|
 | 
Fair Winds and Following Seas: Bringing Transformational Change to Freemasonry
(1/17/2010)
A little more than six years ago, I was visited be three Master Masons who came to my house. All three were to become instrumental in my life as I began my Masonic career. My life has been full of adventure since those first memories of my mother reading me stories about the Little Gingerbread Man, and my first trip across the bridge with the three Billy Goats Gruff. Life is an adventure and it seems that everyone is on a quest and in the midst of their own adventure. The power of ideas and thoughts from those that took time to share them, wrote them down for me, for all of us, symbolically empower us to make the right choices along our path. I have always looked at life in a diverse way, a combination of my neural makeup; love for life and people; some might call it “divergent thinking”. The beauty of humanity exists in the creation of art, culture, scientific discoveries and the wonder of God mysteries yet unsolved. Along the path, some of us are lucky to find others whose journey exemplars our own. My new brothers became that part of my life, travelers along a rugged and winding road, uniting our separate stories and experiences with the myth and legend.
The Master of my Lodge trusted me, valued my experience, my ideas and encouraged me. I went beyond myself, devoting a good deal of time with my brothers and the mythical entity “the lodge”. During these last few years, the influence of Masonry in our community has spread in all facets of Masonic Awareness, community involvement and we have prospered in brotherly love while we have labored for relief, truth and hope.
Hope! Another intangible idea that Freemasonry has fueled! Hope in the eyes of the kids seeking Easter eggs, hope in the eyes of parents for their children, hope in the future and the good will of mankind and hope for the Mason who wants his lifes’record, pure and spotless, to uphold universal truths, make a difference to others and to grow into better men.
Every time I am asked about Masonry, perhaps by a man who is interested in the Fraternity, I am at once touched by that same hope that I too once had when I petitioned the lodge. Even with some of the trials we are bound by that stronger tie but sometimes not entirely making the connections that we could. I hope, for what Masonry is, and what it will be.
As a matter of fact, I am still optimistic – maybe even more so than I was originally. I am still optimistic that “the lodge” can be the places where all of us work create opportunities for ourselves, each other, our families and communities. I am optimistic that we can restore Freemasonry’s code of conduct to the society at large. At no time in history, more than now, does the world need Freemasons.
The challenges may be larger, and we may have even more work to do to build a lodge that lives up to our ideals and our potential. But we can do it.
I am optimistic we can do these things because my own heart and mind says it is possible. I am optimistic we can do these things because everything I love about freemasonry and our indomitable spirit and sense of decency says it's possible. But most of all, I am optimistic because of you, my brothers and friends.
Millions of people know that a Freemasonry lodge is so much more than just a place to meet– Masonry is a living culture, bound in history, built on ideas and a desire to learn, about ourselves, and the world around us. . And the ideas are – real, fundamental equality –of opportunity, culture, of respect – honoring and valuing each other – which matters more than ever.
I do not want to dwell about the challenges we face, because there is no triumph without trials. I would like to talk about the promise that we made and how we work to keep it, because we have not yet realized that promise and we still struggle to live up to the ideals. We are not going to solve old problems with the usual approaches. These challenges are too big, too connected, and too complicated to be answered with the same old practices of—it requires an entirely new approach.
To build the Masonic Lodge we believe in requires fundamental, transformational change. Not change for the sake of change, but change for the sake of getting to where we know the fraternity can be, should be, and needs to be. Not incremental, little changes, but invigorating, uplifting, challenging, daring, boundary-pushing changes that address the root causes and the complexity of our challenges. It is easy to tear something down (a person, their ideas… their hope), the challenge is in creating, building and bringing people up. A Freemasons lodge is not about a building, but about the people who are doing the building; it is about community and a hopeful future.
The change is about you!
Each of us has various and diverse aspects and responsibilities in our lives, however, I ask you to remember the hope that you had, when you first joined the lodge, and knew in your heart that you were a Mason. Freemasonry needs teachers, mentors, laborers, cheerleaders; financial support, officers, and members to create those moments for each other that help engrave the Masonic symbols squarely on the cornerstones of our spirit.
Proudly, confidently, and with conviction; each one of us is practices Masonic Ideals in our lives however we must support and tend to the temple so that it may continue into the future.
I believe we are up to the task. I am certain of it.
After all, I have hope!
Best Regards
Jeffery S. Parham
Secretary, Bremerton Lodge #117
Free & Accepted Masons of Washington
Read other messages...
|  |
 |  |  |
|
|