Master’s Messages – 2016
- Teachers, Lies & Life January 20, 2017
Brethren,
I cannot believe that another year has passed and I am about to vacate the Oriental Chair which you entrusted to me. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve you this year. I know you will be in good hands next year and for many years to come. We are a strong Lodge. Strength comes not in raw numbers but in the dedication and character of our numbers. The dedication and character of the men in our Lodge is first rate.
Continue reading → - Transitions January 20, 2017
Life really is just a series of transitions isn’t it? The other day I was boxing up some of my son’s childhood toys and realized that he is 16 and on the verge of becoming a man. My mind raced back 10 years to that day when I found an old box of trains in my basement that my father packed away when I was 16. They were wrapped in newspapers from 1978 and I thought about how he must have felt putting them away, thinking about the good times we had as father and son, thinking about how our interests diverged over the years but not our love, perhaps thinking about his own mortality. I have turned into to him and have not seemed to notice. Except for the occasional squinted eyes peeking out over the rim of my glasses, there is little resemblance. Yet I have arrived at his age.
Continue reading → - Freemasons Run What? January 20, 2017
I’m sure you all have heard those conspiracy theorists that claim the Freemasons run the world and I’m equally sure that you have chuckled to yourselves that the Freemasons in your Lodge cannot even conspire to order dinner let alone control our ever changing and complex world. Let’s, however, suspend belief for a minute and imagine that those conspiracy theorists are right and the Freemasons do control the world. What kind of world would we live in? A world that is kind, courteous, tolerant, charitable, peaceful, fair, just, benevolent, trustworthy, orderly, considerate, respectful, pious, honorable and upright? A world where all our politicians cast their vote and propose bills based on the purest principles of virtue and morality. A world where the leaders of the world meet on the level. A world where all our CEOs, business leaders and labor leaders act by the plumb. A world dominated by truth and morality. Quite a utopia we would have. So to all those conspiracy theorists I say take a look at the nightly news, read the headlines, surf the web and you will see the clearest evidence that the world is not ruled by Freemasons. Too bad! Perhaps world domination should be put on the trestleboard. There was a time during the Age of Enlightenment when many prominent Freemasons promoted our philosophy and instilled our principals in the formation of a new society. The founding of our country is an example of that age. Unfortunately for humanity that time has passed, but its legacy is rich as it continues to give us the great scientific advances and political and economic freedoms we enjoy. We must guard that legacy with our lives – our lives you may take but our way of life – never.
Continue reading → - Newton’s Third Law January 20, 2017
Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you exert a force on an object it will exert a force back. Where there is less resistance than the force exerted, the object will move. Where there is no friction, the object will be set in motion for eternity. It has not been proven whether or not Newton was a Freemason. He was, however, one of the leading lights at the forefront of The Enlightenment. He was a man deeply interested in the physical world, in alchemy, mysticism, and philosophy. As a member of the Royal Society he certainly exchanged ideas and rubbed elbows with many a Freemason.
Continue reading → - The Grass is Greener Under Your Feet January 20, 2017
I was on my way home from a great vacation scrolling through FaceBook looking at everyone else’s vacation pictures when I realized how lucky we are. Who was in Caribbean, who was lounging in their pool, on the links in Scotland, down in South America, riding in their antique convertible, out on the Harley, in their boat, in California, Vegas, Myrtle Beach, or on the beautiful Jersey shore. I suddenly realized that we are rich! We really are rich. We may not think of ourselves as rich because of who we compare ourselves to. There’s always someone who has a nicer this or that. It is a basic human tendency to think that the grass is greener on the other side. However, if we would only take the time to lift our feet we would see the grass is greenest where we stand.
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