Dr. Tommie L. Robinson, Jr. Ph.D., CCC–SLP
Director, Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders
1630 Columbia Road, NW, Washington, D.C. 20009

As needle and thread are used to create quilts of great beauty, the Scottish Rite and its members work together to benefit the lives of children and their families.

Many events have taken place at the Scottish Rite Center for Childhood Language Disorders over the past ten years of its service to the children of our nation's capital. Each year, the number of children in therapy has grown, and it is clear the Center is having a great impact on the many lives we touch each day.

In thinking about what the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry means to the community, I think of needle and thread. From my childhood, I remember the many tears in my pants, the torn shirts, the lost buttons, the endless list of items my mother spent hours mending and putting back together. Since I was from a family of nine children, you can imagine the extent of my mother's task in carrying out this family responsibility. As I look back on things, I realize the power in the combination of these small objects we call needle and thread.

When I think of the Scottish Rite today, I see this organization starting at the very tip of the needle, the sharp end that gives it the ability to pierce through many kinds of conditions and situations to make its presence known. I also see an organization that strengthens as it widens toward the eyelet where the "thread" of members enters, each Mason joining hand-in-hand to form a strong strand of support. Over the years, this bonding has benefited the lives of many children, adolescents, and their families. Lives have been mended and restored by this Masonic needle and this fraternal thread. The resulting design is clear. Some might want to call it patchwork, but I would rather think of it as a quilt. In the book A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories, author Roland L. Freeman writes: "When I was a child, quilts were special, even magical to me. They could heal and they could curse; they could capture history and affect the future; they could transform pain to celebration."

The Scottish Rite of Freemasonry fits into all of these categories because there is a grand design, a powerful theme, and a beautiful pattern. Most of all, at the focal point of your philanthropy, the purpose of it all, are the children. Of course, there are many patches, each different and unique. On one there is the child whose family cannot afford to pay for services; on another, there is the family seeking preventative care; yet on another, there is a family that can pay for services, but has sought out our unique specialties. But the objective here is to turn those patches into a beautiful piece of artwork, and I can honestly say that the Scottish Rite Masons are very fine quilters.

The Masonic needle and thread that we so often take for granted play a major role in our lives each day. And we see evidence of the beauty that it brings—support, joy, happiness, and peace. Thank you, Scottish Rite, for your stitches, designs, and results.

So the next time you have the opportunity to use a needle and thread, please think about Scottish Rite Freemasonry and the beauty it brings by touching our lives and bringing us together while preparing another generation.