Installation of officers was held at Sweet Home Temple, 3 June 2018. The installation team was presiding Master MW Jeffrey M. Williamson, MW Ed Trosin, Chaplain Paul Bassette, and Marshal John Schunak, who organized the event. Badges and jewels were placed on officers by the Worthy Matron of Betsy Ross Levant Chapter OES, with the exception of the Master’s jewel, which was placed by his wife, Merry, Worthy Matron of Pond Chapter OES. With various thanks and introductions omitted, the following comments were made by installed Master of the Lodge, W Ken JP Stuczynski.
I would like to thank Worthy Matron Laura Brown, and all our Sisters here today from Betsy Ross Levant Chapter No.695 Order of the Eastern Star State of New York. I hope their participation here will start a tradition and example of something dear to me — The Masonic Family. Freemasonry does not work in a vacuum. It is a reflection of the work of mankind, and is therefore inseparable from the life of the home, and the whole human family. Our obligations to each other were not invented, but discovered. Brothers, open your eyes. Look around you. Behold, our sisters — our wives, our widows, mothers and daughters and sons. Those of us who wear aprons (like this one) are NOT the only workmen In the Grand Architect’s plans. Our families should not be merely praised for tolerating our work and absences — They ought to be recognized as the heart and reason for who we are. With or without recognition, they share in our work more than we will ever know, or admit. And so I ask my Brother Senior Deacon to present flowers to all the ladies and young gentlemen present. Bro. Treasurer, please assist him. With so many of my friends, family, and mentors here, it would be easy to get carried away think this is about me. Sometimes these ceremonies feel like accepting an award. I can’t help feel this IS a gift, an opportunity of sublime importance. But it’s really a celebration of two things. First, we’re embracing the blessing to begin a new year’s work. But I will start with myself. What I wish is that, at the end of this year, I will be forgiven. I will say things I wish I hadn’t; I will left unsaid things I should have. There will be advice I wish I had taken, and advice I wish I hadn’t. There will be decisions made with no right answers, and not everyone will agree. But I will go boldly to listen, to learn, to heal, and to challenge. I will not tolerate intolerance, or apathy, or inaction — in myself or my Brothers, who I Love dearly. I truly believe the hand of Divine Providence has brought each of us into this time and place. And it is up to all of us to receive and do something with that gift. All I ask is that you put yourself into the work, and be gentle with each other — and with me. Many of us fear change and what to expect this year (especially those who know me). But I assure you there is no need for innovation. The most radical thing I propose to do, to borrow from one of our local Grand Masters, is to STEADFASTLY go “back to the basics”. We have absent Brothers and widows to find, relief to deliver, and many relationships to build — and rebuild. We must know why we have come here and what we intend to do. And then DO IT. Plying the tools of this moral science we call Freemasonry is and was always meant to be, a Way of Life. And we will LIVE it. We can’t transform the whole World. We can’t save all of Freemasonry, our jurisdiction, or our district. We can’t say if our Lodge will merge or turn in its charter in ten or a hundred years or a thousand. But we can do best that which is closest to us. We can choose to transform our Lodge and ourselves. Ultimately, it matters most what we do, here and now. That is all that can be expected of us, but we must have faith — a faith that we can make such a mark upon our souls and those around us that histories of earthly kingdoms cannot compare. Lastly, I wish at end of day — end of year — we find ourselves TIRED. Not the weariness of the world, but the feeling of a well-deserved rest. Let us make this upcoming year — together, all of us — worth remembering, and worthy of the contentment of a race well run, a fight well fought, a job well done. Secondly, ALSO, today is a benchmark of the completion of the year past. On that note, I recognize Worshipful Brother Adam Patterson. No workman, no master can claim to have started the work, or to have finished it. We build on the inheritance of this institution and all those who have gone before us. Others not yet born will finish what we have started only to find themselves in our own place once again. Adam did what we all hope to achieve, in the short span of a year, raising our grand edifice a step or two closer to heaven. To my friend, my confidant, my bird of a feather, but most especially here as Brother of our Lodge, I welcome you for the first time as a Past Master of our Lodge, and present you with your Past Master apron and jewel.{Presentations, further thanks, and comments omitted here.}
Recent Comments