Master's Messages for
Worship Brother David L Glum
Jan'03 - Dec'03

January '03

Happy Holidays and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Lakewood Lodge can grow stronger in 2003 with the help of all of us working together toward a common goal. This help may be in the form of time, of work, of money, of information or any of a variety of contributions.

Charles Sumner stated that “Without knowledge there can be no sure progress.” Knowledge is power and power can ensure growth and progress. Knowledge can be acquired from many sources but two sources that are tried and true are the Holy Bible, “the inestimable gift of God to man, given to us as the rule and guide for our faith and practice” and also information from those of our brethren who are long in years – our elders.

I beseech all members to make an attempt to get to lodge and assist us in getting the knowledge that will move Lakewood Lodge forward as we make progress into the 21st century.

Make an effort to bring a brother to a meeting in 2003.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

February '03

God is good – praise His name and he will bless you.

THEN remember to count your blessings. We add to our problems when we fail to count our blessings.

What a start to the new year. I would not have believed anyone who told me it could be so. My blessings through all this was that my gland swelled like it did, that I did not ignore it and figure it would go away, a tremendous and diligent surgeon, a wonderful partner, a surgical team in Philly and a God who watched over me and carried me through the whole ordeal. Remember “Footprints”. HE never forsakes us but sometimes has to carry us.

Thank God and consider the alternative to not feeling well. I thank each of you for your prayers and ask you to keep them coming.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

March '03

It is time to MARCH. Is that a month? or an order?

As a month it is the start of one of the most beautiful seasons – Spring. It gives us the opportunity to renew so many things. Work that we started at the end of summer or fall. A trip we may be planning. Thoughts of our own future. Many things may come to mind.

As an order it commands us – leaves no room for wonder or doubt about what to do next. It is a call to action and we must obey. With so much work done in the past it may be easy not to see the work that lies in the future. All brothers – new and old – and those not yet made – are looking for direction to make our world a better place to have and raise children, and many other things. We as masons have been given an order to find good men and make them better. The best place to start is within ourselves. Find the good man that once was (and mayber still is) and make him better. We can all help each other and remember the month and the order – MARCH.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

April '03

It is April and I trust that your God has been good to you during the past winter. He has given us snow so that maybe there will be no drought this summer. He has now given us spring again so we may enjoy the flowers that it brings.

We need to again turn to the pages of the “inestimible gift of God to man” to find a hint of what He has in store for us and how we can best be prepared to accept it. It will NOT be all good but we can be prepared to accept whatever it is. Bad things DO happen to good people.

I do not believe that God will give us more than we can handle or that He makes bad things happen to us. I do believe that he is there to help us get through the bad and sometimes horrible things that happen to us. I also believe that as bad as we get – look around – someone has worse and sometimes handle it better.

Come on now SPRING into action and THANK GOD for your blessings and ask for His help to get through each day if that is what is takes. We WILL be better for having been there and the future has many great and magnificent things in the future of each and every one of us.

My brothers - Be Prepared to recognize and accept them

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

May '03

“…Should you ever meet a friend, especially a brother Mason, in a like destitute condition, it will be your duty to contribute to him, so far as his necessities may seem to require, or your ability to give will permit…”

My brother, what of your assets are you willing to give? What are your assets? Money? Sure. What else? The longest word in the English language is SMILES – there is a MILE between the two S’s. Maybe someone needs a smile. You can give that! You will get back ten fold what you give. How about your ability to work. Maybe someone needs a yard or a garage cleaned up. You can give that! How about your ability to drive. Maybe someone needs to get somewhere and could use a ride. You can give that! How about your ability to read. Maybe someone needs to learn to read or would like to have something read to them because they can no longer see. You can give that!

Brethern, the point is that we all have so much to give and sometimes forget that it might just make someone’s day. I have heard MW Earl Sutton “…but you might be the world to one person.” Don’t forget to give what you can when you can. What goes around, comes around.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

June '03

“We are now about to quit this sacred retreat of friendship and virtue, to mix again with the world. A midst its concerns and employments, forget not the duties you have heard so frequently inculcated, and so forcibly recommended in this lodge. Be diligent, prudent, temperate, discreet. …”

Summer is upon us and we may need to have some assurance that when we come back to the quarry our previous labor will not have been in vain. We know, but then must remember, that we have “…promised to befriend and relieve every brother who shall need your assistance…” and that “…every human being has a claim upon your kind offices…”

Our needs will be met at all times in our lives – by our Brethern and by that God that we professed a belief in. We must believe that with all our hearts and never lose the opportunity to assist those who need our asstance.

Have a great summer and I will see you in September.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

September '03

Praise God – we have made it through another summer. Maybe in good health, maybe not but we made it and that beats the alternative.

When being prepared for the Entered Apprentice degree we were told that “…since the Fraternity considers each of its members, regardless of his worldly achievements, to be of equal stature within the Lodge…” Do YOU hold to that belief? Or do you feel that you might be a little above a brother Mason?

We are told to find out all about our brothers – their likes, dislikes, occupation, hobbies, etc. I wonder sometimes if some brother Masons use that information to justify their own belief that they are somehow above some other brother Masons. I would like to think that my thoughts on this matter are ill founded. I will gladly change my opinion as I meet my brothers all around the state and country and find no justification for that feeling.

Candidates will continue to be “…prepared in the same way and manner as all others who have come this way before.” Let us also be sure that they never feel anything except equal to their brother Mason.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

October '03

Knowledge or ignorance? Which aids in development, building and strengthening? Think of what is happening to our fraternity – the greatest fraternity in the world. Why?

Knowledge or at least the lack of ignorance is a by-product and direct result of education. We used to grow just because men wanted to be Masons. Ritual and knowledge were passed from one to another by word of mouth – nothing written.

Then a decline came to our numbers and there were not so many men to share the ritual and other information. Men learned by reading instead of by meeting with others who were well versed in tradition and knowledge.

We now find our fraternity at a point where the words are being said without the meaning of the words being known by the speaker. NO – how about Golden Fleece, Roman Eagle, Star and Garter, artificer – know them all?

Other work has been done and forgotten that is important to remember. NO – how about the Tyler’s Oath, the five points of fellowship, the MM word – remember them all?

Through education we will regain knowledge and through knowledge we will regain strength. Take advantage of talking with well informed brothers, or reading what is available to be read or being informed through programs that will be presented in lodge meetings. It will only make you a stronger Mason and our fraternity stronger in the future.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

November '03

A reminder.

In every regular closing of Lodge we are reminded that “…at this altar you have promised to remind an erring Brother of his failings, to aid in his reformation, to vindicate his character when traduced and to suggest in his behalf the most charitable judgment.”

When being raised to the degree of Master Mason you “…promised and swore … not to wrong, cheat nor defraud a Grand Lodge, a subordinate lodge, or a Brother of this degree to the value of anything … Neither will I speak evil of a Brother Master Mason behind his back.”

How are you doing with these promises and obligations? Can you say that you are living up to them – all of the time? Most of the time? Some of the time? I hope that I can stop there and not go on to never!!

Masonry is a way of life - not just a fraternity or a group of men you see sometimes. If you live up to your promises and obligations, your life will be better and you will be a good man who became better – as we wanted when you asked to become a Master Mason. Remember, also, that you did this “… of your own free will and accord…”

If you have had a hard time in the past try to do better from this time forward. We all “start from where we stand”. Let’s all become better men and Masons.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03

December '03

In the MM lecture we are reminded that “the hourglass is an emblem of human life. Behold how swiftly the sands run, and how rapidly our lives are drawing to a close.”

Well, brethren, the sands of the hourglass are drawing another year to a close. Are you happy how this year has progressed? Are there things, ideas, etc. that you would change given the opportunity? Again I say – we must start from where we stand. There is no going back. Are you somewhere between the “…tender hopes of youth” and “…the blushing honors of manhood” or are you closer to “the withering frosts of age” where “…the sands of life, whether slowly or rapidly, will surely ebb away.”

Make the next year better than the last one and if you are soon cut down by “…the all-destroying scythe of time,” as I nearly was at the beginning of this year, “…be gathered into the land where our fathers have gone before us” with no regrets about what might have been.

Remember, in the words of MW Earl F. Sutton PGM, “you may be one person in the whole world, but you may be the whole world to one person.” Make it all happen, brethren.

January '03 February '03 March '03 April '03 May '03 June '03 September '03 October '03
November '03 December '03