“May Brotherly Love Prevail…”
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
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My reaction to the outcome of our presidential election has surprised me…
It has made me remember what I felt and believed to be possible when I was young.
I’ve been accused of leaning politically somewhat to the right of Attila the Hun, and was pulling for meaningful reform in Washington DC when I voted for the McCain/Palin ticket.
But when Barack Obama won, and I watched his acceptance speech, and I watched McCain’s concession speech, and I watched George W. Bush’s congratulatory speech; I was not only proud to be an American, but moved by the impact of the event and the smooth transition of power that I know will take place.
As a child (and I mean infant) of the 1960s I watched the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. on television, and was among the first to attend school after the passage of civil rights legislation.
Raised as a Catholic I remember how big of a deal it was for John Kennedy to be elected president.
And as we all do, I remember being told in elementary school that in America anyone can grow up to be president of this country. And like most (not as soon as most women though I’m sure) I became jaded in my belief of that notion as I grew older.
Well I believe again.
The notion of a black American being elected president in an undisputed election in 1968 (when I was 8-years-old) would have been considered on a par with a belief in the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny to most adults of the time.
But the best of my elders did believe in that spirit of brotherhood. And today I work on memorizing that piece of ritual they memorized then, and in earlier times. And it has been invigorating for me to learn this lesson, and watch the fruits it has born in this historic election year of 2008 …
“… By the exercise of Brotherly Love we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family; the high and the low, the rich and the poor, who as created by one almighty parent, and as inhabitants of the same planet are to aid, support and protect one another. On this principle Masonry unites men of every country, sect and opinion; and causes true friendship to exist among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance… ”
Powerful change has taken place in the hearts, minds and tongues of the American people since the days of my youth.
Economic and political policy views pale in the shadow of the fundamental shift in the ability of the majority of the people in this blessed nation to be open minded.
A transcendent leap of collective consciousness has taken place in the space of 40 years.
We my brothers can be proud to be a part of the steps taken over that time in coming so much closer to achieving that goal of true brotherhood.
It is my belief that the Supreme Architect of the Universe will continue to smile upon our nation, and our fraternity, because of our sincere dedication to, practice of, and continuance of the first of our principle tenets, that of brotherly love.
God Bless You, God Bless President Elect Obama, and God Bless America.
Jr. Warden (Elect) Steve Laurvick
S.W. Hackett #574
