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Grand Oration 2005

By Worshipful Frank Condello
Grand Orator, 2004

This oration was given during the Grand Lodge of Hawaii's Annual Communication on April 29-30, 2005.

Aloha brethren. We are all gathered here today for the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of hawaii. This annual event brings the leaders of our fraternity together for several days in an opportunity to address issues that concern us and attempt to make the craft a more workable and efficient organization. It is also an opportunity to look back at the previous year and appreciate the accomplishments as well as problems that arose and approach each with an open mind.

Rather than speak specifically about what Most Worshipful Hager has accomplished this last year or what the incoming Grand Master wants to accomplish, I want to address what it really means to be a Mason and how many of us have fallen short of our obligations as Master Masons. If some of you are uncomfortable with this topic, then I have already accomplished part of my goal. Looking inward at your own actions and beliefs can be a difficult thing but also a very refreshing one if something is learned in the process and a change for the better of all is accomplished in the end. You may be asking yourself, what is he talking about?

I want you to think back to when you first petitioned your lodge to receive the degrees of Freemasonry. What was your motivation? Prior to being brought into the lodge room for the first time, the Marshal addressed you and confirmed that you were unbiased by friends and uninfluenced by mercenary motives. You also confirmed that you had a desire for knowledge and a sincere wish to be serviceable to your fellow creatures. What does mercenary motives mean? Well, for instance, did you join Masonry to get ahead in society? Did you join so one day others would have to call you Worshipful or stare in awe of the color of your hat or the jewel upon your breast? Did you join for personal gain of some sort rather than for the love of what you might become a part of and the rich history of our craft? As you progressed in yoru lodge, you learned the inner workings of the fraternity and how the lodge was run and what was expected of each officer. Much was demanded of you with respect to memorizing ritual work and participation in lodge activities and degrees. If you had not done so, none of you would be sitting here today.

Although doing good ritual work is very admirable and a goal that any dedicated Mason should aspire to, there is more to the ritual than just memorizing it. It is one thing to be able to rattle a lecture off the top of your head and another to give that same lecture but truly believe from the bottom of your heart what is being said. You may ask yourself, what is the difference? I believe there is a significant difference and here is why. The two lectures may sound the same to the candidate, but deep down, only the brother that truly believes what he is saying is significant and meaningful is living true Masonry. If the brother turly loves his brethren and tries to live the tenets of Masonry on a daily basis, then he is making a difference in the world, no matter how small it may seem to others. This is what Masonry is about. This is the core of who we are as Masons. We always say that one of our goals is to make good men better men.

How are we making them better? The moral teachings of our degrees complement a brother's faith they have in a higher force than themselves, as we say The Great Architect of the Universe. We are an ancient and honorable fraternity. This is not just another club you join but a life choice and a promise to live your life differently than the average person in society. If you do not believe this to be the case, then I question if you are on the right path as a Mason or have you deviated from your original intentions and obligations.

This being said, I stand before you as a humble brother, realizing that we all fall short of the Great Architect's divine plan. For the true wisdom comes from the Great Architect. And we are each his servants when we trust in him. It is just as our Most Worshipful Brother King Solomon wrote so many years ago, "Do you see persons wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for fools than for them." Proverbs 26:12. It is holy through the pure teachings of our craft that each of us may love, serve and honor each and every Masonic Brother. The degrees of Masonry instruct us of these ways. They remind us to trust in God and pray. They teach us that brotherly love, relief and truth is our way. And that any contention among brothers must be resolved in the light given by the Great Architect. We Masons know this light through our rituals and the Word of the Holy Bible. Through our rituals, our life in the lodge among brethren and the sacred words of the Holy bible call each of us to examine ourselves and pray for the Guidance of God at all times.

Each of us know that contention will arise among men from time to time. So too for Masons; with an important difference. Masons are called by The Great Architect to resolve their differences in the most peaceful and gentle of ways. We are called to treat our brothers as we ourselves wish to be treated. And to see in each brother no matter what our differences may appear to be, as a divine child of that Holy Master who loves each of us as his very own. Each of us know our duty to fellow Masons when they go astray. We are to admonish our brother in a way that both corrects and preserves his dignity. My dear brothers, if you find yourself ready to pounce on a fellow Mason for his apparent failings, first consider the bitterness that may be in your own heart and tear out its roots, marking well the teachings of our ancient brethren, the students of the Most Excellent King Solomon. "If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth, for as pressing milk produces curds, and pressing the nose produces blood, so pressing anger produces strife." Proverbs 30:32-33. Over the years, there have been incidents that have led me to pray for the return of wisdom to the practice of Freemasonry in Hawaii. For without divine guidance my brothers, we are nothing more than creatures acting by impulse, scratching at one another in the darkness. But if we remember the light of Freemasonry, then we will remember that brotherly love, relief and truth will always light the way even in the darkest days of our lives.

Each of us can and should make a conscious choice to love our Masonic brothers as ourselves. We should always be ready and willing to fly to a brother's aid when he is in need. And we must realize that our errant brother is in a time of great need and treat him with the same compassion that we ourselves would expect has we fallen astray. And it may well be my brethren, that we ourselves are the one in error and not our brother whom we suspect and persecute. We owe it to our lodge, ourselves and our creator to treat every instance of contention in the lodge as though our very life held in the balance. For in truth a word can kill as sure as a weapon. The death my brothers may be the death of a Mason in his Masonic life and love of the Craft. For if a man's heart is soured he will be of little use to himself and to his lodge. He will rather be as one who grieves, for he is now outside the lodge. for him, the lodge is always dark whilst his brethren within share food, fellowship, and the false light which they may well enjoy for a time in their conceit.

And so my brethren, let us recall and live the simple truths of our honorable Craft. We must always assume the best of every brother. We must love every brother as ourself. And we must never seek to destroy a brother; rather we must seek to build him up as a fellow stone in that hoUse not built with hands, eternal in the heavens and blessed of our Creator.

And so my brethren, let us walk in the light left us by David, King of Israel when he was but a humble shepherd boy and servant of God:

"Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of the wicked,
nor lingered in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the seats of the scornful!

Their delight is in the law of the LORD,
and they meditate on it day and night.

They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season,
with leaves that do not wither;
EVERYTHING THEY DO SHALL PROSPER."

- Psalm 1: 1-3