Address at My Lodge Installation

I would like to thank my installing officers, Worshipful Brothers Wil Browning, Henry Hunt, Paul Scholl, and Frank Stuck, for agreeing to preside over our ceremonial this evening; Worshipful Brother Clark Brown for serving as our photographer, and Worshipful Brother Ed Jackson for delivering the introduction to Masonry oration to our guests. And my thanks to the Color Guard from Lancaster Commandery #2 Knight’s Templar for presenting the colors. To Kathy Heim for singing our National Anthem. To Julie Meenach, Alma Priddy, and Roseanna Bush for preparing and serving our reception. To my wife Rebecca for allowing me the time to be a Mason. To my parents, who taught me the value of our Fraternity from as far back as I can remember. And to all of you for coming to share this night with us, the officers and brethren of Lancaster Lodge #57 Free and Accepted Masons of the Grand Lodge of Ohio.
And I would like to thank the brothers of this lodge for the confidence you have placed in me by electing me to be the master of this lodge for the ensuing year. I pledge to all of you that I will do my very best to bear the responsibility of governance of this Lodge with a spirit of humility, and that I will strive to create an atmosphere wherein brotherly love, relief, and truth prevail. I shall do my very best to avoid any temptations to coercion, anger, strife, or any other vice which could become a threat to liberty, equality, or fraternity among us. It is said that we as Masons meet upon the level of equality, act by the plumb of uprightness, and part upon the square of virtue. I pledge to you my best efforts to accomplish these lofty goals together, as brothers and as equals.
Freemasonry originally attracted me because of its clear and unyielding commitment to the values which have built and maintained our culture: personal responsibility, personal liberty, and the worth of every man; judgement and value based on a man’s character and actions, and not on his birth, wealth, or worldly position; a willingness to respect the religion and political sentiments of others even when we disagree with them, and to work with them to build a better society; respect for Diety and a commitment to the belief that there is a common set of values enshrined in Natural Law which is self-evident to all good men; an understanding that we are responsible not only to God, but to each other; and finally, a deeply held conviction that The Great Architect of the Universe has created a world characterized by harmony and order and reason, which leads us to the inescapable conclusion that reasonable discourse and harmonious behaviour are always preferable to fanaticism and strife.
There are those who say that these principles, principles on which our western culture is built, are outdated and that the time has come for them to be radically reinterpreted, or even jettisoned and remembered only as relics of some idealized and misguided past. Men of the West, I would submit to you that this is neither the time nor the place for such foolish notions. More than ever, the world stands in need of the virtues taught and upheld by our ancient fraternity, and I thank you for the opportunity to lead in this holy work.