Change is a natural and healthy thing if the impulse comes from within and if the change progresses our Institution. Change for change’s sake or changes brought about by pressure from outside is not. Nor is clinging to outmoded customs and practices simply because they are old. I would not advocate a modernisation programme simply to remove old customs but there are often things which we do in Freemasonry which work against us today and we continue to do them in a mistaken belief that they have always been done that way when an examination of their origin shows that they are, in fact, relatively new in historical terms. Complacency is an enemy in any part of life. The attitude that “it will do because it always has done” is a killer. We need to stop every generation and look at ourselves to see what needs to be done to preserve our Institution for future generations.