Last week my wife showed me a short video of a football coach reading an inspirational poem to his team and that poem was penned by Brother Edgar Albert Guest.

Brother Guest moved from England in 1891 with his family to Detroit, Michigan, where he lived until he died.

He was made a Mason in 1908, where he was a lifetime member of Ashlar Lodge No. 91. In honor of Guest’s devotion to the Craft, community, and humanity in general, the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Michigan established the Edgar A. Guest Award for lodges to present to non-Masons within the community who have demonstrated distinguished service to the community and their fellow man.

From 1931 to 1942, Guest, known as the People’s Poet, broadcast a weekly program on NBC radio, and in 1951, “A Guest in Your Home” appeared on NBC TV. He published more than twenty volumes of poetry and was thought to have written over 11,000 poems. His poems often had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life

One poem Brother Guest wrote is appropriate as we begin a new year. The White Leather Apron reminds us of the importance of obligations we have to our lodges and to live a life that does not blemish this sacred Masonic emblem.

White Leather Apron

It is not ornamental, the cost is not great,

There are other things far more useful, yet truly I state,

Tho of all my possessions, there’s none can compare,

With that white leather apron, which all Masons wear.

As a young lad I wondered just what it all meant,

When Dad hustled around, and so much time was spent

On shaving and dressing and looking just right,

Until Mother would say: “It’s the Masons tonight.”

And some winter nights she said: “What makes you go,

Way up there tonight thru the sleet and the snow,

You see the same things every month of the year.”

Then Dad would reply: “Yes, I know it, my dear.”

Forty years I have seen the same things, it is true.

And though they are old, they always seem new,

For the hands that I clasp, and the friends that I greet,

Seem a little bit closer each time that we meet.”

Years later I stood at that very same door,

With good men and true who had entered before,

I knelt at the altar, and there I was taught

That virtue and honor can never be bought.

That the spotless white lambskin all Masons revere,

If worthily worn grows more precious each year,

That service to others brings blessings untold,

That man may be poor tho surrounded by gold.

I learned that true brotherhood flourishes there,

That enmities fade ‘neath the compass and square,

That wealth and position are all thrust aside,

As there on the level men meet and abide.

So, honor the lambskin, may it always remain

Forever unblemished, and free from all stain,

And when we are called to the Great Father’s love,

May we all take our place in that Lodge up above.

Let us all rededicate ourselves to building the brotherhood in our lodges and living a life worthy of the white aprons we wear.

Have a Great Masonic New Year!