It’s hard to believe that we’ve already traversed the first full month of 2020. Time is an impatient taskmaster. We’re well on our way through a new year and a new decade! I’ve got a few topics that I’d like to cover this month, including news from the Chapter Rose Croix, the Masonic Education program, and also a few words on this very newsletter you peruse, so let’s get started.
From the Chapter Rose Croix
It is truly an honor to serve as Wise Master this year. I’d like to start by thanking brother Shawn McCuen for his leadership in 2019 and for setting such a fine example; one which I shall work hard to live up to.
As February finds us contemplating the ideas of love and — specifically — brotherly love, I’d like to encourage you all to consider the components from which love is comprised. Specifically: Compassion, trust, and forgiveness.
Compassion, Trust, and Forgiveness
In the romantic sense, love need contain none of these elements, but I believe that true love — be it the love of a parent for their child, the love of two who have chosen a life together, or the brotherly love that all masons embody when entering a lodge — revolves around these components, and I would encourage you to contemplate upon them this month.
Compassion is the true lifeblood of love; the seed from which it grows. Without compassion, what we often see is lust; not love. When you contemplate, think of the compassion you hold and express for those you love.
Love is made stronger with trust, and without it love quickly fades. Trust is the currency of love that is accrued over time, through action and deed. When you contemplate, remember the trust that you have in those you love.
Finally, forgiveness is the salve through which love endures. Should compassion falter; should the temper of trust be tried, through selfish impulse or forgetfulness, it is forgiveness that sustains love. When you contemplate, consider forgiveness of those you love, as they would most certainly forgive you.
Just a little something to carry with us for the month of February; the month of St. Valentine, of candy hearts and greeting cards, of fancy dinners. Remember also that it is first and foremost the month of love.
