The Masonic Memorial is a very touching ceremony and as is stated it is the Last Offices We Pay to the Dead. We have all been to some memorials with low attendance and others with a very large attendance.
The grand aim of the Memorial service is to pay honor and respect to a fallen brother, thus displaying to his surviving family and friends a demonstration of our past esteem for him. We are also taught that it matters not to the fallen brother whether two or three or hundreds have assembled to perform his Memorial service.
I had the pleasure of attending a Memorial service last evening for a friend and brother to many. There were 78 Masons standing and a hand-full sitting with wives, friends, etc. It was such a display of fraternal love and I'm convinced made quite an impact on relatives and friends not associated with the fraternity.
My point is that when there is such a large turnout for such a Memorial that many brothers become reacquainted with brothers they haven't seen in some time. It was such a joy to see so many brothers that I hadn't seen in several years. Most of them were members of other appendant bodies.
One of the highlights of the evening for me personally was reconciling with a brother who is very active in another fraternal group. Things happened in the past and I had been holding a grudge against this brother for twelve years. We began talking and he asked if we could be friends again, he apologized for his actions, said he was wrong and wanted to start fresh. My response of course was yes, his reaching out and apologizing meant a lot to me.
The whole evening made me wonder just who we are there for......of course we are there to honor a fallen brother, but the occasion provides a vehicle for the brothers to mingle, converse, get reacquainted and in my case reconciliation.
Somehow brother Don would be very pleased with the fellowship that resulted from his Memorial, I think it is what my brother Don would have wanted....and he would have been delighted for my personal situation.
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for men to dwell together as brothers....Fare thee well brother Don....and thanks for the opportunity to grow in the fraternity....So Mote it Be
