Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Tolerance Awareness Tuesday

“The universal brotherhood of man is our most precious possession.” Brother Samuel Clemens, aka, Mark Twain

The Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God is a phrase Masons often quote. As many of our maxims and rituals, the truth of the quote is not in its recital, it’s in its execution.

The last Tolerance Tuesday blog I wrote generated a response from a Brother who had apparently been ill-treated as he joined his lodge. (Since I do not have the time to monitor and reply to comments to my blog, I have turned off that feature – sorry…) I will make a response this one time, however:

Freemasonry has one shortcoming: Its members are human. And as such, we fall short of the mark so many times.

So to the Brother who was disappointed in his treatment as he joined the lodge, and to all who have been slighted or offended by a Brother in or out of the Lodge, remember: We are human. We are good men striving to be better, but we make no claim to be perfect.And, as circumstances permit, take the opportunity to whisper good counsel in a brother’s ear.