The Lambskin
From: Ron Blaisdell [ron@blaisdell.com]| It is not ornamental; the cost is not great; |
| There are things far more useful, |
| yet truly I state |
| That, of all my possessions, there's none can compare |
| With the white leather apron that all Masons wear. |
| As a young lad, I wondered just what it meant |
| When Dad bustled around and so much time spent |
| On shaving and dressing and looking just right |
| And Mother would say, "It's the masons tonight". |
| And on some winter nights she said, |
| "What makes you go Up there tonight |
| through the sleet and the snow? |
| You see the same things every month of the year." |
| Then Dad would reply, "Yes, I know it, my dear." |
| "Forty years I have seen the same things it is true; |
| But though they are old they always seem new, |
| For the hands that I clasp and the friends that I greet |
| Seem a little bit closer each time that we meet." |
| Years later I stood at the very same door |
| With good men and true who had entered before. |
| I knelt at the altar and there I was taught |
| That virtue and honour can never be bought. |
| That the spotless white lambskin that all Masons revere |
| If worthily worn, grows more precious each year. |
| That service to others brings blessings untold |
| And that man may be poor though surrounded by gold. |
| I learned that true brotherhood flourishes there, |
| That enmities fade 'neath the compass and square; |
| That wealth and position are all thrust aside, |
| And there, on the level, men greet and abide. |
| So honour the Lambskin, may it always remain |
| Forever unblemished and free from all stain. |
| And when we are called to the Great Father's love, |
| May we all take our place in the Grand Lodge above. |