# A Masonic Christmas Story -- Widow's Tale



## Timothy Fleischer (Dec 19, 2011)

The following came to me in an e-mail from the Masonic Did You Know. I do not know the original source for the story, probably a Masonic magazine. It is a good story for us to read and remember.


Fidelity, Masonry and Christmas - A Story

There it sat, wrapped in green paper with drawings of little candy canes, surrounded by a carefully-tied broad red ribbon. The smell of the cookies inside the package lingered in the air. The Masterâ€™s wife had baked several dozen of the Christmas treats and put them into little parcels to be delivered to the widows of members of the Lodge. The Master had driven around to drop them off, along with a card and a holiday wish from their late husbandâ€™s brothers in Masonry. But one package remained on the dining room table.

â€œAll of the guys jumped up and volunteered at the last meeting to take these to the widows, but Iâ€™m the only one whoâ€™s been doing it,â€ thought the Master to himself. â€œI know! Iâ€™ll call around and see who can deliver the last one.â€

He punched some numbers into his cell phone. The Senior Warden answered.

â€œDave, itâ€™s Rick,â€ said the Master cheerfully. â€œMrs. Wilsonâ€™s cookies are over here and I was wondering if you could drop them off? We talked to her a few days ago and told her weâ€™d do it tonight, and...â€

â€œYeah, Iâ€™d like to,â€ replied the Senior Warden, â€œbut tonightâ€™s a really bad night. You know Thursdayâ€™s my Warcraft night and Iâ€™m kicking ass.â€

â€œCanâ€™t you play some other night?â€

â€œNot now. Iâ€™m the middle of this. Maybe tomorrow, if Iâ€™m not at a new level in a few hours.â€

The Master thanked him and put a call in to the Junior Deacon.

â€œSteve, remember you said you could help deliver the widowsâ€™ Christmas presents? Mrs. Wilsonâ€™s is sitting here...â€

â€œIâ€™m sorry,â€ said the Junior Deacon. â€œI know I said that, but my office Christmas party is tonight and I have to go to that. The boss kind of expects it.â€

â€œCanâ€™t you say â€˜noâ€™ to him?â€

â€œWell, you know he doesnâ€™t have a high opinion of us to begin with because he wants me to work late all the time and I canâ€™t if something with the Lodge is happening. Besides, drinks are free. Talk to you next meeting.â€

The Junior Deacon hung up. Somewhat forlornly, the Master tried a few other members, all of whom had promised they would personally hand out gifts to the widows. But one was going out with some buddies that night. Another was too tired after work. Yet another said the widow lived too far out of the way for him. Still another had a concordant body meeting he wanted to go to. Finally, the Master tried the last person on his list, a Past Master of the Lodge.

â€œI need your help. Last meeting you said youâ€™d help deliver the widowâ€™s gifts. Mrs. Wilsonâ€™s is sitting here and...â€

â€œWilson?!â€ he interrupted. â€œDid you know her husband? He dumped on me the whole year I was in the chair. He kept giving me hell for all kinds of little things.â€

â€œThat doesnâ€™t have anything to do with his widow. Itâ€™s a Lodge tradition we go out and deliver...â€

â€œAnd another thing,â€ butted in the Past Master. â€œLast meeting you came down to the altar at the wrong time. And you gave the wrong knocks to close the Lodge. Canâ€™t you follow traditions? Donâ€™t you pay attention at practices or know whatâ€™s in your ritual book?â€

â€œWe were talking about Mrs. Wilson...â€

â€œWilson. The hell with him.â€ With that the cell went dead.

The Master prepared to pick up the lonely little parcel when the phone rang unexpectedly in the other room. He picked up the receiver.

â€œMy name is Mrs. Lane,â€ the feeble old voice at the other end quavered. â€œI live next door to Gladys Wilson. I thought Iâ€™d better call you. She has been taken to the hospital.â€

â€œWhat!?â€ answered the stunned Master.

â€œI had invited her over for dinner tonight, but she said she couldnâ€™t come because she was waiting for the Masons. She got a little tired while waiting and went to call someone to see if there was a problem, but she slipped on the carpet and fell. I think she had been on the floor for awhile. It looks pretty serious. I thought Iâ€™d better call you.â€

â€œMy father was a Mason a long time ago,â€ Mrs. Lane went on. â€œHe didnâ€™t talk about it much, but all I know is when I was a girl during the Depression, the Masons helped us. One Christmas we had nothing. And there was about two feet of snow. But a bunch of the Masons came over with a tree and a huge baked turkey. They put up the tree and decorated it, then we ate the turkey and they sang Christmas carols to me and my three sisters until it was bedtime. It was so wonderful. I learned then that when times are tough, you can depend on the Masons.â€

â€œThank you for calling me, Mrs. Lane,â€ said the Master.

â€œItâ€™s just too bad someone didnâ€™t get here a little earlier because this probably wouldnâ€™t have happened,â€ added the old woman. â€œBut God bless you Masons.â€

â€œYes, thanks again,â€ replied the Master, and gently hung up the phone.

And as the Master pu on his jacket, and picked up the little wrapped parcel to take to the hospital in the clear, moon-lit evening, he wondered if the Masons today really were as dependable as their forefathers. Or, if the admonition of not letting â€œpublic and private avocationsâ€ interfere with Masonry had turned into nothing more than a convenient excuse.


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## MMWoody (Dec 19, 2011)

Wow, really touching story that got me thinking.


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## Brent Heilman (Dec 20, 2011)

Great story. It is very thought-provoking.


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## Observer (Dec 20, 2011)

I'm guessing this lodge is not one that has a Masonic Education Program, because none of them seem to understand what it means to be a Mason. Not to let the other guys off the hook, but in the time the Master spent calling around trying to get someone else to do it, he could have delivered it himself. It might not be "fair", but then in the real world the fair is a carnival that comes to town once a year.


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## calee (Dec 20, 2011)

Observer said:


> I'm guessing this lodge is not one that has a Masonic Education Program, because none of them seem to understand what it means to be a Mason. Not to let the other guys off the hook, but in the time the Master spent calling around trying to get someone else to do it, he could have delivered it himself. It might not be "fair", but then in the real world the fair is a carnival that comes to town once a year.



Yes, the Master could have done it himself, however I don't believe that is the point of the story. The other brothers gave their word they would help but when it came time to do it they found every excuse not to. I belive when we tell someone (especially a brother Mason) that we will do something, then we should stick to it.


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## MMWoody (Dec 22, 2011)

Agreed. I think the story is more about keeping you word than anything else. You should be able to depend on a brother Mason's word.


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## Blake Bowden (Dec 23, 2011)

That is one epic post


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