Grand Masters Message

​ GRAND MASTERS MESSAGE Whether your Lodge is dark or not, Laura and I hope that you are enjoying the summer with friends and family, going on vacation, grilling, gardening, camping, or just soaking up some sun and making Vitamin D.  Have you ever taken something apart and been unable to get it back together? Have you ever taken a break and come back to what you were working on and have everything fall right into place? When you do this, you are using the other hemisphere of your brain, which gives a short break to the hemisphere that was previously working. Many great minds in the arts and sciences throughout history have used this as a way of expanding the efficiency of their brain. Genesis 2:2 of our Great Light explains that on the seventh day, God rested from his work. Most successful people choose to take time to make memories with their friends and family. They avoid burn out and afterwards come back to work and Lodge feeling rested and refreshed, ready for fellowship and degree work. It is not about how fast you are running around, but how many things you have completed accurately. As you read this article, I have visited Grand Lodges in Florida, Washington, D.C., and Louisiana. Our Grand Lodge Officers have completed the first phase of training for the District Deputy Grand Masters and the Appointed Subordinate Grand Lodge Officers and Committeemen. This will hopefully make us more efficient from a Grand Lodge standpoint for our Lodges. South Carolina will be hosting the Southeastern Masonic Conference in August in Charleston, followed by the District Inspirational Meetings in the fall and District Instructional Meetings in January. We ask that you consider some topics of interest that you feel should be covered at future training sessions. You can voice and share this through the surveys taken at the District Instructional Meetings. Your attendance at each of these events is crucial for the future success of your Lodge and District. I am asking the Worshipful Master of each Lodge to compile a list of charities or community projects that have been completed in 2019 by the end of the calendar year, listing time and money donated. I personally feel that this is a great selling and informational tool that our Lodges have to influence the community in a positive light concerning our Fraternity. Your compiled list will help us with the assessment of our worth and community commitment and impact at the local level in our state. It can be as simple as Lodge X donated $300.00 to the X homeless shelter. Please take time to collect this information and share a copy of it with your District Deputy. We have information that will be coming out in the following months about our Grand Lodge Building and Library and Museum Fund. If you haven’t been to our Grand Lodge to see the historic Masonic artifacts in our museum, please take the time to do so in the near future. If you give our Grand Secretary advanced notice, he can schedule time to give a personal or group tour of our building.  I want to mention something that is of great concern to me in our Fraternity today. On the evening that I took my first degree, a Past Master that I knew congratulated me on taking my first step in Freemasonry. He reminded me of the questions that we are asked and the answers I gave before being initiated (Re: 2015 Ahiman Rezon, page 60). First, I came here because I wanted to be here, it was my choice. Second, I was here because I was impressed with the positive things that Freemasonry had
done for mankind, AND I desired knowledge. Third, I would CHEERFULLY CONFORM to all the ancient usages and established customs. He reminded me that our Lodge is a HAVEN from the world of chaos. We are NEVER to bring divisive countenance, religious intolerance, or political correctness into our walls. As your Grand Master, I encourage you to take the lesson that Worshipful Brother Bill Swicegood gave me that evening and let it resonate with you. Often times, a majority of my time and that of Grand Officers and Worshipful Masters is spent on issues that stem from people that only want their way no matter the cost to their Lodge, District or our State. They refuse to CHEERFULLY CONFORM to our rules. This robs our Fraternity of harmony, causes dissention, membership loss, and is mentally draining to productive members. Question yourself;  Do I still:  Want Masonry to be viewed in a positive light Desire knowledge  Agree to cheerfully conform to our order Remember that most of us joined this group because we realized that we are not average. We do not like doing the bare minimum, like the rest of the outside world. You are special Brethren, so be special!    Finally Brethren, thank you for what you do on a daily basis to make your community, state, and nation be the best that it can be.  May our Grand Architect bless and keep you until we meet again. 
 Respectfully and Fraternally,   
Walter “Cal” Disher II   
​Grand Master 

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