A few weeks ago, I began my day like every other day, trying to get through the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I was busy with my day’s activities and then I heard a familiar sound in an unfamiliar place. It was Christmas music.

Yes I believe we all would agree that the older we get the faster Christmas comes and the commercialization of the season does not allow the public to enjoy one holiday before they sprint off to the next holiday. It’s no longer talking about Christmas and the joy the season brings, but black Friday and cyber Monday dominated the subject of many conversations.

I believe we each need to focus on 5 principles. I am convinced that if we; you and I focus on these principles then the joy many are searching for will be found each day of the year and not just during the Christmas Season.

I would like to ask each of you a few questions.
   1. Do you have something to do? 
   2. Do you have something to hope for?
   3. Do you have something to believe in?
   4. Do you have someone in your life you love?
   5. Do you fear death?

Something to Do

Do you have something to do? We don’t have to search for an opportunity to serve; all we have to do is embrace the first opportunity we see. Historians claim that President Roosevelt would never have been elected President of the United States had the American public realized the severity of his physical limitations. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered with paralysis due to polio. Polio was one of the most dreaded illnesses of the 20th century, and had killed or paralyzed thousands of Americans during the first half of the 20th century. President Roosevelt saw an opportunity to serve his fellowman; therefore January 3, 1938 he had a vision to raise money for polio research and to care for those suffering from the dreaded disease. The name of the foundation would emphasize the national, nonpartisan, and public nature of the organization, as opposed to private foundations established by wealthy families. The disease spanned across economic lines and due to the enormity of those that were being stricken daily, each American would be needed to do something.

He settled upon the name “The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis”. The idea was simple; he would kick off the foundation with using the newest technology that was being used in the war…radio. Yes it was settled that an appeal would go out over the radio asking every American to donate 10 cents to fight polio. In 1945 President Roosevelt would die in office. Talk soon began after his death and conversations began to circulate and a campaign started to place President Roosevelt’s portrait on a coin. Divine providence had been at work years earlier, because every other coin save one had a president or founding father’s portrait upon it, therefore to put Roosevelt image on any other coin would have required displacing a president or founding father. The only coin in wide circulation which had a purely allegorical figure (Lady Liberty) on the obverse was the dime. Over the years President Roosevelt’s foundations name would gradually change and in 1979 the name would change from “The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis” to “The March of Dimes”.

In the post-World War II years, the number of polio cases in the United States increased sharply, making the cause even more urgent. Then, on April 12, 1955 the University of Michigan held a news conference announcing to the world that the polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk was “safe, potent, and effective” the research was largely supported by President Roosevelt’s March of Dimes. The largest clinical trial in U.S. history, involving 1.8 million schoolchildren, had shown the vaccine to be 80 to 90 percent effective in preventing paralytic polio. The March of Dimes rather than going out of business began to search for something else to do, and in 1958 decided to commit its charitable infrastructure to serve mothers and babies with a new mission: to prevent premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality. The March of Dimes has hosted The March for Babies, formerly known as Walk America, annually since 1970, helping to raise more than $1.7 billion dollars to fund research and programs to prevent premature birth. To date the research and vaccines developed by The March of Dimes has been recognized through receiving 10 Nobel Prize winners. Yes a cure was developed and birth defects and infant mortality rates reduced because one person decided to do something, can or should we do less?

Something to Hope for

Do you have something to hope for? We have hope for a better tomorrow, yes many hope, few pray, and seldom has someone put their hope into action like a young girl from Baltimore. In the mid1800’s our country was growing fast an expansion was moving as fast as a family could purchase a wagon load their belonging and travel west. Let us consider one woman of “great faith and a dreamer in action”. On May 24th 1900 she said “I believe we have left a century of small things and are on the outlook for larger things, ways to work we never dreamed of in the past”. Annie Walker Armstrong was a tireless servant of God and a contagious advocate and supporter of mission efforts throughout the world. She put hope into action by writing letters. As a prolific letter writer in1893 alone, she wrote almost 18,000 letters expressing her hope! Annie never hesitated to use her hands to reach out to hug a child, distribute food and clothing, and “the bread of life” God’s Holy Word to those in need. As she held her own Bible and studied to know how best to share Gods love with others her thoughts ran to those who didn’t have a copy of God’s word. One of her most vital qualities was that Annie was a woman of prayer. Annie would fold her hands daily in prayer to intercede for the missionaries and for those they were helping discover Christ by preaching and freely giving God’s word. Annie would see the immigrant’s fresh off the boats and their plight pulled at her heart strings. Annie organized woman and help establish a new organization to help serve the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1888 the WMU (Woman’s Missionary Union) was established as a direct result of Annie’s hope and action.
The WMU would serve all Americans and immigrants, red, yellow, black and white. Her hope and heartfelt work established change. Under Annie’s leadership Southern Baptist women became a vital resource and a major supporter of home missions. The WMU established a week of prayer and self-denial, which is now The Southern Baptist week of prayer for North American Missions and they named it “The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering”. Annie looked for God in unexpected places…where do you see GOD?

Something to Believe in

Do you have something to believe in? Faith is personal, and it must be real. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they must decide something to believe in. For me this occurred many years ago. My father worked on drilling rigs in the oil fields of south Louisiana and Texas, which required the family to move frequently and I attended six different public schools in the first grade alone. Friends were short term as we usually moved every six to eight weeks and the cycle started over again; however, the families of the oil field workers became very close knit just like those of military families, which many people do not understand their life style.

I have thought often about some near death experience that might change my life. I believe that many people see others floundering and never realize the severity of their troubles. It is not enough to believe that Christianity is true!

Having a Christian faith, would mean following a Christian way of life. I determined then to stop looking at people as a group and see the individual and meet their needs. Be it with a smile, to listen, give a word of cheer, a friendly hand shake, and just let them know I see them and I care.

Have you ever seen someone floundering and you stood idly by?  A Danish writer and a devote Christian by the name of Soren Kierkegaard, was unrelentingly critical of the church as an organization. He lashed out at the “crowd” for their forgetfulness of what it means to exist. A former Pastor’s mother once said “the church would be a lot better if we took all of the people out.”  She, like Kierkegaard, believed that the church was more than people frozen to a church pew. It is when we walk out of our houses of worship that our work begins. We are responsible to God as individuals for the choices we make.

I challenge each of us to take a leap of faith and share the love of God with those floundering around us. Charity is not measured by the size of our gift; do you remember the widow’s mite? God does not consider how finite an act of charity you extend; he looks at the spirit in which you give it.

You may never know the outcome of your choices, but I assure you God knows and he will remember. Yes, a life spent in fellowship with God, believing in and acting upon the square in accordance with his Holy word, serving others and sharing the love of God enables us to embrace life with no fear of death.

Someone to Love

Do you have someone in your life that you love? God created us for fellowship, fellowship with him and each other. Do you tell your family, not in words but deeds that you love them unconditionally? In the hustle and bustle of life the times our families will remember is not the gifts we purchase for them, but the time we freely gave them.

There are three things that will change a person’s life:
• The books we read
• The people we meet
• The memories we share

I would like to challenge each of you to spend family time with your spouse, your children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Perhaps you can read a book, or just spend time in conversation. Take a walk and enjoy God’s creation. Yes, children are a gift from the Father and we need to cherish them and each moment we have with them.

We will soon begin a new year and the days will again run together with work, homework, school activities, and community activities.  Our families need us now more than ever!  I believe that the lessons we lay on our children’s hearts will enable them to face the trials of life and embrace life with no fear of death.

Do you embrace life with no fear of death?

As a Master Mason, we attend many funerals of our Brethren. Each time it is my honor to stand with the family and support them as we remembered a beloved Brother. The following poem is sometime shared with the families during those situations…perhaps it is for you as well:

The Master Called
I am not afraid of dying for this world is not my home
Many winters I labored searching, and often I have roamed
I am not afraid of dying; it holds no fear for me
When my dear Lord summoned, I bowed on bended knee
To receive his gift of love and grace which my Lord freely gave
Covering a multitude of sin and shame, that was buried in the grave
One day, two days, three days would pass until the Fathers call
Which broke the chains of sin and death, releasing Christ from the thrall
I am not afraid of dying; it holds no fear for me
My days are now filled with memories and a life well spent with thee
Once I was afraid of leaving familiar faces, beckoning me to stay
But this fear no longer binds me; I welcome death more each day
My Father in heaven has sheltered me within his loving care
I often retrace the faithful times I acted upon the square
So hold me in your memories, where moth and rust cannot decay
The love we shared with each other, will shelter you each day
For I am going to a reunion where God’s love has conquered death
I am not afraid of dying; I will welcome it with my dying breath
 
Fraternally,
Kenneth Dyer
Grand Master