GRAND MASTER'S MESSAGE: LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Totally awesome!!! Five and a half months have already passed since I was installed as your Grand Master, and it has been a truly fantastic ride. Those bull riders in the rodeos think they know excitement, thrill, and adrenalin rush, but they have never experienced being the Grand Master of Masons in Texas. I have been on a Masonic "high" all year. Our conferences have taken me from the top to the bottom, from the east to the west, and all points in between of this great State we call Texas. I can truthfully say that Texas is Masonic country.

Allow me to express my gratitude for your attendance and participation at the Grand Master's Conferences, as well as all the other functions I have been privileged to attend this year. The brotherly love, support, and friendship that you have shown to your Grand Master humbles me more than I can express. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who participated in making the conferences and other functions happen. I know how much time and effort this takes, and it is an emaple of your dedication to the Craft.

I would ask that you continue to remember to "Lead by Example" and te "Replace Yourself". I believe that this two pointed program can truly bring back the membership numbers we have experienced in the past and set us on course for creating a larger Masonic presence in Texas than we have ever had. It all starts with these two steps, but it is you and I that must take those steps. Waiting on someone else to do it has not gotten the job done in the last several years. The good news is that it appears that it must already be beginning to work. All over the state there is such a rush of new men coming into our fraternity. Degrees are being conferred at a rate not seen in some time, and the even better news is that the average age of Masons in Texas is getting younger. How wonderful is that?

Hard times always bring out the best in us. It certainly has been such for the request that I made for those Lodges who can afford to contribute a thousand dollars to help Grand Lodge. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all those Lodges who have contributed to my plea for assistance. That lesson of the northeast corner has not been forgotten, and you are to be commended for practicing a lesson well learned.

With your assistance and by the will of God, I will continue to try to earn and keep the trust you have placed in me to lead our great fraternity.

Sincerely and fraternally,
W. David Counts, Jr.
Grand Master

Reprinted with permission from The Texas Mason Magazine, Summer 2009, Volume XVIII.