VWB C. Blair Leckie Deputy of the Grand Master in District 4 of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington for 2005-2007 Mailto: cblairl@excite.com

 (May 2007)

Masonry is experiencing resurgence.  There is ample evidence of its happening within our own district.  Young and capable men are being initiated with a welcome regularity into each of our lodges. We observe them tenaciously applying to and availing themselves of the tenets of our Craft. They are fresh and energetic seekers. They come looking for something not readily available in the hubbub and pace of our modern society. With them, they bring the revitalization and the future of our Fraternity.

They are the future yet they are being attracted by the past.  This fact is not so much irony as it is the appeal of fundamental goodness and order.  Masonry is an ancient institution that through its time honored and unaltered principles is attracting the young men of today.  Friendship, morality, relief and brotherly love, principles too often lost in the darkness of today’s world, are beacons of light attracting and guiding young men of character and integrity.  The old chivalric code that a man has a responsibility to behave honorably in everything he does means something to these young men.

In today’s cynical world, the concept that a group of good men gathering together for the purpose of making themselves better smacks of fables and of mythology. King Arthur’s Round Table comes to mind. Or, the Three Musketeers – “All for one and one for all.”  It is, nonetheless, alluring, enduring and true.  These modern men are informed by ancient Masonic ritual.  They are given a moral compass, the working tools and a venue with which to grow personally and spiritually. 

Greybeard Master Masons, having been around awhile, are well aware of the cyclical nature of all things. Having stayed away from Masonry for a generation, young men of good character are beginning to cycle back to it.  They are seeing and embracing the value of our ancient Craft.  There is Masonic resurgence.   And so, the old is teaching the new; the future is the past.

Thanks to both the District Deputy of the Grand Master in District 4, and the Masonic Monitor which publishes his articles for allowing us to reprint them.  The Masonic Monitor is published monthly (except August) under approval of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Washington.  The Masonic Monitor can be contacted at: 6619 132nd Avenue NE, PMB 237, Kirkland, WA, 98033-8627, USA.  Phone: (425) 822-4605 - FAX: (425) 822-2535 - Email: masonicmonitor@earthlink.net.