Light a taper for the Burning Taper's first birthday

The Widow's Son would like to take this opportunity to slap himself on the back with a cold, wet fish and utter to himself a hearty "What the hell am I doing?" in congratulations for one year of publishing The Burning Taper.

It was a year ago (and 331 articles ago) this week that this blog was officially established, beginning with a disclaimer, birthday best wishes to a 90-year old (now 91 and still going strong) Masonic brother, and the Serenity Prayer of

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

It's been a fun year.

I'm not sure how much of that prayer about making a difference was answered, but I hope I have changed a few things, for the better, in Masonry as well as the "real world." Some highlights:

• I've had fun.
• I've shared my frustrations and experiences in Antient Freemasonry, exposing the dark underbelly of the Fraternity as it is here in the south, not as some sinister cabal of movers-and-shakers (though they try — read the Small Town Freemasonry series), but, generally speaking, as a coffee and doughnut club of old men who pretend to believe in beauty, relief, truth and brotherly love while in reality are dogmatic, fundamentalist Baptists and Methodists and racists stuck in the bigoted and thoughtless mindscape of a "utopian" America circa 1950-1970 where blacks "knew their place" and those "long-haired hippie freaks" should be drafted. Oh, and who support their local child molesters. Yeah, you know who you are.
• I've exposed my own neuroses to the world a few times ("Sorry about that, Chief!") and vented about the dangerous role organized religion has had in our country and our world. I've been a skeptic ever since my Sunday School teacher when I was nine years old fumbled the ball when I asked him how a murderer like young David, who killed Goliath, could be a revered "man of God" when just a few pages over in the Bible, it said, "Thou shalt not kill." Nobody's given me a decent answer to that or to a million other questions about Judeo-Christianity since.

Hopefully, something I have said on the Taper has inspired or provoked actions that have led to making Masonic lodges a better place to practice the Ancient Craft.

I've made some great friends, with Masons and non-Masons alike, in the "real world" as well as here in Blogland. I guess I've made a few "enemies," too, but that was just a side-effect of me being me, and other people disagreeing. Not something I worry about. Feel how you feel, it's okay with me. The Law of Thirds always rules: "No matter what you do, one-third of the people will agree with you, one-third will disagree, and one-third will not give a damn."

Thanks to everyone who has read and followed the Burning Taper for the last year. Stay with me... I hope I can crank out another year's worth of something interesting to read while you drink your morning coffee or your evening Pan Galactic Gargleblaster.

Now... buy one of our T-shirts!

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