Remarks made at the annual Celebration of Remembrance & Renewal of the Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Utah, James Lowe Chapter Rose Croix in the Valley of Salt Lake on Thursday, April 23, 2009.
There are four practices that will allow us to turn remembrance into renewal more often. Fourth: The beneficiaries of any rebirth must be the living, especially those living most closely around us.
In early February, I was working about the house on Saturday when I received a call from the CEO of Granite Credit Union.
This is a man of superior ability and great integrity. There is no one I’d rather have at the helm of our Credit Union during this economic downturn. Unfortunately, he called to let me know that the “cold” he’d had since last summer had been diagnosed as cancer.
Since that time, I have watched his health deteriorate quite rapidly. I have also watched as he has resigned from every non-profit board, even his beloved Boy Scouts, and put aside all other hobbies and interests while he spends each precious moment with those he loves most.
The best of his time left here is reserved for his wife, children and grandchildren. This is as it ought to be, for these are the people he has and will have had the greatest impact upon.
When all else is stripped away, it is the people who surround us that make the most difference to us. And we ought to strive to make the most difference in their lives.
If those closest to us cannot see the effects of a rebirth, I would contend there is no change!
We gather today to remember the virtuous lives of good men, gone from among us, that we might emulate them.
We strive to live so that our own memory may likewise be cherished, and more importantly that we can better serve the living.
It is my hope that we may each turn this Celebration of Remembrance into a Personal Renewal. I close, then, with this injunction attributed to wise King Solomon: “May the memory of the dead friend cement more firmly the amity of the living!”[1]
There are four practices that will allow us to turn remembrance into renewal more often. Fourth: The beneficiaries of any rebirth must be the living, especially those living most closely around us.
In early February, I was working about the house on Saturday when I received a call from the CEO of Granite Credit Union.
This is a man of superior ability and great integrity. There is no one I’d rather have at the helm of our Credit Union during this economic downturn. Unfortunately, he called to let me know that the “cold” he’d had since last summer had been diagnosed as cancer.
Since that time, I have watched his health deteriorate quite rapidly. I have also watched as he has resigned from every non-profit board, even his beloved Boy Scouts, and put aside all other hobbies and interests while he spends each precious moment with those he loves most.
The best of his time left here is reserved for his wife, children and grandchildren. This is as it ought to be, for these are the people he has and will have had the greatest impact upon.
When all else is stripped away, it is the people who surround us that make the most difference to us. And we ought to strive to make the most difference in their lives.
If those closest to us cannot see the effects of a rebirth, I would contend there is no change!
We gather today to remember the virtuous lives of good men, gone from among us, that we might emulate them.
We strive to live so that our own memory may likewise be cherished, and more importantly that we can better serve the living.
It is my hope that we may each turn this Celebration of Remembrance into a Personal Renewal. I close, then, with this injunction attributed to wise King Solomon: “May the memory of the dead friend cement more firmly the amity of the living!”[1]
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