Diamond Thistle DGGM visit                                                         November 12, 2008

Giving Thanks

In two weeks, most of us will gather to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends.  It is my favorite holiday of the year, and not because watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of my guilty pleasures.  Rather it is because it is a holiday that is solely about gathering together with important people in our lives, and giving thanks for them and our lives together.  So tonight, I would like to talk about how we can give thanks masonically.

Recently, we gathered as a District to give thanks to our brothers who have passed on and who helped build our great Craft, at our annual Lodge of Remembrance.  Co-chaired by the Master and a Past Master of Diamond-Thistle Lodge, the Lodge of Remembrance ceremony was also largely written by two of this Lodge’s most devoted brothers; both of them Past District Deputy Grand Masters, and, sadly for us, both of them departed from this life.

While I give thanks to Diamond-Thistle Lodge for being largely responsible for the genesis of this important ceremony, I am left to wonder why more Brothers from the District do not attend this event.  Pondering this question, I am left with two conclusions: that we have not correctly educated our newer Brothers as to an important aspect of Masonry, and that we have not taught ourselves how to properly give thanks.

One of the most important foundations in Masonry is our understanding of our place as temporal participants in the eternal timeline of the Craft.   In days past, Brothers whom we have never met worked hard at building our Lodges and our District.  They did so with the knowledge that like-minded Brothers would join our fraternity long after their lives had ended, and they believed that those inheritors should have better tools than they did to shape the world of the future.  We are those inheritors, and it is incumbent upon us to honor our progenitors.

How can we possibly repay the great debt that we owe to those that came before us?  One way is to apply a great fervor to our building for the future.   Surely we understand our need to work, as this commitment is one that we freely made, and then reinforced, in our own words at our various Degrees.  As Brothers of our word, and men of honor, we must make good on our promises.  But how else can we honor and thank these Brothers?

The thanks we give to our past can take many forms.  We stand ready to assist our older Brothers and their families, whether they are near or far, with the strength of our individual Lodges, and our Grand Lodge, in real and concrete ways.  It can be as simple as a ride offered to and from Lodge, the grocery store, or a doctor’s office. Maybe it involves a number of brethren from the Lodge who offer a fall clean up or regular driveway shoveling to ensure our brother’s safety.  Maybe it is something so simple as a phone call or a visit paid, or a personal note included with the Lodge notice, just to say “hi”.  As much as the Brother receiving these honors appreciates them, I can assure you that the Brother so offering them will experience a joy in his heart, knowing that he has honored one who built for his benefit.

Our Grand Lodge also has programs to honor our older Brothers and their families.  It has been my greatest pleasure to award Dedicated Service Awards and Masonic years of service awards to distinguished brethren throughout our District.  Along with these official visits to our Lodges, it is the best part of my job; one that I am always happy to perform.  Additionally, Grand Lodge can benefit the children and grandchildren of our Brothers with an incredible summer youth camp and an active Masonic scholarship program.  Even in the twilight of life, our Grand Lodge stands ready to help Masons and their spouses at the Masonic Care Community in Utica, NY.

We are always ready, on short notice, to honor our fallen brethren at funerals and memorial services; and by our participating in Masonic funeral services when the brother (or brother’s family) has requested one.  Most importantly, our dedication to a brother and his family extend well beyond his lifetime, honoring his surviving spouse for life as well.

Most of our ways that we honor our departed Brethren are conducted on the individual Lodge level.  Our Lodge of Remembrance is very unique, as it is one of only a handful of ceremonies that recognize Brethren on a District level.  It gathers families of our Brothers together and shows them that their family members were appreciated beyond their Lodge rooms.  It shall remain as the one District-wide event where we give but a few hours of our time to mark the timeless contributions of our Brothers who built this Fraternity for us.  If you cannot understand why your attendance at the Lodge of Remembrance is important, then I offer my deepest apologies, for we have done you a great disservice in your education as a Mason.

How can we show our thanks to each other in our Lodges in the present day?  Our ritual and education are full of examples for us to follow.  Let us start with how we address each other.  We are not “guys” or even “gentlemen”, we are Brothers; and ought to always be addressed as such in the Lodge room, whether it is open or not.  Some of you are aware that I will purposely use proper names on the phone, or when in public places, to advise you of my presence among non-Masons.  I offer my practice as one you might want to adopt to indicate the same.

Our Craft is so special that we should always show thanks by being cautious to guard its intimacies.  Some phrases, like “a square deal” or “level with me” may be so fitting that they have entered public usage from their significance.  But let us never forget their origin.  Regular study and our striving for better ritual work is always one of the clearest ways for us to indicate our thanks for this gift of our special language.

When in a tiled Lodge room, always address only the Worshipful Master by standing at the sign of fidelity and awaiting his calling upon you.  Never speak “to him and through him”, as you always address the whole Lodge when you speak to the Master.  Some foreign jurisdictions position the Great Light immediately in front of the Master’s station.  For us, this is not the case, so this area is always to be respected by not crossing through it, whether the Lodge is at labor or refreshment, except during special ceremony.

As with all else in Masonry, our past informs our present, which builds our future.  So taking from our past, I offer the following observation about giving thanks.  Our Brother, President Theodore Roosevelt, said it best in 1901 when he said, “Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected of us, and that true homage comes from the heart, as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.”

Worshipful Master, I thank you for the courtesies extended to myself, our Grand Sword Bearer, and the Brothers in attendance.  My Brothers, it has been my great honor, as the eldest child, to lead my family in our annual Thanksgiving prayer on that special day.  This year, I will be very proud to be mentioning and giving thanks for you, my Brothers of this District, which I so proudly serve.  I wish each of you the happiest Thanksgiving with your family and friends.  And I hope that my deeds truly reflect my words when I say, from the bottom of my heart, “Thank you”.