I would like to extend my sympathies to the family and friends of Worshipful R. Theron Dunn, who passed away on Tuesday after a brief, unexpected illness.
Theron’s weblog, Beacon of Masonic Light, was among the first that I encountered when I got interested in Freemasonry last year, and it provided some of the strongest counter-arguments to the voices of discontent calling for radical changes, Grand Lodge reform or even the formation of new Grand bodies like the UGLA/GOUSA. I never met or interacted with Theron personally, but his counterpoints were partially responsible for helping me form my own middle-of-the-road attitude toward Freemasonry. I am not the first to say it, but while I may not have always agreed with some of Bro. Theron’s arguments and positions I usually understood where they were coming from.
Sometimes I didn’t, though, and I will admit that there were times that I had started (and abandoned) cantankerous rebuttal posts of my own. I bring this up not out of any kind of guilt or apology; I still have my opinions, and Theron will no doubt have many stimulating discussions about his with all of our Brethren in the Celestial Lodge above. I bring it up because his untimely passing puts those differences of opinions in a better context; Being brothers isn’t about any one person being “right”, or about agreeing on everything all the time, (good lord, how boring that would be!) it’s about tolerance and mutual respect. As Brother Dunn was fond of saying, "It's not about me changing them, it's about me changing me."
Virtus Junxit, Mors Non Separabit.
No comments:
Post a Comment