A Daily Advancement in Masonic Knowledge

Foreword to the Second Series
by
R.W. Bro. Richard George Hamilton Goddard, M.A. (Oxon) 

I am delighted to learn that Worshipful Brother Ray Hollins intends to double the number of short talks from fifty to one hundred, published in another five slim volumes over the next few months and on the same terms as before with all profits going to Masonic charities.  And I am both delighted and honoured to be asked to write the Foreword to this second batch.

The success of the first five volumes, published during 2003, has been nothing short of phenomenal with sales being made quite literally all over the Masonic world, and leading to an article in the most recent edition of our Grand Lodge’s official publication MQ.  This fully supports the assertion of my predecessor, R.W. Bro. Barrie Cooper, which he made in the Foreword to the first set: that they came at a most opportune moment – clearly for the Craft as a whole and not just for our own Province nor even our own Constitution.

The appeal of these short talks lies particularly in their variety; there is something there for everyone.  One may not agree with all the assertions made, but one cannot help but be provoked into further thought and, in some cases, research.  And they can stimulate the more experienced Mason just as easily as they can inform the newer recruit.  Additionally, their length and easy informality enables one or more to be slotted into a lodge programme that, for one reason or another, may be a little thin; this has already happened to good effect in Worcestershire.

Brother Ray Hollins is to be congratulated on his further endeavours to provide us all with interesting material both to instruct and to debate.  Freemasonry in the modern world will not flourish if we do not take steps to stimulate and retain the interest of our newer brethren, and these booklets are one of several means by which that aim can be achieved.

Brother Ray produced the first five volumes to celebrate his own fifty years of enjoyment in the Craft.  The motto of Malvern College, where I have worked for a large part of that time, is Sapiens Qui Prospicit:  Wise is the person who looks ahead.  Ray has adopted this philosophy and not waited for another half century to produce the second set!  I commend these talks to you with as much warmth as did my predecessor the first set, and may Ray continue to enjoy his Freemasonry, if not for another fifty years, at least for many more years to come.

Richard Goddard
Provincial Grand Master for Worcestershire