Happy New Year Brethren;
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and New Years Eve. I would think most of us either sang or heard the tune of “Auld Lang Syne”, the new years tradition. A song millions of people around the world knows and loves. We are moved by its message of old friends reminiscing the past. We also tend to reach out to others we have not seen in year(s) and keep the ties that time may have lapsed. Our Poet Laureate Brother, Robert Burns, wrote that song. Brother Burns had commitment to the ideals of the Enlightenment, and these ideals came from his Masonic Lodge, and tradition has it that he was installed as Poet Laureate in a lodge. The Masonic ideals of brotherly love, relief truth do not stop at the lodge door are clearly evident in his works. This shows his great love and admiration for the craft. For Burns, “Auld Lang Syne” is a concrete expression of his love of mankind and his ideal of international brotherhood. Burns’ song is the last song in the holiday movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. When all seems lost, friends rally to his aid and relief with brotherly love, and with “Auld Lang Syne” being sung a character playing an angel says,” No man is a failure when he has friends” – A sentiment that would resonate with Brother Burns.
Brethren, with our new years resolution let us take Brother Burns sentiments to heart. Remember that Masonry is “that cement which unities us into one sacred band or society of friends and brothers”. Maintain the tenets of our profession in your daily life. Join us in the lodge whenever you are able to keep those ties fresh.
Happy New Year,
Russ Bauer, WM
