Most Excellent Grand High Priest
Companions:
An example we should all follow:
“Boo-yah,” was the first word out of a thirteen-year-old young man who had just heard his name announced as the winner of the first competition award given out at the awards ceremony for Illinois DeMolay Fall Fest ritual tournament recently held in Bloomington. Fall Fest is the annual competition for the members of DeMolay to show their proficiency in the work they do in the degrees that they confer on their members, opening and closing a DeMolay chapter, and the ceremonies that are part of DeMolay such as the Flower Talk that was given at my installation as Grand High Priest at our annual convocation in July. For those of you not familiar with DeMolay, it is an organisation for young men between the ages of twelve to twenty-one formed in 1919 by Brother Frank S. Land for sons of Freemasons who had lost their fathers in the War to End All Wars and were looking for guidance and mentoring to become better men. Frank S. Land received the first International Gold Service Award of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons International in 1951 for his work in the humanities.
You saw young men coming into the judging rooms for the very first time, nervous, not knowing what to expect, thinking that they had totally blown it when they had finished and then shocked when they hear their name mention coming in first or second the next day. Men competing for their last time trying to be letter perfect and knowing that they nailed it and even some not giving up even when they had totally lost the ritual but were determined to get through to the end. If you have the opportunity to judge at one of their competitions, jump at the chance. You will not regret it. They deserve all the encouragement we can give them.
Why am I bringing this up? We should follow their example and strive to work just half as hard as they do at our ritual and presenting our degrees. We have some of the most beautiful and meaningful work in the fraternity and it deserves our best. Our candidates are waiting to be impressed and then spread the word to their brothers that they should become Holy Royal Arch Masons also.
Below, I have included the winning speech from Brother Nathan Davis, a member of Waukegan Lodge No. 78. Even though his speech is on the relevancy of DeMolay for today, his speech can be applied to our own Masonic journey. With men like this joining our fraternity, there is no end in sight for heights that we can achieve.
Fraternally,
/s/
Dale P. Cyrier
Official Visits currently scheduled [click the chapter name for its address and meeting time]:
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date
24 January |
event
West Englewood Home Lodge No. 1074 stated meeting,
Oak Lawn
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A month ago one, of the state officers of Illinois DeMolay asked me to speak at our annual ritual competition; he prompted me to address DeMolay’s relevance to today. I immediately began to criticize the prompt: “That’s kind of vague.” “What does that even mean?” To be relevant is to be bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinence. I told this young man that DeMolay isn’t relevant in today’s world. High school sports are relevant. Future Business Leaders of America; that’s relevant. Of the 1,181 students in Warren Township High School’s 2010 graduating class, two were DeMolays. Our virtues and ideals may be relevant; they may be the key to success, but the fact of the matter is, today, DeMolay is not relevant to the world.
As I’m sure you’ll never forget; on November 11, 1918, an armistice or truce was finally reached to settle World War I. Nearly 117,000 American troops sacrificed their lives in defense of our country and over 204,000 more were wounded while fighting for the same cause. Louis Lower, the first of the countless young men you have touched, was one of millions affected by the loss of a loved one. You created the Order of DeMolay in hopes to reach out to these young men specifically and to the young men of all the world in general and we thank you for giving us the guidance, the support, and the skills to become the best that we could be. You intended the advisors of DeMolay to be more than chaperones, to act as our parents, molding us to fulfill our dreams like Walt Disney or Mel Blanc who was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Barney Rubble, and nearly 400 other characters or to become another loving husband, father, advisor. You were quite the inspiration. By 1921, your work had gone international. DeMolay was a household name. It was relevant.
Dad Land, I cannot say that DeMolay is as relevant to today as it was in 1919, but I can tell you that today needs DeMolay more than 1919 did. Did you know that today 63% of minors do not live with their biological parents and that 71% of high school drop-outs grew up without a father? The absence of filial love is directly affecting the future of tomorrow. These young men need DeMolay; they need to know that, contrary to what life may have shown them, love, and most especially the unconditional love we know as agape, is not expendable.
Today, 16% of Americans are atheist; that’s 16% of the country who cannot be a DeMolay, a Mason, a Jobie, a Rainbow Girl, a member of Eastern Star. I think that this lack of faith may be a road to religious intolerance. Recently, people have been going as far as to burn the Quran, the most sacred book of the Muslims. I don’t know what happened to the reverence. The Al Qaeda have performed terrible acts of violence, but I don’t think we should blame every Muslim. King Phillip the Fair of France was responsible for the death of our hero and the fall of the Knights Templar, but do we blame Christianity because the king was Catholic?
When I turn on the news, I see bullying and violence in our schools; you’re probably wondering what happened to the sanctity of the public school system. I wonder why it is that courtesy and comradeship have been tossed aside for hate and esurience. Our order teaches that although you may not see eye to eye with another, matters can still be handled with a civility and respect that even the foulest of us deserve. We say that a DeMolay is “called upon daily to defend the bulwarks and precepts of the order that he might never fail…as a man.” If our fidelity is as strong as we say it is, as I know it is, then what better way can a young man learn to exemplify good human character?
It is said that 47% of teens will smoke marijuana and that 1.6% will join gangs. The lack of cleanness, the pureness of every thought, word and deed, breaks my heart. We certainly don’t learn to do things like this in DeMolay. Our order seeks to enhance our lives; it embraces the activities and experiences that society deems beneficial, not those that impair us and our judgment.
As for patriotism, no, we do not need victory gardens and do not need to stop making pennies out of copper for our war effort. Science has come a long way. However, as the times have changed, the ways we show our patriotism have changed with them. Our efforts are focused more on the troops and their families. Freedom of speech may give our youth the option to sit silent during the pledge of allegiance during school, but DeMolay does everything in its power to “remind us of our duties as common sharers in the blessings won for us by the all sacrifices of those who have lived well and died gloriously in behalf of our country.” I pray that the respect for our laws and troops does not follow suit of the disrespect for the work of our government officials.
The Ceremony of Light says it all: “We live in troubled times…yet each of [us]…holds without [our] heart a flame, a beacon to guide [us] through the darkness. If [we] can make this light shine upon another…reach into the innermost depths of his soul and set his flame afire, then therein lies the purpose of the Order of DeMolay.” Our ideals are still relevant; true success is not awarded to those filled with hate, disrespect, rudeness, dislike, infidelity, uncleanness, and disloyalty. No, true success is still universally granted to those who uphold our teachings. I believe that our fraternity can offer these teens a better future. I believe that although DeMolay is not as relevant today as it used to be, the world needs it to be.
You may be wondering what DeMolay has done for me. I joined DeMolay a very timid child. I was susceptible, like my brothers, to become a part of whatever had welcomed me first. Unfortunately for my brothers, they fell to drugs and criminal activity. A broken home did little to help their situation. However, I had the privilege of finding this haven. I quickly learned the better things like tolerance, chivalry, kindness, nationalism. I learned to coordinate events and lead. I learned to speak in public and stand for my beliefs, but I learned so much more. I learned to dance and play football. I learned to be a mentor, a confidant, a big brother. My three favorite virtues: Comradeship, Filial Love, Fidelity. The everlasting friendships I’ve made and countless stories I could tell have certainly made an impression. The Moms and Dads who have taken me under their wings have showed me that I may be Nathan Davis, but I’m a Land; I’m a Golwitzer; I’m a Helms, a Brinkman, a Pratt and so much more. My fidelity for DeMolay is indescribable.
Today needs DeMolay. The world would benefit if DeMolay were relevant. The brotherhood we share is certainly necessary and timeless, the ideals certainly paramount and indispensible. Dear Dad Land, DeMolay is as relevant to me as it was to you.
With the utmost sincerity and gratitude,
Nathan O. Davis
Past State Master Councilor, Illinois DeMolay 2010-2011
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This site was last updated 01/22/12