Plagues

It seems these days that everyone I know has cancer! And while that is not quite true, what is true is that no less than six people I know have been diagnosed since the beginning of this year. That has led me to think once again about what it will take to eradicate this modern-day plague during my lifetime.

Despite living in a nation that decided to put a man on the moon and did it, I've little hope we'll actually get this done in the 20 to 40 years I have left. Why? Well there are lots of reasons, but mainly because my generation still largely runs this nation. That Moon Shot was my Father's generation - not mine.

My generation has been such complete failures at most anything that seemed important to us in the 60s or 70s. In fact, the only things we seem to be able to do with any real success is protest and boycott. Unfortunately, Cancer and other plagues are pretty well immune to marching protesters with pithy slogans and raised fists.

I've ruminated on the other issues my useless generation was so opposed to in our youth. For the record we have not wiped out the plagues of homelessness, poverty, political or religious intolerance, racism, greed, political crime, corporate misbehavior, tyrannical management, rampant incivility, or war either.

We've managed to make our environment even more akin to an un-flushed toilet (which may well be why we can't get cancer under control) despite being life-long ecologists (for my children, the ecologists of the 70s became the environmentalists of the 90s.) We also haven't been able reduce our dependence upon foreign oil despite living through the rationing of the early seventies.

The time for moralizing by my generation is past. We haven't the conviction to match our words. We can no longer blame our parents, grandparents or the Founding Fathers. We've had plenty of time, power and money to make a real difference.

We haven't raised our children to do any differently because they have seen the gap between our ideals and our behavior. And worse, we haven't left our grandchildren any money to fix any of these problems - let alone pay off our debts. We really did become everything we hated, protested and boycotted as college students.

In the time we have left to us, do you suppose that We the Boomers could put down our rhetorical signs, lower our voices and just go quietly to work on any one of these plagues? And for once in our life, do you think could we do it without worrying about the tax write-off or whether there will be a plaque with our name on it?

Comfort from ancient words

There are few things that give me as much comfort as when the Worshipful Master of a Lodge calls the assembled Masons to order with the “ancient” words that are always used to set a meeting in motion.

On the second Friday of the month a new Worshipful Master, previously elected, recently installed, and now in his chair in the East of the Lodge for the first time, intoned those words as if he’d been doing this all his life. And thus began the first business meeting of the year.

Since the publication of Dan Brown’s latest book, much has been made and said of Masons and Masonry. Curiosity in Utah certainly rose when Channel 2 News did a piece on the connections between the Utah Fraternity and the predominant religion.

An Open House across the state saw thousands (more than 3,000 in the Salt Lake Mason Temple alone) brave the cold and a blowing snow storm not only to see the place where Masons meet, but also to talk with real, live Utah Masons.

To understand better, those interested visitors politely asked questions and those questions were not at all unfamiliar to the Masons who answered the queries. “I thought Mormons were barred from joining, can they?” and “What do I need to do to join?” were heard right along with such questions as, “I think my Grandfather was a Mason, how can I find out if he was?” and “What do you do in your meetings?”

And some of those folks, including Channel 2 News Anchor Mark Kobel, wanted to know why we joined: “What is the draw?” he asked several, and “What makes you stay?”

One of the many reasons I continue to faithfully attend is it is pretty reassuring to meet with my fraternal brothers in a familiar setting and hear those ancient words used to begin our meeting, no matter who may be “sitting in the East,” or whatever else is going on in the world.

That continuity from an earlier age, and the company of such good men are such simple things. But as I get older, they bring peace and contentment to my soul.