Right Worshipful Sirs, Very Worshipful Sirs, Worshipful Sirs Distinguished East and Brethren All.

Tonight on the eve of the dedication of Brant Lodge #45 I think back a few months to the dedication of this lodge and how the seats were full of happy brethren from near and far. Exactly the same situation occurred then and today at Brant #45 as it did in King Solomon's day.

I found this information in Religion, Where Gods Live by National geographic Society. The temple was the result of the King Solomon's wish to enshrine the Ark of the Covenant in God's Promised Land. In 970 BCE on the spot where Abraham had offered to sacrifice his only son Isaac King Solomon dedicated a Temple . No Physical trace of it remains, although the written record describes the walled temple as 90 by 30 feet with ceilings 45 feet tall. It's design was likely Phoenician, for the craftsmen and materials were sent by Solomon's ally, King Hiram of Tyre , whose builders were renowned. In payment King Solomon granted King Hiram twenty cities in the North, in Galilee . This is substantial price to pay even by today's standards.

The temple was built from materials gathered from around the known world. The walls and foundations were made of stone, its beams of cedar, it's floors of cypress. The timber was cut in Lebanon , shipped along the coast and hauled into land at the harbour of Joppa .

The temple was then dedicated to the work of God by King Solomon. Many nations were again present at its dedication including the Queen of Sheba. She ruled a kingdom at the south western tip of the Arabian Peninsula . She Came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold and precious stones.

Just as those guests travelled so did the guests at today's lodge dedication at Brant. Brant lodge #45 was dedicated to the same work as that of King Solomon's Temple as is this lodge at Onondaga #519.

Brethren I thank you for the kindness that you have afforded me this evening and I close with a story from grandfather:

Back in the donkey days, two farmers were always trying to best each other. If one got a good horse, the other got a better one and if one got a good buggy, the other got a nice one. In the later days it was the same with cars - always just a little better than the other feller. Eventually one died and on his tombstone he had inscribed: "Here I lied as snug as a bug in a rug." The neighbours could hardly wait for the friend to go. Finally he did, and when his stone was unveiled, it read: "Here I lie , just a little snugger than the other bugger"