DDGM Messages for 2008-2009

We have often wondered how we can work together to build on the fraternity that we call masonry. To create interest is like building a structure, first you must lay a good foundation. Consequently to create interest in Masonic affairs, the foundation should be the newly initiated Mason. Well informed Masons usually become the interested Mason. Teach them that the object of our fraternity is to elevate and uphold the standards of morality, to inculcate virtue and encourage loyalty and that no station in life shall make us forgetful that we are brothers. Freemasonry teaches that it is not a man's belief, but his action that he contemplates. The mosaic pavement which lies before us and is often overlooked, it surface meaning is that life is composed of pleasure and pain, success and failure and that the greatest conflicts any man faces to resolve, is within himself, the impulses which seem to drag him in two directions at once. If we look at the Mosaic pavement which our forefathers have put before us, we realize that life is not always black and white but the fundamentals teach us it should be. Masonry teaches universal love which enriches both the recipient and the donor. If the mind of the newly made Mason has been impressed with the foundation the purpose and aims of masonry will be reflected in his daily life and actions. He will see that the Masonic work doesn't stop at the end of the degree or after the routine business of the lodge but must make him realize that Masonic work is to assist, encourage and defend the brethren, protect the oppressed, right the wrongs, raise the fallen, relieve want and distress, enlighten people and be fruitful in all good works. If the necessity of teaching all these lessons to one new member is also impressed on the members of the lodge, the teacher in this sense becomes the pupil and relearns these old truths. In closing a building will stand only as long as the foundation lasts, and our fraternity rests on its foundation and the newly initiated mason, we must make sure that he is well informed about our purpose and is up to us to keep him genuinely inspired.