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Master's Messages

• Greetings from the East! March 11, 2025

  “You have no idea what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” – Cormac McCarthy, American Author

  
  Brethren,

  
  It can often be heard that someone has good luck, bad luck, or no luck at all. It has also been said that luck is 99% preparation and 1% inspiration. I say that luck is a chance to look at things from a different perspective.

  A “lucky” person would view the world in a different way than a person who believes they have bad luck. The lucky person sees a coin in the street and sees the boon of additional funds. The person with bad luck is the one who dropped the coin. Consider not the coin but the men whose stories have interweaved. Seeing things from multiple perspectives opens our minds to a wider, more extended range of thought. Allowing us to consider more than just the good and bad of each situation.

  Let us look at the coin situation from a different viewpoint. The man who found the coin may be utterly destitute, having suffered a complete loss of his fortune and the coin is the first step he will make to starting his life anew. Now, the man who lost the coin, perhaps the coin fell from a satchel overflowing from a tremendous monetary gain, gone unnoticed due to the abundance in his possession. Not every story is as you would perceive.

  Do not underestimate the motivational power of luck. Bad luck helps us persevere and overcome obstacles that may seem insurmountable. Good luck brings us joy and allows us to share our good fortune with the world.

  Remember the lesson of perspective that luck can teach us and let the tools of Masonry help you utilize those lessons. We as Masons are extremely “lucky” to have been given these lessons and the ability to bring them into our world.

  Thank you, Brethren, and may all the luck of the universe be with you!
  Fraternally,

  WM William D. Bilbow, III

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• Ingenuity February 3, 2025

  “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
  – General George S. Patton, United States Army

  Brethren,

  We move forward into the shortest month of the year. Withlimited time and colder temperatures, our attention is directed to labors inside, away from the elements. This is the perfect environment to look at things in a different wayand let imagination and ingenuity flourish.

  Read more: Ingenuity

  The ability to come together and find new ways to do things is something that we, as Masons, do particularly well. Masonry is a Brotherhood of men from all walks of life and all fields of labor. When a group of minds working towards a common goal comes together, the inventiveness and incredible ingenuity can be breath taking.

  I was privileged, last month, to attend the 2025 Masonic Unity Day in Philadelphia, PA. A truly amazing event with an inspirational level of hard work and organization. I was able to see Masonry from different states, showing how we truly are the same, but with those important and interesting differences. The way the event was organized, the way the Brethren in the presentations worked so well together and the way the spectating Brethren played their roles so well reminded me of the symbol of the Beehive.

  Like the bees in the hive who labor for the common good of the colony, we as Masons use our hearts, our minds, and each other to better the world. Our ingenuity in how we achieve this goal is inspirational to me and is a true example of how Masons help make men and the world better.

  Fraternally,

  WM William D. Bilbow, III

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• Greetings from the East! January 8, 2025

  Beginnings

  “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” -Lao Tzu

  
  Brethren,

  First, and foremost, I would like to say thank you and share a short anecdote about my Masonic beginnings.

  As a child, I was fortunate enough to attend school on the opposite side of the town I grew up in. As a result, the bus I travelled on would pass a very singularly shaped building, so peculiar in fact, that it sparked an unwavering curiosity in me. As the years passed and I moved away from my hometown, the thought of the peculiar building stuck with me. It prompted me to do some research into the symbology of the building and I discovered that it was a Masonic Lodge. Asbury Jordan, as a matter of fact.

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Lodges of the 17th Masonic District

Navesink No. 9
Olive Branch No. 16
Caesarea No. 64
Ocean No. 89
Durand No. 179
Matawan No. 192