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Issue No. 35 December 29, 2006 |
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R:.W:. Joseph R. Leo R:.W:. David L. Blasch V:.W:. John W. Cola V:.W:. Scott A. Klein Lodges of the Athelstane Cornerstone Goshen Hoffman Hudson River Jerusalem Temple Naurashank Port Jervis Stony Point-Wawayanda Wallkill Warwick West Point Archives No.
1 5/5/06 |
And here we are at the end of another year... This is when I usually look back and shake my head at how busy I've been during the year, wondering how I have managed to fit it all in. This year, though, as a result of the material I have written for the Individual Development Course (iDC), I find myself asking the additional question, "Was all that time spent as well as it might have been?" Considering how many days and nights I have devoted to Masonic endeavors, the iDC lessons on time management, goal setting, and prioritizing have struck home. When you can't go to a Lodge meeting because you have to stay home and work on Masonic stuff, it gets one to thinking. Many of us follow the tradition of making New Year's Resolutions, and this shows that we acknowledge that Self-Discipline is a key to our continued growth and success. How well we follow through is an indication of how important it is to us. In the iDC course, Self-Discipline is taught as one of the four principal traits of a Leader. So this year, I am going to take the advice of one of my favorite authors, John C. Maxwell, and I'm going to try to come up with some effective New Year's Resolutions based on his work and the stuff we're teaching in the iDC. For those of you who want to follow along with me, I am including one of Dr. Maxwell's articles from his Leadership Wired e-zine in this issue. Now, on to District happenings, and this week there's one for everyone... the ORDMA Holiday Party! Everyone is invited to join with Brothers and their families from all around the District as ORDMA holds its first annual Holiday Party. The Party will be held on Saturday December 30th at Hoffman Lodge in Middletown. This fun filled, family oriented event will begin at 4:00 p.m. and end at 9:00 p.m., with an Italian buffet dinner served ay 6:00 p.m. To help defray the expenses, the cost will be a family-friendly $5.00 per person with no charge for children under twelve. A full schedule of activities is planned for all to enjoy including a magician, treasure hunt, and family games. There will be surprises for all! Try to come out and join with us as we celebrate the holidays and the New Year. Everyone is invited to attend, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A MEMBER OF ORDMA to join in the fun. Please RSVP to Wor. Bruce Klein or Bro. John Gebbia. This is a great opportunity to introduce your Entered Apprentices, Fellowcrafts, and prospects to the Brothers of the District and I hope to see you all there! Finally, my Brothers, there's a lot of Degree work on the trestleboards for January and several Lodges have requested assistance but without response. Please review the Help Wanted section at the end of this issue and see what you can do to help. If your Lodge requires assistance, please contact me and make sure your officers make the Masters and Wardens meeting on the 8th. And with that, my Brothers, Orange-Rockland Masons Online wraps up the year-end issue. On behalf of our Grand Master, the M:.W:. Neal I. Bidnick, and our Grand Lodge, our Grand Director of Ceremonies, R:.W:. Dave Blasch, our Assistant Grand Lecturers, V:.W:. Scott Klein and John Cola, our District Staff, and of course my wife Helen and myself, I would like to wish you all a safe, healthy, happy,and prosperous New Year. Enjoy the holiday, celebrate safely, drive carefully, and we'll see you next week! From our Grand Master
The following is the text of a message of condolence on the passing of our Brother Mason, Gerald R. Ford, 38th President of the United States of America and a member of Malta Lodge No 465, Grand Rapids, Michigan. This statement was issued December 27, 2006 by the Grand Masters of New York and Michigan and the Executive Secretary of the Masonic Service Association of North America. "Gerald R. Ford embodied the tenets of Freemasonry. He upheld the values of personal integrity and of being true to his word, and in a time of great crisis, Brother Ford, a true patriot, also sought to heal our ailing Nation. As our President, he represented our fraternity well. On behalf of the Grand Lodges of Free and Accepted Masons of the States of Michigan and New York, the Masonic Service Association of North America, and Masons everywhere, we offer our sincere condolences to Betty Ford and her family on the passing of Brother Gerald Ford, a humble man who calmly guided our country out of one of its darkest hours." Neal I. Bidnick Walter F. Wheeler Richard E. Fletcher December 27, 2006 DISTRICT NEWS
New Issue of NY NETNEWS Masters and Wardens Meeting George Washington's Birthday Celebration ORDMA NEWS
ORDMA Dinner Dance ORDMA Calendars Now Available! DATES TO REMEMBER
SCHOOL OF INSTRUCTION
The Orange-Rockland School of Masonic Instruction will convene on the second Monday of each month, at locations around the District. Instruction will rotate on a monthly basis between Ritual, Grand Lodge educational programs, and seminars on topics like Leadership and Communication. Our next School will be held on Monday January 8th at Jerusalem Temple Lodge at 8:00 p.m. The trestleboard for the School will be announced shortly. Please bring your Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts for this informative evening .A brief Masters and Wardens meeting will precede the School at 7:00 p.m. If you have any questions, please contact the DDGM. We'll see you there! New Year's Resolutions
Principle-Centered Resolutions
for the New Millennium Mark your calendar. When it comes time to make your New Year's resolutions you'll want to have this lesson handy. Read it now to get your thinking on the right track. And use it again as a guide when you're ready to write down some new commitments for the new year. It will help you base your new goals on the proven principles of lasting leadership and not unrealistic expectations. . . If history repeats itself, then less than half of those who make New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year will actually stick with them. If you look at your own history, what half will you be in this year? Making and keeping new commitments each year really comes down to a matter of principle. You must set your goals based on what you value. In other words, the same principles that govern your daily decisions must govern how you make your resolutions. And if you make resolutions that aren't supported by a principle you adhere to in your life, you'll find it hard to stick to the commitment. Before you set any new goals for the year, take some time to make sure that the principles that govern your decisions are the right ones. To be an effective leader, you must always resolve to. . . 1. EMBRACE INTEGRITY. A few years ago, a retail firm in St. Louis was forced to lay off almost 20 percent of its employees. The personnel manager was asked what criteria he used to make the cuts. He said, "We looked closely at attendance, productivity, personality, and the measurable signs of success or failure, but our real goal was to retain workers who were of the highest moral character. We can never replace honesty and integrity." To make sure integrity is a priority in your life, make a resolution to find an accountability partner. Allow that person to hold you accountable by giving him or her permission to ask you at any time about your integrity in your relationships, your work, and your commitments. 2. BE COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE. To consistently achieve excellence in every endeavor you must make it your goal to always be and do the very best you can, with or without an audience, in small tasks and in large tasks. Share the attitude of Michelangelo, who while painting in some dark corner of the Sistine Chapel ceiling was asked by his helper why he was investing so much time and effort in a part of the painting that no one would ever see. With conviction he replied, "God will see!" Howard Newton said: "People will forget how fast you did a job -- but they remember how well you did it." The ability to perform again and again at a high standard often takes time and doesn't necessarily come easy. Determine to never disappoint people or yourself with your work. Make a resolution to take an extra minute before you consider any task completed to ask yourself if it's the very best you could do. If it's not, take the time to make it right. That's the essence of being committed to excellence. 3. SEIZE GOOD OPPORTUNITIES. I once heard a story about a tourist who sat down for a rest on park bench. Looking over to an old man also sitting on the bench, the tourist asked, "Friend, can you tell me something this town is noted for?" "Well," the old man replied, "I don't rightly know except that it's the starting point to the world. You can start here and go anywhere you want." That man understood the concept of the words of B. C. Forbes: "Mediocre people wait for opportunities to come to them. Strong, able, alert people go after opportunity." No opportunity is ever lost. If you fumble it, someone else will find it. This year, make a resolution to seize opportunities by writing them down the moment they arise and scheduling a time to pursue them. By recording opportunities right away, you will not only avoid forgetting about them, you will create a habit of acting on them when they are still ripe on the vine. 4. NEVER STOP IMPROVING. Self-improvement is the only way to remain a leader in your field. In their book, Leaders, Warren Bennis and Bert Nanus write, "It is the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguishes leaders from their followers." Your greatest challenge as a leader is not gaining on others but rather continually growing yourself. It's one thing to have been effective this year but another to remain effective in the years to come. Bobb Biehl said, "Standards of excellence are not chiseled in stone. They are constantly being redefined. It is important to recognize that what was graded excellent last year may not be so this year. That is why we must keep mastering new skills." Make a resolution this year to implement a strategic plan for personal growth. I recommend that you begin by committing to listen to a cassette each week and reading a book each month on topics that will add value to your ventures. ... and resolve to NOT do these things: 1. DON'T PURSUE IMMEDIATE PLEASURE OVER PERSONAL GROWTH. There's an old Irish proverb that says, "You've got to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather is." Pursue growth to become the best you can, not to acquire things. Growth brings good things, but good things don't bring growth. And growth, not pleasure, is the only guarantee of a successful future. The fact is that the secret to a successful future is hidden in your daily routine. Make sure that you don't fall into the thinking that you will be successful if you achieve certain financial goals, or live in a certain house, or drive a certain car. Success is knowing your purpose in life, growing to your maximum potential, and sowing seeds that benefit others. As Troy Aikman, Pro Bowl quarterback of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys said, "Success is not so much what we have as it is what we are." 2. DON'T ASPIRE FOR ACCEPTANCE OVER EXCELLENCE. When I was the senior pastor at Skyline, a large church in San Diego, California, I lead the church as best as I knew how and we saw tremendous growth. However, there came a point when I knew that the time I spent traveling around the country to speak was beginning to take time away from my investment in the church. I realized that although I was doing MY best, I wasn't giving the church THE best they could have. When I resigned, some people didn't understand that. And if I had been seeking acceptance I may not have moved on. But I understood that the best for both the church and myself was for me to leave. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "For everything you gain, you lose something." In other words, there may be times when your ideas or actions aren't accepted by everyone, even though they're right. But to be effective at what you do, you must be willing to pursue excellence over the acceptance of others. Make sure your new goals aren't grounded in a desire to please others. 3. DON'T SEEK SECURITY INSTEAD OF SIGNIFICANCE. The great men and women of history were not great because of what they owned or earned. Many of them had nothing of material value. But none-the-less, they were great for who they were and for what they gave their lives to accomplish. Tom Brokaw noted, "It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference." And he's right. Sometimes it becomes necessary to sacrifice the security of a job or money to make a significant difference in the lives of those you lead. Always set goals that make significance their target. 4. DON'T SACRIFICE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR QUANTITY OF LIFE. Albert Scweitzer said, "The great secret of success is to go through life as a man who never gets used up." I recently read a story about the president of a large company seeking the advice of a world-renowned professor. After unloading all his worries on the professor without much response, he decided to be quiet for a moment. The professor then began to pour water from a pitcher into a crystal glass until it began to overflow onto the table. Bewildered, the president of the company asked what he was doing. The wise professor replied: "Your life is like the glass, flowing over. There's no room for anything new. You don't need to take more in, you need to pour more out." Be careful that you don't get too busy that you neglect doing the things that matter most. Author, Bob Buford, said it this way: "Unless a person takes charge of both work and free time, they will either be disappointed or disappear." Set a goal to evaluate your time and priority management on a regular basis. Make it your first resolution in the new year to be a principle-centered
leader at work, at church, and at home. Continually use this list
as a guide to help you define your new goals. You'll find that when
you embrace the right principles for your life, you'll be effective
at sticking with your commitments. HELP WANTED
Restoration Help Wanted Master Mason Degree Assistance Needed Master Mason Degree Assistance Needed Copyright 2006 Orange-Rockland District, GLNY F&AM. All rights reserved. |
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ORDMA Holiday Party