WM, distinguished guests, Brethren all,

Transcription

1 WM, distinguished guests, Brethren all, It was my pleasure to meet Bro. Steve, Bro. Initiate, playing alongside him at the St Laurence Charity Golf Day, the event so excellently managed by W. Bro. Kevin and Bro. Michael. In passing, it is worthy of note and congratulation that W. Bro. Kevin and Bro. Michael have been managing that event for some ten years and have raised no less than 20,000 for charity. Of course, Bro. Steve, golf is in our genes. Before Kevin and Michael s time, there was a more humble form of the golf society which was presided over by W. Bro. Geoff. About six teams of Brethren got together and played a Texas scramble raising money for the Almoner s Fund. However, here is an even older and even more famous connection between St Laurence and golf. Students of golfing history will recognise the name of James Braid, who won the Open five times and the Matchplay four times. He was the professional at Romford GC from 1895 to 1904 and in 1898 married Minnie Alice Wright just round the corner in St Laurence Church. So Brother Steve, you have joined a lodge which will be suitably impressed by your undoubted golfing skills and I hope that next year you may carry off the trophy, playing alongside someone who will prove less of a handicap than me. Brethren, golf of course can teach us many lessons. The immortal Bobby Jones said that the real aim in golf, as in life, is to learn to accept what cannot be altered and Navaho Indian golfer, Notah Begay, said that the secret to golf isn't how low you shoot when it's going good; it's how you 1

2 make your bad rounds better. Arnold Palmer held that golf is a route to self-discovery in which you reach inside yourself to discover your personal resources and what it takes to match to the challenge. Me? I'd give up golf if I didn't have so many pullovers. However, today Bro. Steve you have joined more than a golf club. In fact, you have joined something much more than a club of any kind. You have become a member of a fraternity, a Brother amongst us and I refer not only to the Brethren here today. There are something like 5 million Freemasons world-wide and so, Bro. Steve, you now have 5 million new Brothers, spread indeed over the four quarters of the globe. You will be welcomed into lodges not only in these islands but also in America - as the presence of Bro. Kevin, a mason from Washington DC indicates - in Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France and there are several members of the Le Touquet Lodge here today Germany and W. Bro. Ron is a member of a German speaking lodge - Hungary, India, Japan, and Lodges through the rest of the alphabet, cheating just a little to include the Grand Lodge of Kansas, the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon and the District Grand Lodge of Zambia to cover some awkward letters. In England and Wales there are some 300,000 masons, many of whom you will meet once you start visiting. One great pleasure you will discover is that of accepting invitations to other lodges to meet the Brethren and to see how they do things, always a little differently. Here today we are honoured by the presence of a number of visitors, all of whom are here to witness your initiation and bid you welcome. So welcome Bro. Steve five million welcomes in fact. 2

3 Today s event must have been a little overwhelming for you. It is for each one of us. Personally, I was convinced that the temple was shaped like a letter H and was surprised to see its rectangular form when the blindfold was removed from my eyes. Doubtless, each of the Brethren here has their own story of their own initiation, an event none of us ever forget. To help you savour it a little, let me take you through it and introduce you to your Brethren who assisted in the ceremony. When mentioned those named in italics are motioned to stand then to sit. Our Tyler, W. Bro. Ron, looked after you outside the lodge and prepared you for the ceremony. You were divested of all monies and left poor and penniless. Our Inner Guard, W. Bro. Derek, received you inside the door of the lodge and attested that you were properly prepared to be made a mason. He declared that fact to the Brethren and you were brought into the lodge by the Senior Deacon, your proposer, Bro. Mark and your seconder W. Bro. Kevin, who took on the role of Junior Deacon especially for you. Our Chaplain, W. Bro. Peter, expressed the hope that you would so dedicate yourself as to become a true and faithful brother amongst us and then W. Bro. Kevin guided you around the lodge. You were introduced to the Junior Warden, Bro. Jonathan and then to the Senior Warden, Bro. Matthew, as a candidate well and worthily recommended to be admitted to the mysteries and privileges of Antient Freemasonry. The preliminaries being over, you were then presented to the WM and brought towards his pedestal by three steps. You knelt in front of him and you recited your obligation as a Freemason, which you sealed with your 3

4 lips on the VSL, in your case the Old Testament of the Bible. The Master described the dangers you had avoided and then communicated the token, sign and word of a mason. Bro. Steve, do remember forever what he said: those secrets you must never communicate to anyone who is not a mason. You were then taken to the Junior and Senior Wardens again to rehearse what you have been told by the Master and finally, at the Master s command, our Brother the Director Ceremonies, W. Bro. Leslie, brought to the Senior Warden s pedestal, that badge of innocence and bond of friendship, the white lambskin, the apron of an entered apprentice Freemason. As you looked around the lodge, you will have seen many different aprons, some highly decorated and none more so than the aprons of those Grand Officers honouring us with their presence here today. But no matter how decorated other aprons may be, none are worth more nor are more honourable than that white lambskin. You were asked to give to charity when we all knew well that you could not. This was not done to embarrass you but to give you a moment in which to feel the press of want and the pain of poverty so that you will understand all the more powerfully that charity is the distinguishing characteristic of a Freemason s heart. Your proposer then presented the working tools of an entered apprentice Freemason, the first of many lessons in which we moralise upon the working tools used by our ancient forbears. The 24 inch gauge reminds us, for example, of those limited hours in each day which we must be sure divide among our duties towards God, our Brother Masons and our family. 4

5 The demands of duty cannot be delayed until tomorrow for our time here on earth is limited. You were then introduced to our lodge Mentor, W. Bro. Chris, who will ever be at your side to explain our Masonic ritual and the lessons it contains and to encourage you to learn it at your own pace. You were then invited to retire outside, there to adjust your clothing and when you returned, our Brother the Senior Warden charged you with those duties which define a Freemason duties to God, to your neighbour and to yourself. Bro. Steve; it is too much to expect that you took all these moral exhortations to heart in one afternoon but think on this: you will witness other initiations and you will hear the same or similar words repeated. You will also learn them by heart for, as you will have seen, all our ceremonies are carried out from memory. Indeed, you may have noticed W. Bro. Guy, acting as Immediate Past Master, whose job it has been to prompt the Master on the rare occasions when memory momentarily failed. Thus, the words of the ritual will become part of you. From this day forward, Bro. Steve, you are a Freemason, something to be very proud of. I have introduced you to those who took the major roles in your ceremony but every Brother here took part. Each and every Brother was here to support you in this first and most important step in Freemasonry and also to remind themselves of the obligations that they took at their initiation, in some cases many years ago. Brethren, please stand when I invite you to do so and remain standing. 5

6 There other officers of the lodge who will assist you Masonic career our Treasurer, our Secretary, our Assistant Director of Ceremonies, our Stewards and our Organist. Every member of St Laurence welcomes you warmly into the lodge and each and every one of our visitors is here today to welcome you just as warmly into the whole fraternity of Freemasonry that peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. So welcome Brother Steve. We look forward to many happy years spent with you in fraternal love and we will watch with interest and pride your growth and daily advancement in Masonic knowledge. Brethren, the toast is to Brother Initiate. Good Fire. 6