Earlier this month MWB Timothy S. Wheeland spoke at Forest City Lodge #388 in Lyndhurst, Ohio during their Brotherhood Night and Night with the Clergy. During this event, members of the community from all walks of life came together to discuss and celebrate “Brotherhood.” Speakers from different faiths and from our Masonic fraternity discussed how brotherhood had impacted their lives. Below is the Grand Master’s full address.
Grand Master Timothy S. Wheeland recently delivered an address at Forest City Lodge.
Good evening!
I am Tim Wheeland, the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Ohio – and it is such an honor to be up here in front of you all tonight. I am here this evening with my wonderful wife Kim who is my everything. Thank you, Kim, for everything that you do for me, what you do for our family, and for what you do for our great Masonic fraternity. Brotherhood… what is brotherhood? As I was preparing for tonight, I looked up what the definition of brotherhood actually was – and here is what I found from Merriam-Webster…
* a group of persons formally joined together for some common interest
* the body of people in a profession or field of activity
…and….
* the feeling of closeness and friendship that exists between companions
Ladies and gentlemen, look around this room. Look to your left….and now look to your right… I ask what do you see? What I see is brotherhood. We have men and women from all walks of life, from all socio-economic backgrounds, from different races, and different religions. And yet somehow, someway, we are all sitting here in peace, listening to one another, and learning about our differences – not about the differences that separate and divide us, but the differences – and commonalities – that bring us together in how we all live our lives and what we all believe in.
Yes, ladies, and gentlemen, I believe what I see here tonight is the true definition of brotherhood. My non-Masonic friends have frequently asked me why I do what I do for this fraternity. They see me traveling to many meetings, they see me traveling around the state of Ohio, they see me traveling to other states and other Masonic jurisdictions – and they want to know why. Well, that is one of the easiest questions for me to answer. As I look around this room today, I see the reasons why I do what I do… it is because of the great men and women that I have come to know over the past sixteen years of being a Mason. It is not only the men and women that I have met, but those that I will eventually meet.
I tell my friends that when I am with my Masonic family, I know that we live our lives according to the same morals, the same ethics, and the same values – and that we have the same underlying beliefs in our duty to God, our duty to our country, our duty to our communities, and our duty to each other. This is why I do what I do.
All of the organizations that are here tonight have similar issues and challenges facing us as we reflect on what the future may bring. We have younger generations of men and women who seem to be not interested in joining organizations – not our churches, not our fraternities, and not our community support organizations. We must all come up with new ideas, processes, and ways of thinking that will help us transition our organizations for the future – and allow us to integrate these younger generations into our ranks. We must overcome the obstacles that stand in our way — so that we will all continue to be vibrant and relevant organizations for the next generations of men and women – who may not even know yet what they really want or need in these very trying times.
All of us need to push the envelope on what we can do in the coming years. We cannot accept what we have always done as a reason to keep doing what we have been doing. We cannot let obstacles and distractions get in the way of all of us achieving success. We must all work closely together in the coming years to achieve our goals and objectives – as our livelihood, our communities, and our world, are depending on us to succeed. I ask, I hope, and I pray that we all do so with everything that is in our hearts and in our souls.
Masons know that our fraternity is made up of men from all walks of life – and from men of many different religions. This is what makes Freemasonry so very special to so many of us. As Kim and I reflect on this holiday season, we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a joyous Kwanzaa. There are also other holidays that are being celebrated — and for those men and their families, Kim and I wish you all the very best as well.
Over the coming weeks, I hope that you will all take some time to reflect on your family life, on your community, and on your belief in God. I also hope that you reflect on the Three Great Tenets of Freemasonry — those of Brotherly love, Relief, and Truth.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have so much more I could say, but I am going to end this now, as there are other things that we all would like to attend to later tonight. So, I will leave you with a few closing comments and thoughts…
* Dream Big, Think Big, and Execute Big.
* Do not let the minutia get in the way of ALL OF US making progress.
* Everyone has a role to play in the success of our communities – and I ask each of you, what is your role?
Thank you all for the hospitality that you have shown me and Kim here tonight — and I look forward to seeing all of you in our upcoming travels in the years to come. God bless you, God bless our country, and God bless the wonderful organizations represented here tonight.
Want to hear more from MWB Wheeland? Read Part 1 and Part 2 of our Conversation with MWB Timothy S. Wheeland.