To me, it's the lasting impact of your actions, choices, and behavior on the world and the people around you - especially after you're gone. It's not just about achievements or material things, but how you made others feel, what you stood for, and the values you passed on.
The Primary lesson of the Royal Master degree in they York rite. "It will be buried there!" Leaving something behind for others use and betterment. Its important to any father, to leave a legacy, in their children, their community, and for a mason it should be so for the lodge. We leave a legacy, whether we realize it or not, for good or bad.
Personally, I do view my children and grandchildren, and the impact I've had upon them as my primary legacy. Also, I hope to have done something positive for my communities (may we leave our city better than we found it) and Freemasonry.
Yes and no. So far my legacy is having my picture up on the wall in two different lodges, and a life membership that provides funds to the fraternity after I'm gone. But I feel I have much more to do.
I might also suggest a part of a WM's legacy is the impact he has had on the new Masons who have joined his Lodge. We don't often see it, but I think we have more impact than we know. (With some candidates anyway.)
I turned 56 yesterday. And while I still feel a lot like the man I was twenty years ago, something has changed. These days, I think more often about legacy — not in a grand, egotistical way, but in the quieter, more personal sense. In the lodge. Among my Brothers. At home with my family.
Legacy, to me, means being remembered not just for what you did, but how you made others feel. It’s the hand on a younger Brother’s shoulder when he’s unsure of the ritual. The calm voice of reason in a heated discussion. The one who shows up early to set up and stays late to clean. It’s the kind of impact that outlasts your years in the East, your titles, or even your time on this Earth.
A few years back, we used to hold a hot-dog night at our lodge in honor of a Past Master who had long since called to the Grand Architect. Nothing fancy — just dogs on the grill, stories shared, and a room full of Brothers remembering someone who meant something. That tradition spoke volumes. It reminded me that legacy isn’t carved in stone or sealed in plaques. It’s passed hand to hand, Brother to Brother, one small act at a time.
I feel the same way at home. If I’m lucky, my wife, son and loved ones won’t just remember what I did for them — they’ll remember how I showed up. That I kept my word. That I led with kindness, held steady in hard times, and tried to live my values out loud. Legacy isn’t just for the Lodge. It starts in the living room. Around the dinner table. On the days when no one is watching.
As I grow older, I find myself asking: what kind of man will I be remembered as — in the Lodge and at home? What am I doing — today — to leave both better than I found them? How am I living the obligations I took, not just within the four walls of the temple, but in the lives of the people I love?
I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: legacy is being written whether we realize it or not. I want mine to be one of service, steadiness, and genuine Brotherhood. One of love and reliability as a dad, husband, and friend. Something worth remembering — even if it’s just over hot dogs, stories, and a quiet smile shared across the room.
You and I are about the same age, and I find my thoughts following a track similar to your own. I suppose that it must be natural.
>>>I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: legacy is being written whether we realize it >>>or not.
This is a really important point. Thank you for making it. We will leave a legacy, there is no avoiding it. We never want to be one of those whom people are glad to be rid of. We all make mistakes, me, I make loads of mistakes, but I certainly hope, and try, to have the good I bring to those around me outweigh those mistakes.
I found that with my father's passing there are many people who remember him for his kindness and generosity. He lived respected and died regretted. He left a lasting impact with friends, community and multiple generations of family. A good role model.
That is, I think, the most admirable goal. To live respected and die regretted, as your dad did proves a well and properly lived life. While I never had the opportunity to get to know him, I think that kindness and generosity pretty clearly lives on in you.
To the first, we will have one whether we desire it, or not. We can merely influence the outcome by our actions, or lack thereof.
Ideally I would like to leave this place a little better than I found it. Hope and despair abound, what we could use is a little more light in the world. Which is our charge to go forth and be the light in a world filled with Shadow and Darkness. Legacy seems to me to be the final benchmark, the weighing of how successfully we met our challenges and obligations in this life.
I believe that Freemasonry is uniquely positioned to act as a stabilizing force in a chaotic world.
How much better do you think the world would be if everyone lived according to Masonic tenets and principles?
Great prompt Brother, I’d like to see more like this.
I agree. Freemasonry can be a powerful force for stabilization. Certainly within the lives of its votaries. But it can be for society writ large. If it regains the stature and strength it possessed in the past. That's a challenge, but it is a challenge we can overcome.
Your essay about leaving a "legacy" hit me hard. I was in my 33rd year of age before I was "made a Mason" in Webster Masonic Lodge No. 538 near Rochester NY (the MW Grand Master of WV allowed my father to visit Webster Lodge to "Raise me".
Going thru the "Chairs" to become Master took about 8 years. When Xerox laid off about 7,000 of the 16,000 Xerox employees in the Rochester NY area, I was hired by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as a 777 Final Assy Line Engineer. Within a few weeks after I started at Boeing, WM Sam Roberts got me interested in Everett Lodge No. 137. I was voted into membership, asked to then step outside, so then I was voted into being JW.
So I'm listed into the Legacy of the records of a NY State Lodge & a WA State Lodge. Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your views of a Legacy. BTW, my father was the Secretary of Hermon Masonic Lodge No. 6 in Clarksburg WV, where at one time the father of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was a member.
It must have been so awesome to have your father Raise you! I'm glad to know that the two Jurisdictions were able to work that out on his, and your behalf!
I didn't want to pipe my own horn by saying that my father was a PGM of West Virginia Masonic Grand Lodge when he showed up to Raise me. I had no idea what this meant to the Officers of Webster Masonic Lodge No. 538.
To me, it's the lasting impact of your actions, choices, and behavior on the world and the people around you - especially after you're gone. It's not just about achievements or material things, but how you made others feel, what you stood for, and the values you passed on.
That certainly sounds right to me.
"What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal."
-Albert Pike
This is one of my favorite Pike quotes. Along with the longer passage that contains it. For a time I had it hanging on my office wall.
Absolutely! Our current ‘Grand Master’s Suit Up for Charity Fundraising Gala’ provides me the platform to leaving that strong legacy. Year after year.
That will be a part of a fine legacy!
The Primary lesson of the Royal Master degree in they York rite. "It will be buried there!" Leaving something behind for others use and betterment. Its important to any father, to leave a legacy, in their children, their community, and for a mason it should be so for the lodge. We leave a legacy, whether we realize it or not, for good or bad.
Personally, I do view my children and grandchildren, and the impact I've had upon them as my primary legacy. Also, I hope to have done something positive for my communities (may we leave our city better than we found it) and Freemasonry.
Most important though is I believe family legacy.
Yes and no. So far my legacy is having my picture up on the wall in two different lodges, and a life membership that provides funds to the fraternity after I'm gone. But I feel I have much more to do.
I might also suggest a part of a WM's legacy is the impact he has had on the new Masons who have joined his Lodge. We don't often see it, but I think we have more impact than we know. (With some candidates anyway.)
I turned 56 yesterday. And while I still feel a lot like the man I was twenty years ago, something has changed. These days, I think more often about legacy — not in a grand, egotistical way, but in the quieter, more personal sense. In the lodge. Among my Brothers. At home with my family.
Legacy, to me, means being remembered not just for what you did, but how you made others feel. It’s the hand on a younger Brother’s shoulder when he’s unsure of the ritual. The calm voice of reason in a heated discussion. The one who shows up early to set up and stays late to clean. It’s the kind of impact that outlasts your years in the East, your titles, or even your time on this Earth.
A few years back, we used to hold a hot-dog night at our lodge in honor of a Past Master who had long since called to the Grand Architect. Nothing fancy — just dogs on the grill, stories shared, and a room full of Brothers remembering someone who meant something. That tradition spoke volumes. It reminded me that legacy isn’t carved in stone or sealed in plaques. It’s passed hand to hand, Brother to Brother, one small act at a time.
I feel the same way at home. If I’m lucky, my wife, son and loved ones won’t just remember what I did for them — they’ll remember how I showed up. That I kept my word. That I led with kindness, held steady in hard times, and tried to live my values out loud. Legacy isn’t just for the Lodge. It starts in the living room. Around the dinner table. On the days when no one is watching.
As I grow older, I find myself asking: what kind of man will I be remembered as — in the Lodge and at home? What am I doing — today — to leave both better than I found them? How am I living the obligations I took, not just within the four walls of the temple, but in the lives of the people I love?
I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: legacy is being written whether we realize it or not. I want mine to be one of service, steadiness, and genuine Brotherhood. One of love and reliability as a dad, husband, and friend. Something worth remembering — even if it’s just over hot dogs, stories, and a quiet smile shared across the room.
Happy Birthday Brother!
You and I are about the same age, and I find my thoughts following a track similar to your own. I suppose that it must be natural.
>>>I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: legacy is being written whether we realize it >>>or not.
This is a really important point. Thank you for making it. We will leave a legacy, there is no avoiding it. We never want to be one of those whom people are glad to be rid of. We all make mistakes, me, I make loads of mistakes, but I certainly hope, and try, to have the good I bring to those around me outweigh those mistakes.
It is, I want to be known to my friends, family, and craft as “one of the good ones.”
Agreed!
I found that with my father's passing there are many people who remember him for his kindness and generosity. He lived respected and died regretted. He left a lasting impact with friends, community and multiple generations of family. A good role model.
That is, I think, the most admirable goal. To live respected and die regretted, as your dad did proves a well and properly lived life. While I never had the opportunity to get to know him, I think that kindness and generosity pretty clearly lives on in you.
It's tattooed on my arm.
MWB Bailey,
To the first, we will have one whether we desire it, or not. We can merely influence the outcome by our actions, or lack thereof.
Ideally I would like to leave this place a little better than I found it. Hope and despair abound, what we could use is a little more light in the world. Which is our charge to go forth and be the light in a world filled with Shadow and Darkness. Legacy seems to me to be the final benchmark, the weighing of how successfully we met our challenges and obligations in this life.
I believe that Freemasonry is uniquely positioned to act as a stabilizing force in a chaotic world.
How much better do you think the world would be if everyone lived according to Masonic tenets and principles?
Great prompt Brother, I’d like to see more like this.
I agree. Freemasonry can be a powerful force for stabilization. Certainly within the lives of its votaries. But it can be for society writ large. If it regains the stature and strength it possessed in the past. That's a challenge, but it is a challenge we can overcome.
MWPGM Bailey,
Your essay about leaving a "legacy" hit me hard. I was in my 33rd year of age before I was "made a Mason" in Webster Masonic Lodge No. 538 near Rochester NY (the MW Grand Master of WV allowed my father to visit Webster Lodge to "Raise me".
Going thru the "Chairs" to become Master took about 8 years. When Xerox laid off about 7,000 of the 16,000 Xerox employees in the Rochester NY area, I was hired by Boeing Commercial Airplanes as a 777 Final Assy Line Engineer. Within a few weeks after I started at Boeing, WM Sam Roberts got me interested in Everett Lodge No. 137. I was voted into membership, asked to then step outside, so then I was voted into being JW.
So I'm listed into the Legacy of the records of a NY State Lodge & a WA State Lodge. Thanks for the opportunity to comment on your views of a Legacy. BTW, my father was the Secretary of Hermon Masonic Lodge No. 6 in Clarksburg WV, where at one time the father of Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson was a member.
It must have been so awesome to have your father Raise you! I'm glad to know that the two Jurisdictions were able to work that out on his, and your behalf!
I didn't want to pipe my own horn by saying that my father was a PGM of West Virginia Masonic Grand Lodge when he showed up to Raise me. I had no idea what this meant to the Officers of Webster Masonic Lodge No. 538.