…presented at Ozias Lodge No.508, Burford, October 20, 2007.

There are forces at work in our lives, some known and some unknown, which we cannot control. The unexpected can occur and the expected can turn out very differently than we thought.

While describing the Lodge, the Junior Warden acknowledges the ornaments by saying:
“We ornament our lodges with Mosaic Pavement to remind us of the uncertainty of all things here below; to-day we may tread in the flowery meads of prosperity; to-morrow we may totter on the uneven paths of weakness, temptation and adversity. While then our feet tread on this Mosaic pavement, let our ideas recur to the original which we copy; let us act as the dictates of right reason prompt us, practice charity and live in peace with all men.”

The rubric points out the changeable and unmanageable forces, both from within and without, that we will confront. We are urged to prepare for and meet them and to focus ourselves on the star of constancy which gleams in the center.

Few of us seem as well equipped as we might like with the knowledge, wisdom and faith to deal with life. The fact of failure, character producing or devastating, is with us. Mishap or calamity can be more than we can handle up front. However, with a leg-up from brothers, we stand a better chance.

“If you at some future time meet a brother who asks for your assistance, you mat recall that peculiar moment when you were received into masonry, poor and penniless, neither barefoot nor shod, and you will cheerfully embrace the opportunity of practicing that virtue you now profess to admire.”

In the famous poem, ‘The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’, by Edmund Fitzgerald, he describes the situation thus:

“ ‘Tis all a chequer board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays.
Hither and thither moves and mates and slays
And one by one back in the Closet Lays.”

We are not eastern fatalists since masons believe we have control over our destinies and we do not believe that the G.A.O.T.U. plays chess with Nature.

We have been given the ability to act together to mitigate each other’s difficulties and as masons we are called to do so.

Give of yourself!