Master’s Message – Alcohol, Dec 2018

Brethren the year is fast coming to a close, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a safe and happy festive season. I hope you get to spend time with your loved ones and celebrate the achievements of the last year, remembering those who have touched our lives and who may no longer be with us. I would like to thank all who have visited and contributed to Lodge Devotion over the past year and I look forward to seeing what the New Year holds.

This time of year I tend to find myself in a reflective mood, my birthday has just passed and this gives rise to contemplation of life. One of my more recent musings has been to consider the role alcohol plays in my life and within society as a whole. This has come about from recent discussions with various friends and brethren about the role alcohol has played in their life, the influence it has had, my own enjoyment of alcohol and how this has affected me.

This has led on to reading a number of books / stories on the subject, one of which contained the following passage:

Alcohol is probably the most human of all mind altering substances. It is the catalyst for so many states of being. It is a germ killer and a poison; an unremarkable but integral addition to meals and a beverage to mark special events; able to enhance social occasions and destroy them; best consumed in moderation, but symbolic of excess. The ability of a person to consume it regularly in great quantities is both a sign of a strong constitution and a symptom of illness; to be in possession of particular brands of alcohol can signify wealth or poverty. Alcohol’s effects are lauded in sports people, politicians and other high-profile members of society, who are often forgiven for their indiscretions while under the influence, but are considered problematic in minority groups, young people and women, who are blamed for its mismanagement. (Elspeth Muir. Wasted. A story of alcohol, grief and a death in Brisbane).

I find this description of alcohol very apt, for a wise man once said “alcohol, the answer to and cause of all life's problems” (Homer Simpson). This drug many find enjoyable can and does cause issues within our society, which I have witnessed firsthand, and it is merely the luck of the draw as to how it will affect us. With this in mind, as we are now entering “The Silly Season”, I hope you all stay safe, moderated your actions, but most of all have fun.

Fraternally

WBro Stuart

WM Lodge Devotion 723

2018-19