MASONS MAKING A DIFFERENCE
by Thomas W. Jackson Tom Jackson is the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge
of Pennsylvania. In this STB he shares with us several stories of Masonic
involvement. Responding to the needs of others is a Masonic calling. It's
important to know that the challenges of life are often met, mostly
unrecognized, by Mason's practicing what we have been taught.
We at MSA are very grateful to Tom Jackson for sharing these stories with
all Masons! Editor
During the 275-year history of organized Freemasonry, there have been
countless stories of Freemasons' relationship with other Freemasons and
Freemasons with others outside the Craft. Some of these stories have been told,
but the vast majority are forever lost for lack of documentation. If these
stories were known, they would provide far more credibility to the brotherhood
of Freemasonry than would all of the attempts we make today to have not only the
general public understand us but also to have our own Brothers understand us. I
relate here a few.
A Truly Dedicated Mason
For over twelve years I have been listening to the difficulties in presenting
Fifty-Year Masonic Service Emblems to Brothers who did not wish to make the
effort to travel a few miles or even a few blocks to receive the award.
Several years ago I received a request from a good friend and Brother to
present him with his Fifty-Year Masonic Service Emblem when he was eligible for
one. With permission of the District Deputy Grand Master for his District, I
readily accepted what I regarded as a rare privilege and an honor.
In 1991 I had the opportunity to make that presentation. My friend and
Brother boarded a bus in Sedalia, Missouri (where he now lives) and traveled to
Lebanon, Pennsylvania (the location of his Lodge) for a meeting in which he was
recognized for his fifty years of service to our Masonic Fraternity. The next
day he boarded a bus and returned to Missouri.
This in itself is an extremely remarkable act, far beyond what I have
experienced before, by a Brother to receive this award. What is even more
remarkable about the effort, however, is that this Brother traveled the distance
with his seeing eye dog as his only companion, for this Brother is legally
blind.
It must have been through efforts and interests of men like these that we
have the privilege of being Freemasons today.
This Brother is a remarkable man. He is also a remarkable Freemason. I look
forward each year to meeting with him in Washington, D.C. at the Allied Masonic
Degree meetings which he never misses.
I cannot help but wonder how much greater we might be if we had more Brothers
as dedicated to the Craft as is this Brother. He certainly has my admiration and
respect and deserves the same from all Freemasons.
A Commitment to Masonic Caring
On January 13th of this year, I received a report from the Chairman of the
Visitation Committee of one of our Lodges. Along with the report was a letter in
which this Brother wrote: "Enclosed is the report of visitations for the year
1991. This is the 13th and final year of my visitations to the ill and
shut-ins."
He went on then to discuss the locations in three States and five counties in
the Jurisdiction of Pennsylvania to which he had journeyed in order to visit our
Brethren who were in the hospital. He closed his communication with "I enjoyed
doing visitations--Why--When I was ill with double pneumonia in January 1947 in
the Norfolk Naval Hospital, the first person to visit me was a Mason from the
Cape Charles, Va. Masonic Lodge. I have never forgotten that."
I have been receiving these annual reports from this Brother for a number of
years. His are the only ones which I have received.
We, as Members of the Craft, can sit and lament the loss of the feeling of
Brotherhood or we can, like this Brother, live Masonic Brotherhood. There is
nothing I could add that would improve upon what he has done to maintain the
image of our Craft.
Masons At Work In The Community
This past December, a telephone call was received by my office from the
Department of Housing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A representative of that
Department was calling regarding a lady for whom she was providing temporary
shelter. This lady had been employed as a caretaker for an older and infirm
person. She recently lost her position, and, although the Department of Housing
was making arrangements to relocate her, she had no one to assist her and knew
no one to ask for help.
She had told the representative of the Department of Housing that her
deceased husband, who had been a Member of a Lodge in Oklahoma, had told her on
a number of occasions that if she ever needed help to call the Masons. This was
the reason for the call coming into my office.
I contacted the District Deputy Grand Master for that District who, in turn,
made contact with the lady who needed help. After talking with her, he made
arrangements with Members of a Subordinate Lodge in the District to meet on a
specific date with pickup trucks and move her possessions to her new place of
residence, a distance of approximately 60 miles.
The major significance of this action is not the participation of the Members
of the Craft to help the widow of a Brother. This should always be the
anticipated action. The comment from the lady from the Department of Housing was
significant, however, when she said to me, "I did not realize that you people
would do that."
Words That Made A Difference
"One Saturday afternoon, after working in my garden, I went indoors to lie on
the bed and listen to a Penn State football game. The telephone rang, and the
caller was a representative of the Women's Aid Society, calling room Texas. She
told me that a young lady was on an airplane scheduled to land at the
Philadelphia airport in one hour. Her sister, who lived in New Jersey, had been
injured in an automobile accident, and she was arriving to take her home to
Texas. She knew no one to contact and had no way to get to New Jersey. The only
thing she could tell the Women's Aid Society was that, "her daddy was a Mason."
This lady called the Grand Lodge of Texas who referred her to my office. One
of the employees who happened to be in the office on Saturday gave her my home
telephone number.
I went to the airport and after a two-hour search was able to locate the
young lady. I learned from a Brother Mason who was a security officer how to get
to the small town in New Jersey. On the way there, the young lady told me that
she needed to rent a truck to carry her sister's furniture and clothing to
Texas. They wanted to leave the next day.
I was unable to rent a truck that late at night, however being close to the
Delaware border I called the Grand Secretary of Delaware at his home. He in turn
made arrangements for four Members of one of Delaware's Lodges to come over
Sunday morning, rent a truck, load it and get the young ladies started for
Texas. I stayed until 3 a.m. helping them pack their belongings in boxes which I
was able to obtain from a local store.
It is not significant that I was involved or, for that matter, that any
single person was involved in this episode. The individual is not important.
What is important is our feeling of the need to respond due to a Masonic
obligation. What is important is that five words, "My daddy was a Mason," given
to a non-Masonic organization in Texas precipitated a response that involved
four states across a continent. What is important is that it reveals the
continuing essence of Freemasonry, "The Brotherhood of Man."
As long as we, as individual Members, feel the need to respond to this
assumed obligation, we carry on the proud tradition credited to the Craft. We
justify our existence. We give reason for an interest by others. We really
maintain a reason for being. If each Brother would express and respond to this
motivation to practice this " essence "--what a giant step for our survival!"
VA Volunteers
If you never have guided the wheelchair Of a patient down the hall; Helped a
man who has given his country Of his love, his health, his all If you never have
sat with the ailing, Seen their pain and sensed their fear, Then you cannot
share in the feelings Of the VA Volunteer. Have you paced with the wife of a
veteran And discussed the time of day? Tried diverting her mind for a moment As
her husband passed away? Have you offered a shoulder to lean on and a Kleenex
for a tear? It's all part of the life that's lived daily By the VA Volunteer.
Sympathetically listening to memories Of a patient racked with pain; With a
smile, cheerful word, and a handshake That evokes, "Please come again." If a
patient has said, "Thank you kindly," It was music to the ear And the greatest
payment in this world Of the VA Volunteer. If each one of us walked down those
hallways With the volunteer one day, If each one gave a thought to the veterans
And the price they've had to pay, Then our blessings we'd know to be countless,
And we'd spend succeeding years Giving thanks unto God our Creator For those
faithful volunteers.
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