July 21, 2021
Brethren & Friends,
I have thought long and hard about what I want to say today. And the truth is that while repeatedly trying to come up with something worthy of the moment, I am often left speechless. What words could I possibly use that will somehow bring closure to a lodge dating back 154 years, 9 months and 19 days?! A lodge that predates the invention of cars by 20 years; a lodge whose formation started when Lincoln was president. The country, as a whole, and our society in particular has changed repeatedly over that same time – and all the while Amity has endured. The effects of slavery, depressions, world wars, segregation, the draft, fires – all were full-on
assaults to Amity – but she remained.
By every account, Amity is a story of perseverance and triumph. Odd to use those words today of all days but it is the truth. Because, but for the will of the Brethren of Amity Lodge, she certainly would have closed her doors long ago.
And while we can look at the state of things today and admit that there were things we could have done differently throughout the years, we would be remiss to chalk it up as defeat. None of us in attendance were around during Amity’s glory years, when that dining room was full before every stated meeting, when sidelines were packed and there wasn’t an empty seat in the house. Conversely, none of us in attendance (including a select few who could not join us this evening) are at all to blame for the slow decline in membership and active participation. We, in fact, are among the Brethren who kept Amity’s lights burning bright.
But it is indeed sad to acknowledge that we now have to close this chapter. But the closing of one usually means the start of another. And so it is with great joy, humility, honor and privilege that we begin our next chapter, shoulder to shoulder with - and as - Brothers of Unity Lodge #48.
To those of you who have worked tirelessly and selflessly to make this merger happen, I offer my sincerest thanks.
To the Brethren of Amity who may feel more of a sense of loss than anything else, I ask that you look and learn to “follow the advice and example of your fellow officers; submitting cheerfully to their amicable decisions, laying aside all resentments and prejudices towards each other.” As you were charged to do countless times before, “let your chief care be to the advancement of the society of which you have the HONOR to be members.”
And to Unity Lodge #48, our new home lodge, you have also been charged with letting there be “a modest and friendly emulation among you in doing good to each other. Let complacency and benevolence flourish among you. Let your actions be squared by the rules of Masonry. Let friendship be cherished, and all advantages of that title by which we distinguish each other, that we may truly be Brothers, not only in name, but in the full import, extent and latitude of so glorious an appellation.”
Brethren, Masonry teaches us that we are all “descendants of the same stock, partake of the same nature and share the same hope. And though distinctions among men are necessary to preserve subordination, no eminence of station should make us forget that we are forever Brethren; for he who is placed on the lowest spoke of Fortune’s wheel may be entitled to our regard; because a time will come, and the wisest knows not how soon, when all distinction but that of goodness shall cease, and Death, the grand leveler of human greatness, reduce us to the same state.” For that and more, let us do right by each other and the Craft and go forward carving out our own path and creating our own future.
Thank you, my Brothers. Serving as Amity’s last Worshipful Master has been one of the great honors and joys of my life.
R. W. Br. Rubén Adrián Moreno
Worshipful Master, Amity Lodge #472
DDGM 7NE