Most Worshipful Grand Master.

Brethren I would like to start today by thanking the Grand Master for this opportunity he has given me to serve as your Grand Orator for your Grand Lodge and Utah Freemasonry in General. This job has not been a chore but rather a pleasure that has been very rewarding. And one of the best I have ever had the honor to hold in the Fraternity.

As a member of the Masonic Family we all have many ideas, thoughts and things we wish we could express publicly. In the office of Grand Orator you finally have this opportunity and the responsibility that is now yours, as a serving member of our Grand Lodge. With this in mind one of the first things I did was send out emails to a group of Masons both young and old in years and experience. In this correspondence questions would be put forth and then the responses garnered which would be woven together with my own ideas in each Oration so that although I may have been the author of the work it was an effort of many. For this I too must thank those Brethren for their ideas, thoughts, triumphs, and frustrations for without them the computer screen may have well remained blank.

I would also like to thank the many brethren that shared the ride in the car with me all over the state this last year. Whether it was twenty minutes to the Temple downtown or many hours to a lodge in a far off rural community those conversations in the car were golden and those friendships and the warm welcomes that we received at the lodges, those really are what Freemasonry is all about.

Most Worshipful Grand Master, Most Worshipful Past Grand Masters, Distinguished Guests from Near and Far, Brethren All Good Afternoon.

The title of today’s talk is “Freemasonry, Now is the Time”.

I am very excited about Utah Freemasonry. In my travels around the state just about every lodge I have visited they are reading new petitions. The Brethren are working hard. There are countless calls and email requests from lodges to their Brethren to help in initiating these new members. Master Masons are joining the York Rite, Scottish Rite and the Shrine. I truly believe that “we” in Utah are throwing off this “implied negativity of the past” and we have decided that we will no longer be defined by our detractors. We are a viable and growing Fraternity. John F. Kennedy said, “Let Us Resolve to be Masters of our History not Victims”.

Now for many years we have seen a decline in membership. This is a truth we cannot deny. Unfortunately none of us have an answer for the Grim Reaper but death as taught to us in our ritual is a necessary part of life and is part of the renewal process. Like Spring, which conquers the Winter and brings us to summer and the eventual harvest of the fall Freemasonry is going to grow again. The sauce if you will has to concentrate in the pan before it’s true flavors can be experienced. This is true of Freemasonry.

The past complaints of boredom, mediocrity and silly business meetings are becoming fewer and fewer and far between. Our lodges are offering value to our membership and although like the housing market we may not have bottomed out yet we need to remain positive and maintain a belief that we are in for a wondrous rebound. Perception is reality. There is power in thought. NOW NPD’s may not yet be a thing of the past but let us work so that they might be. Let us always remember that “Your Freemasonry and My Freemasonry” may always be different and sometimes the same, but we are together “Freemasons”. And unfortunately though sometimes, there are those who enter our Portals who find they may not like or want to be part of us anymore to them we bid farewell and good luck.

NOW is a great time though to be a Freemason wouldn’t you agree? Just about every other week when you turn on the television there is yet another program with eerie music and a storyline about what “you” are and what “we” do. So, that when you arrive at work the next day, all your co-workers are curious and you are now the resident expert and celebrity of Freemasonry. The reality though is that you now have the opportunity to enlighten the outside world to what and who we really are. Your co-workers, neighbors, friends and family they know you. They know what kind of fellow you are. And your actions and words are now representative of the Fraternity. Be careful; Be diligent, prudent and discreet. We all wanted the outside world to know about us maybe we should be a little bit more careful of what we wish for.

Earlier in the year I had a conversation with a Brother and we discussed the current state of Freemasonry. Quite often it seems he thought that we worry about so many other things within the Fraternity that we overlook the beautiful parts of the teachings of Freemasonry itself. He also pointed out something to me that I had never thought about before but was so obvious. Central to our core legend is the unfinished building of King Solomon’s Temple. We as Freemasons are taught through time and degrees to be builders, to complete our own spiritual and moral edifice. So if we completed this work. If Solomon’s Temple were finished, if our membership was grand and our Lodge Halls were sparkling and new would everything be just perfect? Would this elusive great “thing” that we are seeking within the Fraternity finally solve all our challenges? Are the mysteries even supposed to be solved? Is the Temple even supposed to be completed? I argue no. There are some practical things that we need to do to get our houses in order but the Masonic challenges, the Masonic Opportunities we need these as men and Masons. We need these things to grow and Freemasonry provides the vehicle. The teachings of the Fraternity offer to us if we are open to it, practical lessons that can translate to our everyday lives.

We have all seen men from all walks of life enter our lodges that were quiet and unassuming. They soon picked up the working tools and learned a lecture or took a part in a degree. Their confidence it grew they became more outgoing they became a full-fledged active member of their lodge. And these are the things that translate from Freemasonry to their personal lives. They have become better fathers, sons, brothers and co-workers. The Mason learns to speak in public, plan and design things in his life. He learns to work with his fellow man, be an upright citizen and give back to the community. More importantly in his character of a mason he displays those gentlemanly graces that are defined by his membership among us. His life is better for it and so are the lives of those he interacts with. The opportunity to learn and to serve, the Fraternity provided that for him. And this the true secret of Freemasonry the personal journey or experience is what we need to propagate and grow in our membership. This is the gift within Freemasonry we can hopefully share with the outside world. Whether you are up in the Great Dark North, out East in the Basin, West of the Great Salt Lake, all along the Wasatch Front or hidden in the mountains maybe you’re down in Castle Country or round about Dixie way the ingredients are the same the recipes are just a little different.

Yesterday is today and history is NOW.

If you look around this room you will see new and seasoned members. Between us all, are not gaps of time but an indisolvable chain of Friendship and Brotherly Love. A link if you will to the Past brought to the present to the NOW. Knowledge, stories, experience, hopes, fears and dreams. Both young and old “we” have been and are NOW part of a many centuries old Fraternity. “We” are the caretakers and protectors of the household of the faithful. And while “we” cannot claim credit for Freemasonry’s Glorious Past “We” everyone one of us here in this room today are responsible for what Freemasonry will be in the Future. This Fraternity, it’s culture is unmatched by any other endeavor in today’s society. “We” as “Freemasons” need to embrace the ever-changing opportunities given to us. “We” need to evolve without disregarding our history and traditions so that “we” can insure that our Fraternity will return to the forefront of our modern society.

In the 1966 proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Utah the then Grand Orator NOW Most Worshipful Brother Blaine M. Simons said, “Let us remember “we” can never go back, but rather let us look forward to the future. Let us rededicate ourselves to the ideals and principals of Freemasonry. Let us hold high the Banner, which our Brethren have handed us. Let us keep our Masonry a living force in this state for the things that are worthwhile. Let us remember the courage our Brethren showed in those early days, and may their past encourage us to do those things, which need to be done for the preservation and good of our beloved order. But let us not live in the past; rather let us move forward with renewed vigor.”

Brethren Freemasonry was “Great” in the past and I say is still a “Great” institution today. “We” all of us herein assembled know this to be self-evident. NOW is the time this is the place and none other should satisfy us. Let the Masonic Renaissance begin “here” in the Great State of Utah.

Thanks for listening and enjoy the rest of your Communication.

Most Worshipful Grand Master I move that this Oration be spread upon the minutes of this Communication.

WBro John C. Liley. Jr
2007 Grand Orator