{"id":2654,"date":"2012-08-25T13:08:23","date_gmt":"2012-08-25T13:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harmony9.org\/?p=2654"},"modified":"2012-08-25T13:10:09","modified_gmt":"2012-08-25T13:10:09","slug":"fraternally-yours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/?p=2654","title":{"rendered":"Fraternally Yours"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Todd Derksen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Worshipful Master<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>Harmony Lodge #9 F.& A.M.<\/p>\n

2011-2012<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I met a dear old man today
\nWho wore a Masonic pin
\nIt was old and faded like the man,
\n…It’s edges worn and thin.
\nI approached the park bench where he sat,<\/p>\n

To give the old brother his due
\nI said ” I see you’ve traveled East,”
\nHe said, “I have, have you?”
\nI said, I have and in my day<\/p>\n

Before the all seeing sun
\nI played in the rubble
\nWith Jubala, Jubelo, and Jubalum.
\nHe said don’t laugh at the work my son<\/p>\n

It’s good and sweet and true.
\nAnd if you’ve traveled as you said
\nYou should give these things their due.
\nThe word, the sign, the token,<\/p>\n

The sweet Masonic prayer.
\nThe vow that you have taken
\nYou have climbed the inner stair.
\nThe wages of a Mason<\/p>\n

are never paid in gold
\nBut the gain comes from contentment
\nWhen you’re weak and growing old.
\nYou see, I’ve carried my obligations<\/p>\n

For almost 50 years
\nIt has helped me through the hardships
\nAnd the failures full of tears.
\nI’m losing my mind and body<\/p>\n

Death is near, but I don’t despair
\nI’ve lived my life upon the level
\nAnd I’m dying on the square.
\nSometimes the greatest lessons<\/p>\n

Are those that are learned anew
\nAnd the old man in the park today
\nHas changed my point of view
\nTo all my Masonic brothers<\/p>\n

The only secret is to care
\nMay you live upon the level
\nAnd part upon the square.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Todd Derksen Worshipful Master Harmony Lodge #9 F.& A.M. 2011-2012       I met a dear old man today Who wore a Masonic pin It was old and faded like the man, …It’s edges worn and thin. I approached the park bench where he sat, To give the old brother his due I said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2654"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2659,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2654\/revisions\/2659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harmony9.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}