THE LAMB SKIN APRON
Author unknown
furnished to us by: Joe Blair N5WB
THE LAMB SKIN APRON
Author unknown
It is not ornamental; the cost is not great,
There are other things far more useful, yet truly I state,
Tho of all my possessions, there's none can compare,
With that white leather apron, which all Masons wear.
As a young lad I wondered just what it all meant,
When Dad hustled around, and so much time was spent,
On shaving and dressing and looking just right,
Until Mother would say:" it's the Mason's tonight."
And some winter nights she said:" what makes you go,
Way up there tonight thru the sleet and the snow,
You see the same things every month of the year."
Then Dad would reply:" yes, I know, my dear.
Forty years I have seen the same things, it is true.
And although they are old, they always seem new,
For the hands that I clasp, and the friends that I greet,
Seem a little bit closer each time that we meet."
Years later I stood at that very same door,
With good men and true who had entered before,
I knelt at the altar, and there I was taught
That virtue and honor can never be bought.
That the spotless white lambskin all Masons revere,
If worthily worn grows more precious each year,
That service to others brings blessings untold,
That man may be poor tho surrounded by gold.
I learned that true brotherhood flourishes there,
That enmities fade' neath the compass and square,
That wealth and position are thrust aside,
As there on the level men meet and abide.
So, Honor the lambskin, may it always remain
Forever unblemished, and free from all stain,
And when we are called to the Great Father's love,
May we all take place in that Lodge up above
Reflections of a Mason’s Wife
by Juana Weatherall
I AM NOT A MASON. I’m not even a man. Better than both of these, perhaps, I am the wife of a Mason. Many times I have wanted to stand up at a Masonic function and tell those present just how much the Masonic Fraternity has positively affected my life, but I never quite gathered the confidence.
Perhaps I was afraid you would think me silly, or out of place, or worse yet, insincere. Knowing that I probably will never stand before any of you and verbally express my feelings, I hope you will not be offended that I take this means to communicate my long-silent thoughts.
I married a young man when we were both nineteen years old. We were sure that we were mature adults ready to take on the responsibilities of adult life, not realizing at the time that we were such novices. As soon as he was old enough, my young husband petitioned the local Lodge and was accepted.
Although I was vaguely aware of these changes, it was several years before I fully realized to what extent Masonry was affecting our lives. I can’t recall where we were, or the words my Mason spoke, but suddenly the light bulb came on, and without doubt I understood, and feel even more strongly today, that everything my husband is, and everything my children and I are, is so intricately interwoven with his Masonic beliefs, values, and responsibilities that our personal lives and our Masonic lives are one.
At nineteen I would not have thought of having a network of friends and support as exists in the Masonic Fraternity. Just to mention a few, there’s the Masonic wife (a nurse) who worries about my husband’s dietary habits; the Mason who offers to take my younger son for a weekend when he knows I’ll be temporarily a single parent; the Mason who has spent hours arranging activities for the ladies for Grand Lodge session, and the one who volunteered his wife to drive me around town if I needed her. I know that if ever I am in physical, emotional, or financial need. help is near, and that a Mason is only a phone call away.
Simple words written on a cold piece of paper can’t express the warmth I have in my heart. My life has been enriched by the experiences I have had and by the people I have met through my husband’s affiliation with the Masons. I love the man my husband has become even more than I loved that naive nineteen-year-old boy I married twenty-three years ago. I love the Masonic Fraternity and its principles of living, for mak-ing him the man he is. And, so, I finally get around to what I ‘ve wanted to state for so long, but lacked the nerve to say: thank you, Masons everywhere. I love you all!