It is no masonic secret: our Freemasonry in the Community, "Week of Action", has been a resounding success. All involved – and so many gave up so much of their time planning and running the fifteen hundred or more events – deserve our congratulations and our gratitude. They have helped thousands of men, women and children; they have changed, for the better, the public perception of Freemasonry; and they have allowed many Freemasons to have great fun in the process. Charitable work is so much better with a smile or a laugh since it’s not just the money which helps the needy – it’s knowing that others care. This week, we have reminded those who have forgotten, and demonstrated to those who did not know, that Freemasons care about others.
    I have spent much of the week speaking on the telephone to Provincial Grand Secretaries, Information Officers and Organisers. Two strong impressions have been conveyed to me: firstly, that of the enormous enthusiasm with which all the events have been staged, and secondly, the great support this "Week of Action" has received from local and regional media all over England and Wales.
    Television, radio, newspapers and magazines have all reported both extensively and positively. What a welcome change! Over the last few years we have come to expect the unremitting hostility with which we seem to have been perceived by the media; but no longer. The tide has turned. The pro-active stance of Freemasonry has finally allowed the message to be received: that Freemasonry is a positive force for good in this unstable and often selfish world all too frequently riven by sectarian violence.
    Many Provinces have sent me photographs of events they have staged. Due to space and schedule limitations, only a small snapshot of the wide variety of events can be given but this at least suggests the enormous effort put into this very special and very successful week. Some events were imaginative, even quirky: Brethren in Dorset set to and hauled a jet airliner down the tarmac; others in Yorkshire contrived to have a race with 1000 yellow plastic ducks; thirtythree lodges in Bristol held a massed presentation of cheques! You can see the pleased recipients waving them on page 9. Charitable works, it is true, are not the only things of importance to Freemasons but, as this week has shown, in the cause of charity, Freemasons know how to move mountains.


Freemasonry Today is going to Egypt from 18th to 29th April 2003: join us. We will fly into Cairo and spend some days with the Pyramids and Sphinx of Giza – together with the more remote pyramids at Dahshur and Sakkara. Our hotel is within a short and safe walking distance of the Giza Plateau. Then we fly to Aswan, to visit the compelling and magical Temple of Isis on the island of Philae, and to join a luxury boat for a cruise down the Nile to Luxor.
    We will visit the Valley of the Kings and temples of Kom Ombo, Esna (if possible), Luxor, Dendera, Madinet Habu, Deir-el-bahir, Abydos, and the extraordinary Karnak, the most impressive temple of them all, where we can walk amongst a forest of stone pillars at sunrise. Witnessing the sun rising and the sun setting through the gateways of Karnak is an experience which is never forgotten. We will be walking on the desert sands with only pyramids to break the horizon and treading the dusty stone of chapels and hallways which still reverberate with residues of their ancient power. Egypt is a land one immediately recognises and, somehow, remembers.
    I and my colleague, author and historian of Science, Robert Temple, will be giving lectures and explanations; we will also have an experienced Egpytologist with us to take us to places not normally seen. Come with us. The cost for this twelve day tour, including all flights, wonderful buffet breakfasts, all meals on the Nile cruise, site entrance fees and many other expenses, will be just over £1500. Contact Tracey Strand at HPB Travel. Phone 01638 674 744 for a booking or more information.
    Michael Baigent MA – Editor