This is my last contribution to The New Mexico Freemason as your Senior Grand Warden. It stirs thoughts of the year past, and hopes for the coming year.

This year has been very fulfilling for me. I appreciate all of the brotherhood I have experienced when sitting in Lodge with you.

I remember standing in the theater of the Scottish Rite Temple in Santa Fe one reunion with MWB Adam Hathaway, looking at the concrete wall that our Brothers built over 100 years ago. I noticed the individual layers from each succeeding pour, and a thought came to me. This building was not just an example of how to build a structure to stand for a while. It was a work of faith.

They built it to withstand the assaults of wind, of hail, of blizzard and rain, of gravity and age. They adorned it so that it was a thing of beauty as well as of strength. Every detail communicated the message – this is a place where Masons meet and work together.

They did it because they knew in their hearts that one day over 100 years later I and others would be standing there appreciating their work. They built it to last beyond themselves, beyond years and years because they knew Masonry would still be alive in New Mexico and that their Brothers would still have need of such a place. And so, they built it. Not just for themselves, but for every one of us and those who will come after us.

Those same principles apply to each one of us. Our lives are not lived only for ourselves. They are there for all to see. Our characters are what the world sees. If they are built on a strong foundation, with the strongest materials, and built with the working tools of a Mason, they will last beyond us. If we work to be the best men we can be, living the fundamental tenets of Freemasonry – Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth – we adorn our lives making them things of beauty as well as strength. And so, like the Scottish Rite Temple, we build ourselves into something that will inspire those who follow us to do the same.

I want to encourage each of you to reflect on how you can help your Lodge and Brethren to flourish in the years to come. I want you to have faith that what you build will still be here to help those who will come after you to be better Masons, and so, to be better men. Your Brothers need you. Freemasonry needs you.

This coming year can be one of opportunity for Masonry in New Mexico. We have challenges, but when we overcome them our Fraternity will be stronger for it.

We need to continue to work on our endowed membership program so that it will not be a financial burden to our Lodges and Grand Lodge. I have received input from several Brothers on our program and will continue to work on them. I need help from all of you to make this program better. This is your endowed fund.

Now, more than ever, our country and the world need what our Fraternity has to offer. The Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite appointed Linda Patch as their Senior Director of Marketing and Communications and the editor of the Northern Light. She has enormous experience in marketing and passion for helping our Craft. Her research proves that Freemasonry is exactly what young men are looking for. They want to be part of an organization that stands for what we do. They want to be involved in their communities, to improve themselves, and to bond with men who want the same things. Linda will be presenting the findings of her research via Zoom at our upcoming Masonicon in June in Albuquerque. It is a powerful presentation of how our Fraternity more than any other organization can offer these men what they need. I want to encourage all of you who can be there to attend and listen to what she has to say. If you can’t, we’ll make the Zoom link available to you. Her findings are based on more than two years of research and are based on real data. They show that now more than ever we have an opportunity to grow Masonry in New Mexico with young men who appreciate what we stand for and who we are.

I also want to work on bringing those Brothers who have not attended Lodge for months or longer back and to help them to feel valued. To do that, we need to ensure that our Lodges are working and including them by design, not just as an afterthought or because no one else wants to do something. We need to concentrate on making Craftsmen, not just members. We need to think about doing more than putting backsides in chairs. We need to concentrate on giving them a reason to attend Lodge. Please contact them and ask what the Lodge can do to make being there enjoyable for them.

If we embrace these opportunities, we can fulfill the faith those before us had in us, and will endure into the future.

Thank you Brothers and may the Great Architect of the Universe keep and bless you.