Address of R.W. Bro. Hermann Waxl
on His Official Visit to Corona Lodge No. 454, Dec. 2, 1999

Your Dreams are Worthy of Your Efforts

Life is a challenge! That is what makes it worth living.

It is how we meet that challenge that will determine whether we fulfill the true measure of our potential or whether we drift aimlessly through life, never fully realizing why we really came to be in the first place.

At least in my opinion, life seems pretty short. Time seems to fly by, so we say. In reality time does not fly by, it is the most constant element in our universe, it was here before us, it is here now, and will be here after us.

The options of how we spend our time, and therefore our lives, seem endless. Wasting time is wasting life itself, and wasting life must be the biggest  mistake of all.

I am sure we all feel a sense of urgency when we see people who are "derailed" - people who are wondering about homeless, for many reasons, unsure of where they want to go or what they want to do, ore even who they want to be.

They are often good people with great potential, who at one time had dreams and goals of their own. I have learned that anything is possible for those who are persistent in their pursuit of their dreams. Sure, we meet roadblocks! Sure, there are hurdles! Things don't ever turn out exactly how we planned. But what a tragedy, when we interpret those setbacks as making our dreams impossible to reach - or worse yet - interpret our current failure as meaning we are failures, and incapable of success.

Never five in to defeat, because there is always hope.

We always have a chance, and the truth is, if we don't give up there is no question that we will make it somehow, someway, someday. Unless we give up.

We all have had dreams that have not yet come true.

Just because they have not yet come true does not mean they never will -unless we five up on them. Worthy dreams are worth working for, no matter how many times we stumble, and even slide backwards.

Especially when our dreams are unselfish dreams that involve our values, and our loved ones. It is so important that we do not let them die within us.

I believe that one of the saddest scenarios I can imagine, is when someone gives up on their dreams. In many respects, giving up is worse than the loss of a loved one. To give up on our goals may be, in essence, to not fulfill the purpose of our own creation. To allow life to happen to us as opposed to making life happen for us is one of life's greatest potential tragedies.

Some of your dreams may not involve Masonry, and although we probably cannot help you with them directly, we can cheer you on to go after those dreams with all your heart.

The Masonic teachings offer hope to those who have given up on their dreams. They can rekindle the dream, can breathe life into goals long forgotten, and be inspired to keep on trying regardless of how many times they have tried before. Goals start with a dream and then writing that dream down on paper. Until it is written down, a dream never becomes a goal, it just remains a dream.

The New Year is a great time to re-establish our goals and recommit ourselves to our own, and "to each other's success."

I would like to read a poem called "A Small Boy"

A small boy looked at a star and began to weep.
And the star said, 'Boy, why are you weeping?'
And the boy said, 'You are so far away, I will never be able to touch you."
And the star answered,
"Boy, if I were not already in your heart you would not be able to see me."

Brethren: As we approach the holiday season and also the mid-way of my year as your DDGM, I would like to thank all the Brethren of  Muskoka-Parry Sound District for your great support to Grand Lodge.

Your District Secretary, W.Bro. Gord Finbow and wife Gwen, my wife Nancy and I wish you and your families a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thank you.

R.W.Bro. Hermann Waxl, DDGM