Brotherly Love and Living Better

Sometime in February my youngest was looking at the Masonic sticker on the back of the vehicle as she helped me unload groceries. She piped up in her sweet little voice and asked, “Dad, do you think you’ve been living better since you joined the Masons?”

My immediate thought was “Yes, of course!”, but I didn’t answer right away. I took a moment to reflect on the happenings of the last few years to make sure it was true.

When I did answer, I told her. “Yes I do honey. Since joining the Lodge I’ve become a better friend, father, husband, neighbor, and person in general.”

“What do you mean?”, she asked.

I explained, “Well, I make it a point to ask more how friends are doing rather than just hang out. I look for ways to help where before I might have just wished them well. I try to spend more time with you girls as well as your Mom. And I’ve learned to move out of my comfort zone and do and try things I would have avoided before. It’s not that I was a bad person before, I’ve just learned to be better.”

She agreed with me and we finished our task.

It’s always a good idea to take a little time now and again and reflect on how you are going about your journey through life, and she gave me a chance to do that just then. The growth the Fraternity has helped me to achieve has come through the things we are taught in our lectures and educational pieces, as well as just hanging out with a wonderful group of guys. I can’t say enough how members of the Lodge have helped me out over the years. Through listening, advising, encouraging, assisting with problems, and just being there as a friend and Brother. I would not be where I am in life without them.

Speaking of which, we had our annual Past Master’s Dinner with oyster stew and a Master Mason degree all in one day. Seeing some of the Past Masters come up to Lodge and carry on with each other and Brothers they’ve not seen in a long time was a wonderful sight. It was like they’d only missed a meeting or two and were right back at giving each other a hard time, chatting about their lives, and having just a great time.

That kind of Brotherly Love is hard to come by, and the Fraternity promotes it so well, I’m proud to be a member of this Lodge. We had another Brother we’d not seen in awhile make it back up for the Business meeting and it was great seeing him. He had a good time and expects to return more regularly.

I’m hoping we’ll be seeing some more returning members, as I miss a lot of the guys from my early years who helped myself and so many others like me get involved in everything the Lodge has to offer.

As always, feel free to drop me a line and I look forward to our next meeting (be it formal or informal).

Jason Owen

Worshipful Master