

Each of you sitting here has inherited a great treasure – that of the name Freemason.  Each of you then, is required to do something to be worthy of that name.  Not everyone is called to be a Lodge Officer, or a Ritualist, and it is not necessary for each of us to play every role in the Lodge for it to be successful.  Your role may be Ambassador.  You may attend regularly, or even not-so-regularly, but you wear your lapel pin with pride and you act like a Mason wherever you go so that the world knows we are good because YOU are good.  A commitment to practicing the tenets of Freemasonry makes them a natural part of you.  You must always go the extra mile to live and act in a way that preserves our reputation as a fraternity of fine and upstanding men.  If your calling within the Craft is to be an Officer, you must prepare for it by learning your work, choosing men to support you, scheduling exciting programs and giving the men who you lead a reason to want to come to Lodge.  The extra mile you must run is committing the time necessary to lay the groundwork for a year as Worshipful Master.  Just like the physical conditioning a runner must have, preparing in advance helps make success achievable.

If you feel called to be a Ritualist – and let us make no mistake – this Lodge, and most Lodges could use more Ritualists – you must not look at it as a daunting and unreachable task, but one that can be prepared for properly over time.  It may seem as daunting to you as the task that is before me on Sunday, but with hard work, determination and practice, nearly every one of you that wants to learn to confer our degrees certainly can.

So what is the reward for going the extra mile?  What can proper planning and execution do for seemingly impossible tasks?

Right Worshipful Grand Master, Thomas K. Sturgeon, came into office having seen fifty consecutive years of decline in membership.  He recognized the critical importance of reversing that trend.  He stood at a starting line nearly 18 months ago and had an imposing task ahead of him, but when the gun sounded, he fixed his mind on a goal and did not stop fighting until it had been reached.  Last year our membership grew.  Was it a massive expansion?  No.  But compared to the usual loss of approximately 3,000, a net gain of 450 was phenomenal.  It did not happen on its own.  It was the result of years and months and hours of preparation and of all of us going the extra mile to see his vision achieved.

This year we will again be holding a One Day Journey.  If you have a son or grandson, father or grandfather, nephew, uncle, neighbor or coworker that you believe would be a good Mason, ask him to join.  Tell him you think enough of him to have invited him to be a part of the greatest Fraternity in the history of the world.

I know you have all been asked to do a lot.  You were asked by the Grand Master last year to raise funds for the Masonic Villages.  I have asked you to raise at least $2,000 for the Masonic Youth.  I am happy to report that my Marathon for Masonic Youth is on its way to raising at least that much.  As of this afternoon, I have had $1798.79 contributed by individuals, Masons and non Masons who recognize the important mission of the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation as well as the good work of Pitcairn Rainbow Assembly and Lincoln Chapter, Order of DeMolay.  My work is not finished, I feel like I can exceed the original goal.  I would love to be able to say to myself as I run that every mile I run will earn $100 for the Youth.  That means we need to work a little harder.  You can help me by donating tonight – I accept both cash and checks – or you can visit the District Web Page and connect to the secure Paypal site and donate that way.  I ask you all to be benevolent as we are taught here in the Craft.  Help me go the extra mile – or extra 26 miles, 385 yards to build and grow our youth groups.  If our finish line as Masons is making a better world for all, then the youth is where we must start.  Editor's Note: The goal set that evening was, to say the least, exceeded.  As I lined up at the start line, I knew that each mile I ran would bring over $267 to our Masonic Youth!  I am, to this very minute, humbled by the outpouring of generosity by my friends and Brothers.  Thank you all.

It has been said that every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up and it knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed.  Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up, it knows that it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.  It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle, just that when the sun comes up you'd better be running.

Your personal goal may be to run a marathon, run a Lodge or improve yourself and the world in which you live.  Whatever race you find yourself in, run it.

Staying In Your Infinity

Before death takes away what you are given,

give away what is there to give. 

No dead person grieves for his death. He mourns only what

he didn't do. Why did I wait? Why did I not . . . ? Why did I

neglect to . . . ?

I cannot think of better advice to send. I hope you like it.

May you stay in your infinity. 

Peace. ~ Rumi 

That is an excerpt from one of a very small number of letters written by the Sufi poet Rumi.  As I reflected upon those words recently – what they should mean to me and how I need to order my life so that I might stay in my own infinity – my mind would wander through the things in my past that I did not handle as well as I should have, people I should have been more kind to, words that I should not have left unsaid, and some that perhaps I should have; things I have done and not done that have changed my life and the lives of others.

Often we act as though the things we do and say are self-contained – that they exist in a vacuum and are a part of only our own world, not the bigger world around us.  We forget that the things we do and do not do affect others just as much or more than ourselves.

“Is P.J. having a mid-life crisis,” you ask.  And what does this have to do with Freemasonry? 

No.  And quite a lot actually.  You see, as I meditated on those beautiful words of Rumi, I came to realize that the one thing that all of my questions had in common was that they were tied to charity.  Was I generous enough with my money, my forgiveness, my kindness or my love?

Faith, Hope and Charity are the three basic Moral lessons of the Craft, and Charity, my Brothers, is the most important tenet of this great Fraternity.  In some jurisdictions, it is said in the first degree that "Faith may be lost in sight; Hope ends in fruition; but Charity extends beyond the grave, through the boundless realms of eternity."   

So central should these ideals be to a Mason’s heart, that in 1820 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania commissioned William Rush to make sculptures of those three virtues.  They are on display at the Grand Lodge in Philadelphia to this day and are absolutely exquisite pieces. 

As I have traveled last year and asked you to donate to my Marathon for Masonic Youth, many of you came forward with cheerful hearts and given generous pledges to support the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation and the Youth Groups within the District.  Every single time I receive a notification from the website, or one of you comes to me with your donation, I feel a profound sense of pride.  Pride, not in what I am able to do for the youth through this run, but pride in my association with men of such fine character that they will gladly give of what they have to help others.

At my Official Visit to Infinity Lodge, they gave away over $17,000 to charity and they were nowhere near done for the year.  If you were there with me that night, you might not even remember the amount, but I am certain that you would remember the spirit in which it was given.  A Brother would rise and mention a need that he believed the Lodge could fulfill, then a vote was taken and the Lodge would unanimously assent to filling that need.  That kind of unhesitating generosity stands in stark contrast to how some Lodges view charity.  I have heard charity requests called shakedowns; I have been in Lodges that have debated for fifteen minutes or more about whether or not a food pantry really needs a donation from a Masonic Lodge.  I have also witnessed people voting no – out loud – to donating $50.00 to the Katrina relief efforts a few years ago.

I am here to tell you tonight that we must change how we look at Charity.  Am I suggesting that each and every hand that knocks at our door should go away filled?  No.   Am I asking that any Lodge empty its bank account to fulfill our charitable mission?  No.  What I am saying is that if we do not do what we can for others, when we are able, we are not being true to our ideals, and at some future date, we may mourn what we did not do.

It has often been said that the true secret of Freemasonry is not in a word, or a grip or a sign, but in that ineffable bond that is formed when men of different faiths, creeds, occupations and stations in life kneel at her Altar and obligate themselves to be the best men they can be.

It has been my greatest privilege to meet some of the finest men I have ever known here within Masonry's sacred walls.  Most of you I never would have crossed paths with had it not been for Freemasonry.  Most of us don’t share the same occupation, or hobbies or even socialize with the same groups outside of here, but we share a deep belief that we can do better.  We can come here, find our better selves and help change the world we live in when we leave this place.

I look out on you tonight and see men for whom I am truly thankful.  Your charity to me may have been a charity of patience as I learned my Masonic work, or of forgiveness for words not-so-well-chosen; you may have been generous with your praise or your thanks. 

You may even just be a kindred spirit.   Someone with whom I connect on a level that is too deep to explain; someone I know would gladly give anything to help me and I would be eager to help in the same way.

We can all think of people we know this well.  We need to give thanks for their generosity to us and be ever willing to give in the same way back to them.

Remember that when our end approaches, as Rumi says, we will not grieve for our death, but the things we didn’t do.  Be generous with your treasure, liberal with your praise, abundant with your kindness and most of all, be unselfish with your love.  Do not approach your end wishing you could have done more, do it now.  “I cannot think of better advice to send.  I hope you like it.  May you stay in your infinity.  Peace…”

There Is a Season

Greetings once again Brethren.  I have been absent from the blog lately and for that I apologize.  Over the next few weeks, I will post those addresses I gave at this year's visitations with little change.  I ask you, therefore, to forgive such references as may be slightly out of date.  A good example may be found in the opening sentence below.
This address was given at Infinity Lodge No. 546 on April 13th

There Is a Season

Harshness gone. All at once caring spreads over
the naked gray of the meadows.
Tiny rivulets sing in different voices.
A softness, as if from everywhere,

is touching the earth.
Paths appear across the land and beckon.
Surprised once again you sense
its coming in the empty tree. – Rilke

Though the air certainly doesn’t feel like it, the calendar tells us that it is spring.  Most of you know that I’m a runner.  I’m usually out five or six days a week, regardless of the weather, training for the marathon.

I’ve been a running and cycling enthusiast for almost ten years now.  Conservatively, I have logged more than 7,000 miles on foot and probably the same distance on the bike, the vast portion of both being outdoors.   For me, one of the unexpected benefits of exercise has been to be in tune with the cycles of nature.

There is something about every season of the year that I love.

The summer brings warmth and a total greening of the world around me.  Everything seems to be alive.  In the fall, I love the gold and red glow given off by the trees as the first light of morning hits the tops of them.  The smell of the fallen leaves and the damp fall air make every run seem special.  In the winter, I love making the first set of tracks as I wind my through the woods; the skeletal trees standing in dark contrast to the yet-to-be trodden snow.

Spring, more than any season, is always special to me.  As the days begin to get longer, the crocuses and iris start to poke their heads out of the ground and awaken.  The birds return and the once silent trails are noisy early in the morning.  The earth and almost everything on it seems to be poised for rebirth.

As I ran this week and marveled at all that was being born again around me, my thoughts turned toward our Fraternity and the rebirth it is experiencing.

When we think about spring, we seem to think that everything happens on its own – that the plants just go to sleep in the fall and wake up again in April.  But that’s not quite true.  Plants spend the summer storing much-needed nutrients to help them survive the winter and re-emerge when the climate is more inviting.  Animals, in the same way, either spend the summer gathering what they need to survive the harsher months, or leave the area and use great amounts of energy to return with spring.

We as Masons must recognize that every year for us must bring with it a renewed focus, an expending of our energies and a time to plan for our future.  There is a tendency to think of what we do in and for our Lodge as linear; we learn a Degree, get certified and then confer it.  After that we move on to the next.  Or we move through the chairs of the Lodge, learning the work of each station.  We continue to advance until we reach the East.  After that we relax and watch others do it.  There always seems to be a beginning, a middle and an end.

If we viewed our Masonic duties as cyclical, how much better off would our Fraternity be?  What if every summer meant we spent the time learning our work for the next station we are to hold or reading a Masonic book?  Every fall could be a time to shed one bad habit or improve one thing about ourselves as men.  We could spend each winter volunteering in our communities and helping those in need at a very hard time of the year.

Spring then could be our time for rebirth.  We could talk to the people we know and love about how special Freemasonry is to us - and I know that if you are here tonight, Freemasonry is special to you.

I would be willing to wager that each and every one of you knows at least one great man who is not a Mason.  He may be a neighbor, a co-worker, an acquaintance from your house of worship or even a relative.  He may or may not even know you are a Mason, but that doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that you know he would be a good Mason and it is your duty – to yourself, to your Lodge and to your friend – to let him know how much more full his life could be by joining this great band of men.

My maternal grandfather was one of the best men I ever knew.  He worked most of his life as a brakeman for the Union Railroad.  He was simple man with a gentle soul and lived his life with a quiet dignity.  My understanding is that he attended Lodge – even if it was a little sporadically.  I have no recollection of him every wearing a Masonic ring or seeing anything Masonic in his house.  It wasn't until he went into the hospital in 1997, where he eventually died, that I found out he was a Mason.

The Friend to Friend video arrived in his mail.  I asked my mom what it was.  She said "I don't know, but Pap's a Mason.  Ask him."  I asked him if I could watch it and he said yes.  I never had the chance to watch it while he was alive since I was spending so much time with him.  But after I saw his Masonic funeral and was so touched by its words, I relayed that story to the Worshipful Master.  He told me to watch the video and to contact him if I was interested in what it had to say.   The rest is history obviously, but I can't help thinking that if he could have asked me to join back then, he would have.  I am thankful that he is chiefly responsible for me being a Mason, but I would be lying if I did not say I have some regret that we missed out on years of sitting in Lodge together and growing closer as brothers, not just as grandfather and grandson.

I have brought petitions with me for this year’s One Day Journey.  It will be held at the Greater Pittsburgh Masonic Center on November 5^th.  After the meeting is over, come ask me for one.  Give it to someone who you KNOW will be a good Mason.  If you would rather, he can also advance the traditional way.  How he comes to be a Mason is not important.  What is important is that you will help a good man become a great one through his participation here.

Brethren, as I close, I implore you to let this time of year reawaken your spirit.  Let the Masonic Renaissance be a rekindling for you of the fire that burns deep within your heart and the heart of every Freemason.  Commit yourselves unequivocally to the ideals of our Fraternity and remember that your commitment does not end with the setting of the sun or the change of the season.  It must continue always, being born anew every year so that you are forever worthy of the title Freemason!

Honor and Recognition

On March 8th, I made my Official Visit to Penn Brotherhood Lodge No. 635.  The Worshipful Master, Brother Art Lindsay, and all the officers were in fine form.  We awarded four 50 Year Service Pins and it was great to hear those men speak about what Freemasonry has done for their lives.  My address is below.

Honor and Recognition

"MEN WANTED: FOR HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. SMALL WAGES, BITTER COLD, LONG MONTHS OF COMPLETE DARKNESS, CONSTANT DANGER, SAFE RETURN DOUBTFUL. HONOUR AND RECOGNITION IN CASE OF SUCCESS."

- SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON

What you just read was an advertisement that was supposedly run in a London newspaper by Brother Sir Ernest Shackleton.  It may just be a legend, as there is no extant copy of the ad, but as the legend goes, according to Shackleton, “It seemed all the men of Great Britain were determined to accompany me, the response was so overwhelming.”

Why do you suppose that an advertisement that details such certain agony would engender such a response from the readers?  What is it about honor and recognition that motivates men to take such risks?  Are there lessons that we as Freemasons can take from that and apply to our Lodges and our lives?

As a culture today, we have by and large embraced the easy life.  There are few people who would read Shackleton’s advertisement and be motivated to apply for the job.  After all, there is no mention of health benefits, vacation, sick time or a 401k.  Why on earth would we be interested?  That mentality has also seeped into our Lodges.  Why should I pay higher dues?  What benefit do I get out of holding a fundraiser for the Masonic Villages?  How will working on a community service project help me?

I cannot stand before you and tell you that doing any of those things will be of direct benefit to you.  You may reap the ancillary benefits of improving your community or supporting Masonic Charities at some point in your life, but I would be lying if I told you that there would be an immediate and recognizable benefit to you personally for doing it.

I will tell you, however, that the satisfaction you will have from working hard to ease the path for others will be great.

Last year when I addressed this Lodge, I told the story of a king who placed a large boulder in the road to see who would move it.  All the able-bodied men walked by it, thinking themselves above the task.  A small boy finally moved it fearing that someone would be injured by it.  Under it, he found a bag of gold.  I told this story in hopes of inspiring you to action – to making you understand that clearing the path for others makes our passage easier as well.  Were some of the Lodges inspired to action?  Yes.  Was yours?  I’ll allow you to decide that for yourself.  If your answer is no, then it is incumbent upon you to make it happen.  Do not look at the man to your left or to your right and assume that it is he who should lead the charge.  If you elected officers are not doing it, volunteer to do it for them.  And I am speaking now of all the programs of the Renaissance – Open Houses, Community Service, Membership Growth, Suspensions and everything else that we have been striving to change in the last fourteen months.

I spoke to you recently about the importance of not resting on our laurels.  I mentioned that I expected the Lodges in this District to continue raising funds for Masonic Charities because doing that is the right thing to do.  I am challenging Penn-Brotherhood Lodge and all the Lodges of the 54th District to hold fundraisers this year both for the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation - at least $2,000 to this most deserving charity.  I expect you to band together and do what it takes to make the contributions that you should to the youth groups that we all support.  Why should you do this?  Why should the members of this Lodge come together, give up one or more Saturdays to raise funds for the kids or the elderly?  Because you are Freemasons and if you are true to your calling, you know that being charitable is the right thing to do. 

Saying we are charitable and being charitable are two very different things.  Being a Freemason, and yet sitting on your hands and or wallets when called to action are to me irreconcilable.  When a need exists within our Fraternity or without, we must unhesitatingly jum p up and be the first to try and meet it.  We must put aside concerns for our own lost time, or expended energy and do what we know is right.

I am calling on our leaders – those of you who hold, or aspire to hold, elected offices in your Lodges to do what you are called to do.  Lead your Lodges.  Find causes that you believe in, rally support, make the plans and take the steps necessary to make your events successful. 

Rallying support may mean more than putting an announcement in your Lodge bulletin that you want help.  It may mean picking up the phone and personally contacting your members to solicit their help.

The wages will be small for each of you who participates, but you will not have to deal with bitter cold, months of complete darkness or constant danger.  The honor and recognition will be the self-satisfaction of a job well done.

I mentioned at my first Visitation that I will not ask you to do something that I am not willing to do as well.  I will not stand here and pay lip service to the idea of working hard for our charities without doing it myself.  I am running the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 15^th and am hoping to raise $2,000 through pledges of support from friends, family and my Brothers (my ever so generous Brothers) to donate to the DeMolay and Rainbow groups in the 54^th District as well as to the Pennsylvania Masonic Youth Foundation.  There is a link on the District Website where you can make secure online donations through PayPal using a credit card, debit card or your PayPal account.

I encourage you – nay, I beg you – to give any amount that you feel comfortable donating, knowing that it both supports the youth of our area and forces me to suffer through 26 agonizing miles of running through the streets of Pittsburgh for the cause.

Brethren, I know it seems at times that Freemasonry may ask a lot of you, but to be worthy of the reward you must answer the call.  You must view your membership in the greatest Fraternity in the world as the “honor and recognition” that Shackleton spoke of and therefore be willing to endure – metaphorically speaking – small wages, months in complete darkness and constant danger.

I ask you, members of Penn Brotherhood Lodge as well as all of you here to become engaged in the future of your Lodge and of your Fraternity.  You will be better men for it.

Do Me a Favor

On March 3rd, I attended Pollock Lodge No. 502 for my second Official Visit of the year.  I was delighted that almost ninety Masons showed up for the evening.  The Worshipful Master, Brother Jim Tomson, and all of the Officers and members made me and every visitor feel at home.

We gave 50 year emblems to two of their members and heard them talk about how special the bonds were that they developed through their membership in this great fraternity.

I gave the following address at the end of the evening:

Do Me a Favor

The deed is everything, the glory nothing. – Johanne Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust 

If you’ve been to more than one or two of my visitations, there is a better than average chance that you have heard me tell a story about Maestro Robert Page.  Bob was the long-time Conductor and Music Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, an organization I sang with for many years.  To my knowledge, Bob is not a Mason, but he embodies, both in spirit and in action, many of the virtues that Masons endeavor to practice.

One snowy night years ago, we were at the final rehearsal for a very challenging piece of music. We knew that there was still work to be done if it was to be perfect and all of us, including Bob, were feeling the pressure. At a break in the rehearsal, a young man, new to the group looked outside and saw that there was quite a bit of snow on the ground. He called his roommates and asked if the buses were still running.

“No. It looks like service was suspended because of the snow,” was the reply he got. This young man who knew no one in the group particularly well, summoned the courage to approach Bob and timidly ask, “Maestro, I hate to be a bother but I need a favor. Is there any way I can get a ride home with you after rehearsal?”

“Absolutely,” he replied. “Don’t think a thing of it.”

That, in and of itself, is not so remarkable. What happened next was. As we returned from our break, mentally steeling ourselves for another exhausting hour of intense rehearsal, Bob put down his baton, pulled up a stool and began to teach a life lesson.

“I was just asked to do someone a favor and I wanted to talk a little about what that means. A student asked me to give him a ride home tonight. He lives less than one block off of my route home. Now is that a favor? Is it really doing someone a favor to drop them at a house that I was driving by anyhow?

“To me, doing a favor for someone,” he continued, “should imply a hardship or inconvenience on the bestower. We are too quick to classify what should just be acts of decency as favors. A favor would have been driving him to the opposite side of Pittsburgh. A favor is changing a stranger’s tire while you are wearing a tuxedo or mowing an elderly neighbor’s lawn.”

So in his own way, Bob did me a favor that night. He gave up several precious minutes of much-needed rehearsal to teach a lesson that will stick with me forever: That we should consider the needs of others over our own needs, and that we should do things for people, not because it makes us feel good, but because it is the right thing to do.

Do I live up to that standard all or even most of the time? No. There are some of you who do, but most of us know we could improve. We sometimes focus on the glory, not the deed, or we assume someone else will pick up the slack since we’re too busy to help this time.

As Masons we are taught to be charitable. Certainly charity has to do with being generous with our monetary gifts, but we need to be charitable with our time and our talents as well.

Pollock Lodge is an example of generosity by any of those definitions.

They have held fundraisers, not just for the Masonic Homes at Elizabethtown, but also for members of their community who are in need. They have made their Lodge a presence in the community.

They volunteer their skills and talents to improve the building, making it into a place they want to spend their time.

They consistently travel to my Official Visits in an effort to win the Travelling Trowel. They come to the School of Instruction and rehearse weekly at their own Lodge.

Could each and every one of them find some other way to use their time, talents and treasure? Of course. What makes them and several of our Lodges different is that they did not. They choose to come here and labor for what they see as something very worthwhile. They do their Lodges a favor by sacrificing time at home or socializing with friends to be here several nights a month.

And the Lodge in turn does a favor to the community. It gives back by helping the distressed, cleaning up parks and playgrounds, volunteering at soup kitchens and hospitals. It also gives back in another and maybe unexpected way. It often brings in men who were searching for purpose and a way to be a part of something greater than themselves. It teaches them that service to others, self-improvement and continually striving for what is right are what it means to be a good man. After learning these lessons, those men return to their homes and towns, better fathers, better sons, better husbands and leaders.

Brethren, Pollock Lodge is just one example of doing the right thing by going above and beyond. Many of our Lodges and members do great things, but some are tethered to the ground by fear. Thoreau said “In the long run, men hit only what they aim at.” Perhaps we need to adjust our sights then. Perhaps we need to aim not at limping the Lodge along for another year, but at making it flourish.

Think about what your ideal Lodge would be. Would you want it to be a place where men are anxious to spend their time? Would your ideal Lodge give to others without hesitation when the need exists? Would a nonMason look at your membership and long to be in company with you?

If the answer to any of those questions is no, ask yourself what you are aiming at. Set goals within your Lodge to improve in those areas that are holding you back. Make more men into Masons this year than your Lodge ever has. Double what you give to charity. In short, aim at something new.

It might not be easy, but the reward will be great. Do yourself a favor. Not the easy kind, but the hard one. Give a little more time or talent or treasure to Freemasonry. Commit to working harder for your Lodge and the men you call your Brothers.

As Phillips Brooks said, “Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for power equal to your tasks.”

Continue to work with your Lodge, with me and with the Grand Master to keep Freemasonry headed in the right direction. I know you will find the power equal to the task.

Do yourself a favor and try.