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Issue No. 88 January 7, 2008 |
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R:.W:. Joseph R. Leo R:.W:. David L. Blasch V:.W:. Robert W. Adams 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 |
Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday break and are ready to resume your labors in the quarries of Freemasonry. This is traditionally a busy time of year for many of our Lodges, with new Degree cycles beginning and preparations being made by next year's officers. If your Lodge is not sure what next year's Line will look like, now is the time to address that. Our Grand Director of Ceremonies, R:.W:. Dave Blasch, has a Road to the East Course scheduled for March and he'll need to know who will be attending soon so that he can order the necessary materials. This Course is not just for Wardens, it's ideal for Deacons and any other Brothers looking up the line toward leadership in your Lodges. If you are interested, please get in touch with Dave today! If you and your Lodge have not yet purchased ads for the ORDMA Dinner Dance journal, please consider doing so. In addition to the much needed support from our Lodges, it's also a great opportunity to show your personal support not only for ORDMA, but the charitable and community service programs that the proceeds go to support. While the primary beneficiary in recent years has been our District's very successful Child ID program, monies raised by the journal have also gone to support scholarships, children attending Camp Turk, and Brothers in need. Information on how to purchase ads and tickets for the dance appear a little later in this issue in the ORDMA section. Please don't wait, order your ads and tickets today! One of my New Year's resolutions was to acknowledge my priorities and pick my battles more carefully. One of those was acknowledging that getting this newsletter out on Fridays has become an impossibility, so the official publication day is now Monday. That said, this is the first issue to come out on time in awhile so... yay me! How did you guys do with your resolutions? Any you want to share with the group? Let me know and until then, we'll see you next week! DISTRICT NEWS
Masters and Wardens Meeting December NETNEWS Available UPCOMING CHILD ID PROGRAMS
2006 and 2007 Child ID Session Reports Child ID System ORDMA NEWS
ORDMA Dinner Dance DATES TO REMEMBER
2007-2008 DDGM Visits
SCHOOL OF INSTRUCTION
The Orange-Rockland District School of Instruction is currently in limbo because of a lack of requests to host it. If your Lodge would like to hold a SoI program on a ritual topic of your choosing, please contact the DDGM. In the meanwhile, Jerusalem Temple Lodge will be hosting a monthly School at 9:00 a.m. on the third Saturdays and Stony Point-Wawayanda expects to start a School of their own shortly. Please contact these Lodges for more details. GOOD NEWS & GLAD TIDINGS
We are grateful to hear that Wor. Gene McGill, Master of Hoffman Lodge, is home and on the mend after his recent surgery. Gene has been a pillar of the District, coming out in support for many of our activities and reminding us all of the qualities that make a good Masonic Leader. We wish him the very best for a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him out and about soon! Think About This...
An Argument for Change In the early development of the Individual Development Course (iDC), a new Brother who had recently joined the Craft and our team offered the following after one of our planning sessions. It really struck home and helped shape the elements of the Course that teach us how to effect change in the attitude or behavior of a target audience. Please give it a read and let me know if you think it still stands true. "A couple of weeks ago I spent a weekend up on the beautiful Finger Lakes with a couple of Masonic Brothers and friends. They are both thinkers and doers, shakers and movers who have been working on Masonic issues around New York State for many years. Between the three of us I would estimate that we had over 75 years of Masonic experience, and less than 5 of them were on account of me. Naturally, much of the conversation was about Masonry. Starting that weekend, and for the twelve days that followed, an uneasiness had been growing in my mind. It had been something like a cloud that has been tumbling around and only as of this writing did I perceive the first rays of clarity on it. Following our discussions, I realized something profound. It became clear to me that many of the issues and topics we are struggling with today, and the concepts that we are trying to presently impart, are the same or similar to those that these Brothers have been advocating for and promoting over the years. Furthermore some of the works referenced by them were older than their efforts. These, in their turn, were advocating similar issues, topics and concepts years before. Despite literally dozens of years, libraries full of resources, and probably thousands of man-hours of effort, Masonry unfortunately remains a shrinking force of seemingly declining effectiveness at this point in our history. What is missing? Certainly not men of vision. Those currently involved, and many others, have had vision. Certainly not resources. The shelves of Masonic Libraries, both public and private, are running over with books, courses, manuals, guides, programs, and presentations for those who seek them out. In my humble assessment then, I would suggest action. Not just action, but effective action. Effective action that follows a proven process for effecting social and organizational change. Masons can glean wisdom from reading books until they turn blue in the face. Brothers can listen to inspiring presentations and applaud, feeling good about Masons and Masonry. In collation, we can discuss and ‘solve’ any and every problem ad nauseum. Without a process for effective action resulting in changes in attitudes and behaviors, it will all amount to nothing, and years hence, we may find ourselves with less than seven thousand Masons left in the State of New York. They will still be reading, watching, learning, talking and still wondering what to do." Organizations generally exist for a purpose. Businesses exist to make money, schools and universities to educate, and police and fire departments to safeguard their communities. Even that in itself isn’t enough, though. It’s not enough for a fire department to roll a truck and put out a fire, they also seek to educate the community on fire prevention and safety. In some cases, this means changing the way people behave and think in order to develop new, safer habits. And what about those organizations like churches, youth programs, and fraternities that actively promote cultural change as a tool to improve the lives of those around them? How can we develop tools and processes to help Freemasonry spread its beneficent influence on mankind? Moral institutions rarely lack for vision but often require a more structured methodology if they are going to communicate their vision into cultural change. Copyright 2006-2008 Orange-Rockland District, GLNY F&AM. All rights reserved. |
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