Dear Brother Knights:
One of the things I have enjoyed the most over the last few years is my participation on the First Degree Team for our council. Not only has it given me a chance to be a “fake” Grand Knight and appear important, it has provided me with an opportunity to observe and learn from one of our most charming ceremonials. It is probably not appropriate to discuss certain aspects of our ceremonial in this setting, but lately I have continually contemplated in my mind one of the most important lessons from its script. “Time Flies, Remember Death.” The last few months have brought about far too many
instances of tragic death, or the fear of the possibility. If the two eternal truths are death and taxes, I am still at a loss of what I am so scared about, especially in light of what I consider to be a
fairly strong degree of faith and a stellar record of paying the IRS. But regardless of these, I still cringe at the stories from my very own parish of people with young children and fruitful lives being diagnosed with cancer, cancer, and more cancer. I feel terrible when I read about our members passing, or their family members
falling into eternal rest. Just last week I started to get worried about one of our brothers, until I received word that all went well with his surgery and the doctor was impressed with his strength and stamina. I sometimes forget that some people are simply blessed (and really lucky). It occurred to me that all of us should grow giant
mustaches as a show of solidarity, but I wanted to make sure the doctor’s didn’t shave off brother Alex’s signature feature.
If you are looking to make a New Year’s resolution this year, maybe simply start with, “Promise to Enjoy Yourself, just a little bit more.” Make an agreement to take your wife out on a date, see a funny movie, buy a better cup of coffee, or spend that extra night on a trip. If you own a time share or have been planning a vacation, follow through this year and make it happen. Need a new recliner, a bigger television, or maybe you want to volunteer more time doing charitable work – whatever it is that will make your life just a little bit more rewarding, or simply a little bit more enjoyable 2017 looks promising. Plus if you don’t follow through on your resolution you can just chalk it up to being “practical.”
I would never be naive enough to tell you to not fear death, or not to worry about it because of its inevitability, because I frankly am not looking forward to it one bit. The only positive there might be my death is my life insurance paying off which is good for somebody, other than myself. And I think that a big part of being Catholic is always thinking about the welfare of others.
Most Sincerely,
Bryan McKrell
Grand Knight, Council 953