2008 Oration
Most Worshipful Grand Master, Distinguished Brothers and Brothers all, Good Morning,
I would like to start off by telling you a story about Jack Bennett:
It had been some time since Jack has been home or even thought of home. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
One night his mother called him and told him; "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood day, "Jack, did you hear me?" "Oh, sorry Mom; yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago." "Well, he didn't forget you" she said; "Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. "He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over on 'his side of the fence' as he put it; I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said. "He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important... Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said. As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time. Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time. The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture... Jack stopped suddenly. "What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked. "The box is gone," he said. "What box?" Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said. It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it. "Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read. Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside: "Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filled his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch. Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved: "Jack, Thanks for your time! Harold Belser." "The thing he valued most...was...my time." Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked. "I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for your time!"
I hold in my hands one of the most important things that we value in our lives, time. In one hand I grasp it and try to make the most of it, and in the other I let it simply slip away between my fingers. There have never been truer words written. The author is anonymous: "Every morning you are handed 24 golden hours. They are one of the few things in this world that you get free of charge. If you had all the money in the world, you couldn't buy an extra hour. What will you do with this priceless treasure?"
As masons we are concerned about time, because we talk about time with our newly made members in our degrees that we give. For instance on the first degree the 24 inch gauge, the third degree has lots about time in the third section the three steps, the scythe of time, and many more instances. But are we concerned about time as masons or just human beings? We, all have the fear that time is slipping by. Time is something that we have seen the richest people in the world covet and cannot buy. We all have it and some of us just waste it away and others use it well. Something so simple but so complicated that even the most intelligent minds of the world cannot learn how it can be controlled. You can't store it or save it but you can use it wisely or waste it. And we as masons know about it and our forefathers even tried to convey to us the importance of our usage of time by our degree work. But how can something so simple be so elusive. Our Brother Ben Franklin said this about time: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of." And, Peter F. Drucker said: "Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed."
So if you consider, that as masons we are taught to divide our days into 3 equal parts. We don't divide into 3 equal parts to conserve the time but how to use the time that we do have. But what we do with those parts is what makes us different from all the others. Our forefathers in their infinite wisdom taught us to make use of our time for the betterment of ourselves and others. In the third degree we learn from the three steps that as entered apprentices we apply ourselves to attaining knowledge, so as fellowcraft we apply our knowledge, so as master masons we may enjoy the happy reflections of life. This all takes time.
Now the question is do we live our lives according to our teaching and if so, does it help us get that last little bit more out of our lives. Ernest Hemingway wrote: "There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things, and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave." I feel that we are the lucky ones in life to have had such smart forefathers that left us with the legacy of learning how to manage our time. We go back to the story that we started with and we can all put ourselves in Jack's position we just need to remind ourselves that we need to balance our time with our family, vocation, our religion and all the things that we hold close to ourselves. We can search within ourselves and find the answers to our questions of whether we have used our time wisely or simply let it slip by. Horace Mann sums up this search when he wrote: "Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever." We as masons must search and find that balance within ourselves that satisfies all our needs and answers all the demands that we have placed on ourselves and let no one thing that we hold close to us be deprived of our attention. This balance of our time is a must for us to achieve our goals in life.
I have no words of wisdom for you only a reminder of what you already know. Use your time wisely, for when we set our goals in life, we fail to set a time for these goals to be met. Set your goals, shoot for the moon, and remember your time starts at your first breath and ends with your last.
Most Worshipful John, You believed in me and I truly thank you for that and I want to thank you for the chance you have given me to serve the Grand Lodge of Colorado. I am humbled by all the people that I have met this past year and how much they know and yet how little I know. I have truly learned how you all dedicate your lives to Masonry and how we all benefit from it. I have met this past year some exceptional men that have made an impression upon my life and how they truly seek more light even though they are some of the wisest men already. They never turn you away, if you have a question, without giving you at the least an answer or a direction for you to search. I can only convey to you how special this past year has been for me. We always tell our new members that they will get out of masonry what they put into it. I have been the exception I have received more from masonry than I can ever give back. Thanks for your time. Speaking of time, I will cherish this past year with all my heart " I close with this saying by Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "Time is a companion that goes with us on a journey. It reminds us to cherish each moment, because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." I submit this oration 26th day of January, 2008
W.Bro. Dwayne Weyers, P.M.
Grand Orator 2008
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away" (anonymous)
THANK YOU SO MUCH
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