As the new year of Masonry starts for lodges throughout, and we all find ourselves returning to our lodges and in the company of brothers, it reminds me of the promises that we have all made to each other. I of course am talking about the ones we have all taken in the course of our masonic journey but I want to extend this to those promises we make on a regular basis. The promise to learn a part for a ritual, or perhaps the promise to complete some task for the lodge building. We all want to contribute and often we extend our offers to pick up our fair share of the load. Yet often in this day and age we extend ourselves too far. I myself am as guilty of this as anyone. Let us be true to our brothers and let us make a resolution to each other that we will be honest about what we can contribute. In return lets also be understanding when our brothers say, “No Brother I can’t make that commitment.” We must take these admissions at face value as coming from a just and upright brother of the craft. In turn let us examine ourselves and if we can loosen our cable toe to extend relief to a brother or perhaps devote some time to toil in the quarries, perhaps we will be reminded of the benefit that befalls us when we do. These recommendations are not arbitrary, as I have been pondering the successes and failures of the last year, these are the conclusion that I have come to, that I must improve myself. In one specific way I would like to improve is to continue to make improvements to this webpage. The first step is to make more regular contributions to this blog Post. I know lodges everywhere are getting ready for the new year and St. Andrews is no exception. For improvement we must first make an honest assessment of our successes and failures and only then can we shine light on what we must do from there. Here is to a grand year.