3 minute read
Grand Master’s Message
Alan L. Gordon, Grand Master
The greatest of these is Charity.
Charity extends beyond the grave through the boundless realms of eternity. Or as Albert Pike said, “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
We have often heard the adage that Masonry takes good men and makes them better. A good friend of mine once said that we are all born Masons—we just haven’t realized it yet. It is the process of initiation, passing, and raising that gives us the realization of what it means to be a Mason. It sets us on a path to become better men both internally and externally.
So how do we become better men externally?
The answer lies in many places, one of which is Charity. The past year and a quarter have placed many challenges before all of us. Not only were we faced with the threat of a mortal disease, but our families and friends, our Masonic brothers and our communities were threatened. Our very way of life was threatened. We are only now seeing a return to some sense of normality which is in reality a new normal. I don’t think we will ever return to the level of normal which we had prior to March 2020.
As Masons, we had to identify what we could do to help, aid, and assist everyone who was affected—and we stepped up to the plate. We reached into our pockets and gave money and goods to those less fortunate. But money and goods are not the only way we give of ourselves charitably. A deeper, and arguably far greater, form of charity can be found in the mentorship we give others. And this is something we don’t have to wait for a global pandemic to give. There is the story of the young man who became a DeMolay. Years later, he joined the Masonic Lodge of one of his chapter advisors. At some point, the two were talking and the younger brother told the older brother that the elder had once shared some information which had totally changed the younger brother’s life—transformed it so that he became a better person. The older brother had no recollection even of the conversation in which it had happened.
It is the small things to which we give so little significance that can make the biggest difference. The only thing we need to do is make the effort. I can think of no greater mentorship than to help a young man or young women as they progress to adulthood. We only need to give of our time.
Outside of Freemasonry, there are other examples of similar charities:
Big Brothers and Big Sisters; Helping a food kitchens; Volunteering the local fire department or
EMS station Driving a patient to a Shriner’s Hospital What we do as men and as Masons makes a difference. It is the charity of giving of oneself. There is no intrinsic value that can be place upon such service to men. We are only allotted a set amount of time on this planet, so our time can be thought of as a scarce resource that is incredibly valuable. And the knowledge (or light) that we accumulate over that lifetime has great value, as well. So, when we give our time to someone else with the express purpose of passing on our knowledge, we are giving double!
There is a saying that goes with helping children, attributed to Forest E. Witcraft, a teacher and scholar: “A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”
So, while we celebrate (rightly so) our generosity in terms of money and goods, I hope we remember that giving our time and energy to the betterment of a young person’s life pays the greatest dividends of all.
The Grand Master sits behind “Dad” Frank S. Land’s desk.
