DORIC LODGE NO. 92

Free & Accepted Masons

EX TENEBRIS LUX 1892 AD - 5892 AL

Masonic Memorial Service for

Brother Robert Carpenter

January 5, 2013-6013

 

 

Invocation

 

Most Glorious God! Author of all good, and Giver of all mercy! Pour down Thy blessings upon us, we beseech Thee, and strengthen our solemn engagements with the ties of sincere affection. Imbue us with fortitude and resignation in this dark hour of our sorrow. May the present instance of mortality remind us of the short tenure of our earthly existence, and draw us more closely to Thee, our only refuge in time of need; so that when the solemn moment shall arrive at which we, too, must quit this transitory scene, the enlivening prospect of Thy mercy may dispel the gloom of death; and, after our departure hence in peace and in Thy favor, we may be received into Thine everlasting Kingdom, to enjoy the just reward of a virtuous and well-spent life. Amen!

 

Memorial Service

　

We are gathered here as Masons, Family and Friends to pay tribute to the memory of our Brother Robert Carpenter. He began his labors in our craft in Doric Lodge #92 Seattle, Washington on February 16, 2010. He entered the Celestial Lodge above where the Supreme Grand Master forever presides on July 16, 2012. During the intervening years he had membership in Doric Lodge #92, Free and Accepted Masons, in which he labored.

 

It is not the length of our Brother’s service in the craft which we would emphasize here, but the quality of it. He entered our Craft with a prayer that “he might be a true and faithful Brother among us” and that prayer has been answered. We are proud that we have known him as a Brother, we are glad to have labored with him, in accordance with the plans placed on the Trestle Board by the Supreme Architect of the Universe, at least so far as we have been able to read and understand them.

 

Masonry applies the symbol of the building of temples of stone to the building of a temple of the spirit- “a house not made with hands eternal in the heaven.” The poet, Markham, has caught our thought in his lines:

 

We all are blind until we see

That in the human plan

Nothing is worth the making

If it does not make the man.

 

Why build these cities glorious

If man un-builded goes?

In vain we build the world

Unless the builder also grows.

 

Freemasonry trains the character as well as the mind, inculcating ideals as well as ideas, and qualities as well as qualifications. Freemasonry means a better sense of values; rates honesty and square dealing above personal status.

　

We have known something of our Brother’s activities, his interests and concerns apart from the fraternity.

A good man, loving husband and father, working to build a better life for his wife and children. A true and trusted friend and co-worker to all who knew him. These are the hallmarks of Brother Robert Carpenter’s legacy.

 

Truly, we have come to know that while a man makes a living by what he gets, he makes a life by what he gives. Some can give wealth and endow great universities and charitable institutions; some, with no extensive material resources, can give those priceless gifts of friendliness and kindness- the encouraging word and the helping hand. Through his Masonic training our Brother was conscious of those virtues which form the triangular base upon which Masonic teaching is build: Faith, Hope and Charity.

 

In this hour the spiritual standard of measurement is used- men fail or succeed according to their faith in God. Without God, Freemasonry or any other organization has no meaning, no mission and no ministry among men. For where faith in God fails, then entrance cannot be made into that house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.

 

We are met here in grateful remembrance of one who may not have succeeded in terms of what the world calls success. His name may not be written in any Hall of Fame; it may not appear in Who’s Who in America; he may not have acquired a great amount of this world’s goods- a way in which too many are inclined to evaluate success. But our Brother left behind a good name, a faith in God and in his fellowmen. His Brethren, gathered here, testify to the imprint his personality has made on them, to those qualities of heart and mind which they will always cherish.

 

To those of his immediate family, the nearest and the dearest to him, we, by our presence here, have tried to indicate our deep sympathy and our earnest desire to be of any service that we may.

 

Let us pray:

 

Almighty and Eternal God- in Whom we live and move and have our being, we beseech Thee to be present with us in this hour and during all the days of our earthly life; lead us by the hand of love; point out to us the pathway of duty. Pour out Thy continual blessing upon the relatives and friends of our departed Brother. Lead them to know that he is waiting to greet them in a world where light and bliss are eternal. Grant us Thy divine assurance. Oh! Most merciful God, to redeem our misspent time, and, in the important duties which Thou hast assigned us in the erection of our spiritual temple, give us wisdom to direct us, strength to support us and the beauty of holiness to adorn our labors and render them acceptable in Thy sight, so that, when our labors here on earth are ended, we may be with Thee amidst the radiant splendor of eternal truth. Amen!

 

The spirit of our Brother has winged its flight to that blissful Lodge which will remain open during the endless ages of eternity. In that Heavenly Sanctuary, the Mystic Light, unmingled with darkness, will reign unbroken and perpetual; and there amid the sunbeam-smiles of Immutable Love, under the benignant bend of the All-Seeing Eye, by the Infinite Grace of the Almighty Father, we shall meet again.

 

So Mote it be!