PGM's blog - March 2020
I trust that you are all safe and well at present, and being careful in these trying times.
Personally I have been self-isolating after returning from Spain 10 days ago. The main reason being that I would not like to be responsible for passing this awful virus on to others.
Two days after leaving our apartment the whole complex was put on “lock down” by the Murcian government. This entails staying indoors at all times other than for visits to Supermarkets, Chemists, and Petrol Stations. The local police are issuing fines of 600 Euros for anyone not adhering to the rules. All Cafes, Restaurants, etc are shut down, without exception. Still the numbers affected are rising daily in Spain.
I am appalled at the public disregard to the government advice that has been given here in the UK and to the unbelievable hoarding of food etc., that has been going on by those who do not appear to have any thoughts for anyone other than themselves. It is an shocking indictment of our society today.
No Masonic meetings in the next 4 months! What are we going to do with ourselves? I think that the most important issue is that we must look after all those less able than ourselves. So please keep in touch with fellow Masons, friends, family, neighbours, etc. We must all act as Almoners at this point in time, so if you are in difficulty for whatever reason, please get in touch with your Craft, Chapter, or Court Almoner for support, or just pick up the phone and talk to someone who can help.
I have been involved in two Masonic video conference calls in the last week and this means of communication is clearly the way to go in the short term – Skype, Zoom, etc., are readily available for this purpose.
What an opportunity to we have learn our new ritual, or indeed any ritual that we may have to do later in the year in whatever degree it may be.
I trust that you have all now had the opportunity to read the “Cambridgeshire Mason” article on “The Masonic Order of Athelstan”. Members can download it from our homepage, our downloads section or click here. You must be logged in to download it. To have a two page spread in a Provincial Newsletter is extremely encouraging and shows the support that the Craft Provincial Grand Master of Cambridgeshire, Bill Dastur, is giving us. The Province of Bedfordshire is also involving me in some of their initiatives. I will let you know more about this in due course. At the end of the day we are all members of Craft and Chapter and we support all the Provinces in East Anglia accordingly.
Please look after yourselves and others over the coming weeks and I will be in touch again in due course.
Yours sincerely and fraternally
Alex Allan