Papillion Lodge #39 A.F. and A.M.

Ladies and Brethren,

Thank you! Thanks to everyone for your help and support.

I really enjoyed the installation on January 2. Everyone pulled together to help. It was very encouraging to know that our whole family is there with the success of the program at heart.

I am especially thankful to the ladies of Order of Eastern Star Chapter 114, led by Jeri Wilcox. They are always working hard to make every event special. Special thanks are also in order for Chere Schroeder, whose piano playing added so much to the installation. She helped me with ideas that I used to improve my tribute to my dad, in addition to playing, “Leader of the Band.”

Wow, there are so many more I’d like to thank by name. Thanks to WB Cullen Pilker and John Hobbs for being there for me like my dad used to be. Thanks also to my installing officers, the Jobs Daughters, DeMolay, Boy Scouts, and the brothers and sisters of our Lodge and Chapters, and everyone else who showed up to show support. Oh yeah, my wife Sharon helped too. As I write this, our 39th anniversary will arrive in 38 minutes. She’s in Texas visiting our son, so I guess I’ll spend our anniversary at the OES #114 installation.

We’re off to a great start in the new year. We will finish January with a Master Mason degree, then we’ll be busy bringing four new members through the degrees. We need to give them the best possible start on their Masonic journeys. If we can get them off to a good enough start to capture their interest, imagination and enthusiasm, they will learn that Masonry has many layers of knowledge. Hopefully, Masonry will some day provide them with a paradigm shift. You know, how they look at things.

It’s like when I looked to the west one beautiful evening just after sunset. The glow of the Sun was still in the sky, Venus was just above the horizon, and Mars and Jupiter were overhead. Suddenly, I saw this sight the way it actually was, in 3D. The sun was just around the corner, Venus was between the Earth and the Sun, just about to disappear around the corner, and Mars and Venus were suspended above, at different distances from the Earth. I could feel these relationships as if I were on a high mountain viewing the clouds and birds.

We present new Masons with a plethora of symbols - two dimensional images with somewhat obvious meanings. Some day, though, we hope they will develop that deep, contented feeling that comes with joining us in our lifelong Masonic quest for light. Maybe those two dimensional symbols will spring to life in a paradigm shift, revealing the true light of Masonry!

Thanks again to everyone. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be part of this family.

Fraternally yours,
Jim Lee
Master