Address of R.W. Bro. Hermann Waxl
on His Official Visit to Algonquin Lodge No. 434, Jan. 18, 2000

Let Us Address The Millennium

Tonight, my message addresses the Millennium.

At the beginning of 1999, many of us didn't even know what the word "Millennium" meant. It sounded like some new material of metal for making space shuttles. But in the last few months of 1999, we had all kinds of anxiety and concern about the new Millennium, about the end of a thousand years and the beginning of another thousand. (Most of which never materialized, as so often happens with many of our worries in life). Some people even thought the world might end, but this idea never caught on.

Did the Divine Architect as we in Masonry describe God, laugh at our fears and celebrations? After all, what is time? What is a thousand years in the divine scheme of things?

The Dutch writer, Hendrick van Loon puts it this way. "High up in the north in the land called Svithjob, there stands a rock. It is one hundred miles high and one hundred miles wide. Once ever thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak. When the rock has thus been worn away, than a single day of eternity will have gone by."

So let's get on with living. We still put our trousers on, one leg at a time.

Looking at the past. The philosopher Spinoza (among others) said "If you want the present to be different from the past, study the past." Our Masonic teachings, beliefs and principals have not changed.

So reflecting on our Lodges:
What was good in our  memories of the past? Why were they good? Are those good things still with us? Why? - Why not? Will they still be with us in the future?
What was not good? Why? Is it still with us? Can we learn from them and change?

And looking to the  present:
As I said during my first Official Visit to Golden Rule Lodge - yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, that is why we call it the present.

Let us use the present for long range planning. "Long range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decision."

So it is important for our Lodges to live out our ideals now, so the future will be a good one.

We all have to contribute as individuals. It is a fact that individuals comprise the membership of our lodge. Individuals as different as the colours of flowers in a garden. Men of many varied talents and backgrounds: Men of many different goals and plans: Men with many varied ideas and philosophies: but all of them share one common bond, that of "Masonic Brotherhood" and the obligations that go with this bond.

Our great Craft cannot function without the members. The whole purpose of a Lodge is there for every "individual" member's interest and involvement: not for just a few.

Being human, Masons suffer from human frailties, so if a brother chooses to improve himself or not depends entirely upon himself. We must not be disillusioned when we find that there are those who have not benefited by their Masonic experience, but be content in knowing that for each of those who remain within our fraternity as master masons in name only, there are numerous others who through the practice of Masonry have raised themselve3s a step closer to the Great Architect of the Universe.

As yourself, "Why did I become a Mason?" And consider this statement. "The man who does only what is required of him is a slave. The moment h does more, he is a free man."

Ask yourself, "What have I done as a Mason?"

I am paying my membership dues but what contribution have I made of my time and talent, over the years? Since I joined for that matter? In the past year?

Looking to the future.
Abraham Lincoln said, "The best thing about the future is that is comes only one day at a t time." So, this enables us to face the future without fear, as we live into it.

I feel: Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes to us at midnight very  clean. It's perfect when it arrives and puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.

Our interest should be in the future because we will be spending the rest of our lives there.

Thank you.

R.W.Bro. Hermann Waxl, DDGM