2005 Grand Orator - Loyd E. Davis

ORATIONS

"Loyd's Commentary on Unity" - I am pleased to present to you my inaugural oration. Let me give you a little background on the wording of my title. As a young Scottish Rite Mason, I was encouraged to purchase the book "Clauson's Commentary on Morals and Dogma." Clauson was Illustrious Henry G. Clausen, 33°, Soverign Grand Commander. He reviewed, interpreted and commented on the seminal work entitled "Morals and Dogma" by Albert Pike, a highly respected Masonic writer. That gave me the idea for the title of this oration. I want to comment on why we have unity and how we keep it...Read The Complete Oration

"Masonic Customer Service" - My talk this evening is entitled Masonic Customer Service. At the 131st or 132nd Annual Communication of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Utah, a visiting Grand Master addressed our Grand Lodge from the perspective of a small businessman. He noted that if his small business was to survive, he had to concentrate on customer service and make it the best he possibly could make it. He stated that we as Masons didn't realize that our customers were men who were not Masons, and we sure weren't giving them good customer service...Read The Complete Oration

"The Importance of "Me" in Masonry" - I don't know about you, but when my folks were raising me one of the things that sticks in my head was the stricture to be humble. Don't draw attention to yourself, don't talk out of turn, don't interrup the teacher; respect adults, the list goes on and on. In school the don'ts continued: don't disrupt the class, don't talk out of turn, don't chew gum, etc. If you survived all these rules and strictures, you were probably pretty subdued when you struck out on your own...Read The Complete Oration

"Loyd's Commentary on Masonic Landmarks" - You might imagine that one of the more difficult tasks of a Grand Orator is to select subjects for his orations. To that end I have been talking to Masons and others about appropriate topics. Past Grand Master David Barron loaned me a couple of his favorite Masonic books to assist me in my quest. The book "Masonic Trivia and Facts" by Allen E. Roberts proved to be a gold mine of information...Read The Complete Oration

"Utah Silk" - About thirty years ago a TV ad touting a nasal decongestant used the intro phrase "Take your sinuses to Arizona." The implication here was that if you had nasal congestion due to allergies, etc., use of this nasal decongestant was as good as moving to Arizona to be rid of the cause of allergies. As you well know, most of the people that flocked to Arizona came from back east. The term back east comes from that well known coordinate system: up north, down south, out west, and back east. There were many things about back east that they missed in their new home...Read The Complete Oration

"Old Glory - A Few Facts" - Since 9/11 many interesting emails discussing our flag have made the rounds on the internet. I want to share a couple of them with you this evening but I thought it might be instructive to review a little flag history before proceeding further. To begin with, the name "Old Glory" came upon the flag quite by accident. A Salem Massachusetts shipmaster by the name of Captain William Driver was given a flag of 24 stars by his friends as he left on one of his many voyages on the brig CHARLES DOGGETT in 1831...Read The Complete Oration

"Loyd's Commentary on King Solomon's Temple" - My research for this talk is based on the book "Facts, Fables and Fantasies Of Freemasonry" by Most Excellent William Adrian Brown, Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Virginia, several internet sites, and the Holy Bible which contains eleven chapters in First Kings and Second Chronicles about the building of the temple. Unless you are a student of the bible and know its contents thoroughly, or you have a particular interest in King Solomon's Temple, your knowledge of the temple is most likely based on our Master Mason lecture...Read The Complete Oration

"Happiness is Being A Mason" - My Webster's College Dictionary describes happiness as follows: good fortune, pleasure, contentment, or joy. My thrust here is about pleasure, contentment, and joy: pleasure from the company of our brethren, contentment in the work we are about, and joy at the results we achieve...Read The Complete Oration

"Welcome to Wal Mart" - I can just imagine what my good friend PGM John L. Elwell is thinking - "What's One L doing now? Is he losing his mind?" And I see that MW J. C. McLaughlin has one eyebrow raised. I ask your indulgence Most Worshipfuls because I believe that the Wal Mart metaphor has relevance to Utah Masonry in five areas: the feeling of being welcome, the value of enthusiasm, the necessity for knowledge, willingness to serve, and the necessity of providing something for everyone...Read The Complete Oration

Christ Church Cornerstone - Most Worshipful Grand Master Gilmour, Distinguished Guests, Brethren, Ladies and Gentlemen. The Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Utah are pleased to join you today on this historic occasion. The Grand Lodge and Christ Church go back quite a few years. Grand Master Ferdinand Erickson presided at the tower stone ceremony for this complex on January 10, 1954 when Christ Church took the road less traveled and moved from 8th East and 9th South downtown to the uncharted "wilderness" of 33rd South...Read The Complete Oration

"What Have We Learned?" - This being your homecoming visitation, Most Worshipful Ridge, I thought it might be instructive to look back over the year thus far and consider what we have seen and what it means. In talking with Brethren in the lodges, it has become rather clear that most Brethren don't know what the Grand Lodge is, who are its members, and what is its purpose....Read The Complete Oration

St. George Lodge No. 33 Cornerstone - Most Worshipful Grand Master Gilmour, Distinguished Guests, Brethren, Ladies and Gentlemen. The Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons of Utah is pleased to join you today on this historic occasion. St. George, Utah, being a well known retirement community, has attracted masons from many states. After arriving here, they felt a need to continue their Masonic journey in their new home...Read The Complete Oration

Grand Lodge Oration February 4, 2006 - Most Worshipful Grand Master Ridge, Distinguished Guests, Brethren all. My talk today is entitled "If it is to be, it's up to me." This is a plea for Utah Masons to look around their lodges, determine things that need to be done, and start doing them without asking for permission, or waiting for a committee to be formed, or waiting for the elected and appointed officers to recognize the problem and implement a solution...Read The Complete Oration