A Coal Away From The Fire

I enjoyed a very nice conversation the other night with a very good friend and current WM of a local lodge the other evening while we waited for loved ones to finish what they were doing. He told me of what was going on in his lodge and I listened with as much interest and empathy as only one who has served his lodge can understand. The strange thing about the whole chat, was that for the first time in many years the attentive ear my friend received was as far from being an active mason as it has ever been. I have been as far away from a lodge as I have ever been since I have written this blog and I am not sure of how I feel about it.
There are many factors that have led to my hiatus, including finally finding a very challenging and time consuming job, along with the usual constraints of being a father of three with a wife who works full time also, along with some other heavy baggage that you may be full aware. All of these things have led to my not going to my lodge or any other lodge for that matter. I am still a Freemason, a very proud one at that, I still wear my masonic ring everyday and answer the usual questions that comes with wearing such regalia but the farther I get away from going to lodge regularly the more I begin to ask the question of what it is I gained from regular attendance.
This question in my mind makes the Past Master in me shiver to my essence. When I was the one trying to get the brethren out to every stated communication or to the various events that were planned, I would think that the brothers that weren't there had somehow fallen off the wagon, masonically speaking, or had lost what it is that makes us an order. It was a very narrow minded thought but it is definitely one that every dedicated officer has at every poorly attended gathering.
The further I get away from regular attendance, the more I have garnered the question of what it is that makes us "Free" masons. Was slavish devotion to our home lodge thought of when the masonic order was developed? Is the lodge we are raised in the end all be all of our masonic existence, or were we meant  to be the traveling men we call ourselves? These are tough questions, but I have no doubt that many brothers like myself have found themselves at a masonic crossroad where they have found these questions echoing in their head.
I have not the answer, I travel on.
What have you discovered?

We Meet UP, On The Level

Speculative Freemasonry began at a time when the world was a conglomeration of despotic monarchical, quasi theocratic societies, where the vast majority of the human population was kept in the dark both spiritually and mentally. The differences in quality of life for the common ditch digger to the shop keeper were minimal at best. Only the aristocracy and clergy led the life of high comfort, with the masses living in virtual squalor. The common man was uneducated and his mind was constantly filled with a well thought out litany of deprecating drivel, to keep him subservient to those who were in power.


This way of life had existed since the dawn of man. No matter what god given talents an individual was blessed with, if he or she was born in a certain class of society, the chances of raising ones status or quality of life was slim to none. The number of bright and talented humans that must have had their natural spark extinguished by a dreary labor filled existence must be countless. The reality of the lives of the common man revolved around scratching out a meager living, and whole hearted devotion to a church that was complicit in keeping them down, then came a revolution in thought.

Somewhere in the early 18th century Reason began to replace Religion and small groups of like minded individuals started to meet in closed spaces to discuss ideas that if discovered, could cost them their lives. It has been theorized that this wellspring of radical thinking began as a way to justify the Protestant Reformation. Democracy replacing Monarchy, Liberty replacing Dogma, are key ideas that caught fire in the minds of individuals that had been repressed from birth to death. The lower classed people wanted to become better, and they used a tool that they had been given at birth that sat unused for the most part, their mind.The advent of the printing press and the growth of literacy spread to the repressed people like wildfire.

But where could the intelligent farmer and the smart blacksmith meet with the merchant and the ship captain to discuss these blasphemous ideas that made so much sense? Not church. Not on the town green. No, men of increased intelligence needed to meet in secret to elevate themselves and society.

In France they met in Salons, in England it was the public house or coffee house. From these back rooms the challenge was put forth to educate and illuminate the people. Debate, discussion, and dissemination occurred between men and women who wanted to learn and grow in thought and spirit. It was not a place to grumble about their lot in life, but a place to dream about what they could attain if they used their god given gift of reason and higher thought.

Enter Speculative Freemasonry, what was a guild for the association of men who built in stone, became a social meeting place for men who would build in spirit and thought. The lodge was the earliest form of pure democracy. Liberty, fraternity, and equality were the values that cemented the forum where the lowest man could elevate himself to be a master. The constitution and laws of the order and elections of the men who were championed to lead it, were a micro-society that formed a model that would change the world. Freemasonry was a nonreligious venue to make cross societal contacts in an effort to make good men better.

This phrase “making good men better” is the ten cent answer that most members of the craft use to explain what the purpose of Freemasonry is. It is a blanket statement that only touches upon what the purpose of the fraternity is meant to be. What exactly does going to a Masonic meeting or going through the three degrees do to make a man who is “good” “better”.

In modern times, does listening to arcane enlightenment language in itself lead to making a “better” man? Does voting on how and when to pay for the dinner you eat at the meeting bring a brother to a higher level of thought? Is the ritual of opening a lodge to do business then promptly closing it in the same way, a way to enlighten the minds of the gathered brethren? Is the reason a man goes through three degrees of “initiation” only, to sit on the sideline to watch more initiations?

The answer to these questions is a resounding NO! The ritual of Freemasonry was meant to be used as a tool to unlock the greatness that lies in some men. The degrees of the order were meant as a means to weed out those, who would by their association in the fraternity, bring down the “level” of their fellow members. Long times between degrees and requirements of demonstrating an understanding of the ideals of the fraternity were once the norm, although in the name of numbers this practice has generally disappeared in the United States.

Masons meet on the level, by the plumb, and act on the square. The idea of meeting on the level has been subverted into the belief that we must bring ourselves down to the level of the lowliest brother. Like the American society we live in, efforts to make oneself better are misconstrued as being elitist and that term has been perverted into a bad word. The smartest and the brightest are ostracized and it is more acceptable to make yourself out to be like the lowliest type of person, a full reversal of what the enlightenment had achieved hundreds of years ago. In the name of egalitarianism we are made to believe that all men are created equal and that equality transcends the actions and intentions of a man his entire life.

All men are created equal. After creation, it is up to the individual to live up to the standards and laws of the highest form of nature that surrounds them. Equal creation does not mean equal existence. The Great Architect of the Universe, has laid out for man an amazing world for which greatness is possible of attaining if only his creations strive to recognize the divine in what surrounds them. The mystical practice of Freemasonry when lived by its supplicants to the highest level possible, can elevate the men who knock on its gates. The format is there but the practice is missing in American Freemasonry.

“The Brotherhood of Man under the Fatherhood of God” is another Masonic axiom that has been turned around on itself. In a familial context we can better understand this idea. A man is born onto parents who he will devote his life to. If the parents have another child, it is accepted into that devotion. A man will take care of his brother before he takes care of a stranger. Associations of like minded individuals became like families to those who met and shared together, and the endearing term to use between these group members became what they already used to call their siblings, brother or sister. The Masonic saying of a Brotherhood of man under a Fatherhood of God does not encompass all of God’s creations, only those of which we can find that familiar bond to call Brother. Even in our fraternity it is hard to find men who you would consider your actual brother, especially since West Gate was turned into a floodgate.

The good thing about the order of Freemasons, is that it is a beacon that draws some men of that higher calling, not as many as it used to, but it still does. Like a light in the dark that attracts all types of insects because of its resemblance to the sun, the light of Freemasonry draws all types of man. It is up to the individual Mason to distinguish between the ones who come out of curiosity, or in simple awe of light, and the ones who look at the light and want to know why it shines. Only by associating with the ones who are striving to understand and truly become “Better” can we meet upon, or more correctly UP on the level.

Like the pyramid that starts on the ground with many stones and drives up towards the heavens, on each successive course there are fewer and fewer blocks. The higher it reaches the closer and smaller the groups become, until it reaches a single point and in that single point lies infinity. We must level UP.

The Struggles of an Esoterically Inclined Freemason part 2

The struggles of an esoterically inclined Freemason continue…


After another humiliating defeat at the hands of those who think that younger Masons only goal is to change things for changes sake, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the definition of a lodge and what the term has come to mean.

The lodge in its classical definition is a group of Freemasons from a particular town or neighborhood assembled and chartered by a Grand jurisdiction to perform the degrees of the craft. One of the most confusing things about the term lodge is that it becomes synonymous with the building or place the lodge meets. When masons were actual builders of structures they would often meet at their place of employment to instruct each other, to gain skill and help and support each other. I have always imagined a tent hastily thrown up on the side of a cathedral with masons doing business by candle light. When the first non-builders began entering into the craft there was no central meeting place as we have now and meetings would be held in any place that could properly be guarded from people who were not part of the group. Back then there was no confusion as to the meaning of the term lodge; it simply was the term to call the group, like a congregation or flock.

As more and more non-building masons entered into the fraternity speculative masonry was born. A lodge was no longer a place that men of a particular skill set met and discussed work, it became a place where philosophical and moral allegories replaced the simple building principals and instructions. The main reason this happened, in my opinion, is because that at the time many of these men lived in oppressive and authoritarian societies and the secret modes of recognition of masonry allowed them to be very selective in the company they kept in order to discuss enlightenment ideals that could have easily led them to incarceration and or death at the hands of their oppressors. New members were carefully investigated because if they let in someone of lesser ideals or morals it could literally endanger their lives. It mattered not where you came from or what your place in society was, all that mattered was that you could meet with men of a like mind on the level to expand your understanding of bigger things and help each other out as Brothers. This selective association aspect of a lodge is very important but I will address that later. As the ‘speculative’ masons replaced the ‘operative’ masons they needed a place to meet and since it was not near the place that employed them anymore it became a place that was convenient to the members of the lodge.

Freemasons began to meet in taverns, public houses and coffee rooms and the modern lodge was born. The place where you met almost became as important as the people you met there and the confusion began. A lodge of masons meeting at the Goose and the Gridiron Ale House would be loosely known by the place where they met. As speculative Freemasonry exploded and the separate lodge’s treasuries grew the Masonic temple was born. The men who met regularly as Freemasons wanted a permanent place to carry on their traditions and with a lot of money from its membership they began to build like their predecessors but this time for themselves.

Temples and Halls sprang up around the globe and since the Freemasons who met there were as a group termed a lodge, a Masonic ‘lodge’ took on a whole new definition and existence. The men who met in the lodge became less important and the ‘lodge’ became the focus of attention. The ‘lodge’ was the recipient of grandiose gifts and decorations of its dedicated members and the men of that lodge belonged to the ‘lodge’ and not the group of men who met there. The name and number of the ‘lodge’ you belonged became a badge of honor that you wore on a sleeve and its history and traditions were carried out with sacramental reverence and esteem. It was something a man could attach himself to, if he so wished, to add legacy to his own existence.

Herein lies the problem, when the lodge of Freemasons took on the existence of the ‘lodge’ it became less stringent upon the members and more focused on membership. The temples and halls needed vast amounts of money to operate and in order to accommodate this need a ‘lodge’ brought in as many men as it could and this only exacerbated the problem. A lodge of Freemasons no longer was a group of men who wished to discuss philosophy and morality in a selective and secret environment to help and support each other as brothers, it became a place where a man went to see the rituals of Freemasonry on a grand stage. Lodges with 100’s of men in membership became common and the institutionalization of Freemasonry occurred.

Unfortunately the spirit of the craft was lost in this institutionalization. The ‘lodge’ did things for the ‘lodge’s’ sake and the traditions of each lodge trumped the fraternal communion between Brothers. It was impossible to know and care for such a large group of men which was one of the principal reasons for a lodge of masons to form and the care of the ‘lodge’ became the focus.

When I joined this fraternity I was drawn into it not because of any ties or bonds to a ‘lodge’ but out of a search for the answers to the bigger questions in life. When I knocked on the door of a ‘lodge’ I was quickly lulled into the belief that the ‘lodge’ was the most important thing and that only by building or rebuilding that ‘lodge’ I could then start the quest that I originally began. There was only a small number of men in my ‘lodge’ that even dared to delve into the deeper aspects of the human condition and the majority were very happy to watch or participate in the dramatic aspects of the ritual and never take it to the next level. I existed in this environment with the belief that if only my brothers could save our ‘lodge’ and take part in the rebuilding could they discover the deeper aspects of our craft. This belief led me to experience many different lodges and ‘lodges’ in order to find something that would unite my ‘lodge’ into a lodge. (I am sorry for the confusion.)

This zeal for building led to me making excuses all of the time for some of the men I called brother that I would never associate with outside of Freemasonry. It was an easy exemption to make because I wanted my ‘lodge’ to be the best and in order to be the best we needed as many dues paying members as possible. In six years the amount like minded brothers I gained within my ‘lodge’ was very small and we would talk all of the time of how our common needs and desires not being met by our ‘lodge’. Time is a very precious thing and the only time many of us would finally have these philosophical discussions was after ‘lodge’ and since the more theatrical aspects of Freemasonry take a very long time, sometimes we found ourselves squeezing these conversations into a tiny scrap of time or way too long into the night, neither of which is very efficient or fair to men with families. Our solution to this problem was to try and turn our ‘lodge’ into what we came into Freemasonry for. We convinced ourselves that deep down in every Freemasons heart was this same desire and we believed if they only experienced this esoteric side of the craft the other brothers would join us in our quest.

It took two very humiliating defeats at the hands of the men who did not want to change their ‘lodge’ for me to finally realize that my ‘lodge’ can never become the lodge I wanted to be in. The lodge I was a part of had to meet at a different time than my ‘lodge’ and the dear brothers to whom I wanted to associate with and have the discussions of the deeper things in life were slowly being disillusioned with the fraternity and our ‘lodge’. I mean in no way to put down the men of my ‘lodge’ who do not think my way. They are happy with the Freemasonry that is delivered to them and it was very wrong of me to think that I could change things that they believe are sacred and unchangeable. They love the ‘lodge’ for the ‘lodges’ sake and it was a small group of newcomers with vision and initiative that tried to upset that belief. I have requested a demit from the ‘lodge’ I spent six long years trying to change because of this realization.

My vision of a Masonic lodge is a small group of like minded individuals who wish to explore the deeper meaning of life and to help each other become better men in every way. I believe that the rituals of Freemasonry are a tool to be used to enlighten a new comer or Brother and to test the dedication of the man to the lodge, but they are not the end all be all of the craft. Brotherly love is not something to be handed out flippantly. A man must prove himself worthy of the greater trust that comes with the ever expanding understanding and obligations of the order of Freemasons. Once earned that trust can be used to sit in a selective meeting where men can discuss things that they would not dare to in mixed company and to use the tools of the Freemason to help each other and the world they live in. This will naturally lead to the Brothers in being very selective of who they let into this mystic tie or band of Brothers. When men of a like mind come together in order to do things that improve themselves it will naturally lead them to try and improve the world around them as a unit. Charity should not be something that is forced upon a brother but something that wells up naturally. These are some of the things I believe in and want to dedicate my very valuable free to to.

I am not going to join another ‘lodge’ but I am desperately searching for a lodge. The quest begins anew.

Brothers of the Mystic Tie

Along a side wall in the anteroom of the lodge, sitting behind a time worn couch, lies a very unassuming glass case. It is nothing fancy, just a simple painted box with two sliding glass doors and a few glass shelves filled with dusty relics of almost two hundred and fifty years of Brotherhood.

It is lined with pictures of Grand Masters who came from the lodge, centennial commemorative plates, bicentennial plates, invitations to grand balls, histories, commemorative trowels, pins, a sprig of Acacia brought back from Israel, and all sorts of Masonic knick-knacks. If you look hard enough you will find laying across the very bottom of the case, tucked up against the front edge, a tarnished sword.

It's an officers saber in a decorated scabbard, with a hard to read inscription that barely scratches the surface of the incredible story that goes along with this treasure. The sword was a gift from the lodge to an esteemed Brother and Past Master of the lodge upon his entry into the Army to fight for the Union in the Civil War, his name was Albert H. Wilcoxson.

Albert was initiated into Freemasonry as an Entered Apprentice on April 24th 1856 the very same day his petition was voted on by the Brothers of St. Johns Lodge. In what can certainly be considered a very short period of time, he was passed to the degree of Fellowcraft the following week and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason a week after that. He attended every meeting of the lodge after that and by the fall of 1856 he even acted as Junior Warden for a meeting. In December of the same year he was appointed officially as Senior Deacon of the lodge and continued to step up into various officers chairs during degrees and meetings.

The next three years were spent on every committee the lodge assembled, and the two Wardens chairs in the lodge, on his way toward the oriental chair in the East. He was a true Brother Mason in every sense of the word and was very devoted to his nearly one hundred year old Freemasons lodge. After his year as Worshipful Master he did not idly pass onto the sidelines as some Past Masters do, but continued diligently working for the Order he loved. He attended most meetings and sat in various officers chairs when needed. He was serving the lodge again as Senior Deacon when he was forced to resign his position on August 21st 1862. He had to leave his friends and family to answer President Lincoln's call for "300000 more" troops for the War and muster with the Seventeenth Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in Bridgeport and head South.

He fought and survived in the great battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg , and Folly Island SC, but it was while the regiment was in North Eastern Florida, an area with little Confederate presence, that the Lt. Col. would get into trouble. Wilcoxson was commanding raids on farms that supplied the Confederacy, when his company was ambushed by a small company of Rebels led by Captain J.J. Dickison at Braddocks Farm. Wilcoxson and his men were caught off guard with ten wagons of cotton and other captured items when the Confederates called for them to surrender. Lt. Col. Wilcoxson mounted his horse and charged the enemies with his pistol drawn and blazing, after his ammunition was spent he drew his sword for one final push towards Capt. Dickison the rebel leader, who took aim and shot the Col. from his horse. Wounded and bleeding from the bullet that passed through his shoulder and other wounds Wilcoxson was approached by the rebel Captain and asked why he threw his life away, to which he replied "Don't blame yourself. You are only doing your duty as a soldier. I alone am to blame." The surgeon of the rebel camp, a Brother of the mystic tie, tried to save him but it was too late, he died of his wounds in a Confederate prison camp a few days later.

But that was not the end of the story.

What followed after the battle exemplifies how men of the Masonic order can rise above the normal and shine as honorable gentleman. The following are two letters between the widow of Albert Wilcoxson and the man who captured and killed him.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FLA. March 23, 1865

Captain J.J. Dickison:
SIR: I have heard that you are a most kind and honorable gentleman and a Freemason. Believing this to be a fact, I, as the widow of an honored Mason and brave soldier, appeal to you for a great favor.
The sword which by my husband, the late Lt. Col. Wilcoxson, wore at the time of his capture by you, was presented to him by his brothers of the "Mystic Tie", members of the St. John's Lodge, of Norwalk, Conn., in token of the high esteem in which they held him. If you are a Mason, you will understand the value which he placed upon the gift, and why I so strongly desire to possess it, in order that I may re-present it to the lodge.
Is it possible for you to return it to me? Or if it has passed out of your immediate possession, can you in any way effect restoration of it to me? The centennial celebration of the St. John's Lodge takes place May next. Earnest have been the entreaties of brotherhood that the colonel would make an effort to be with them at that time in spirit, without doubt. What would I not give to be able to place in their hands the sword which, though it passed from my husband's hands in such a manner, has never been dishonored!
Yours respectfully,
MRS. ALBERT H. WILCOXSON

_______________

CAMP BAKER, WALDO, FLA. March 31, 1865

Mrs. Albert H. Wilcoxson, St. Augustine, Fla.
MADAM: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 23rd instant, which reached me a few days ago by a flag of truce.
Previous to the receipt of your letter, at the request of your husband, I had concluded to send you the sword which was worn by him at the time of his capture. It is unusual, in time of war, to return captures of this description, but, in this instance, I will deviate from that course, on account of the feelings I entertained for your husband as a brave officer. With this, I send you his sword, trusting that it may reach you safely.
I am, madam, yours respectfully,
J.J. DICKISON
Captain Commanding Forces

The sword was indeed returned to her and she presented it to the men who lost a friend and brother along with this letter on the Centennial Anniversary of the lodge.

Norwalk May 18th 1865

To the W.M. Wardens and Brothers of St. Johns Lodge,
I take this opportunity of forwarding to you the sword which was presented by the Brethren of St. Johns Lodge to my husband the late Lieut. Col. Wilcoxson at the time he entered military service.
The accompanying copies of letters will explain to you the manner in which the sword came into my possession after my husband’s capture and death and will also prove my intentions regarding the gift which has all too soon passed into a relic. I was induced to make this request of Capt. Dickison on account of the great value my husband placed upon the sword and also that I might by returning it to the lodge give to the fraternity some acknowledgement of the deep respect which I entertain for the order of Free Masonry and of my appreciation of the manner in which you expressed your confidence in and esteem for my husband.
My heart’s desire and prayer is that every mason who looks upon this sword either in tender memory of the departed brother or in mere curiosity may be as true to his God his Country and his fellow man as was my dear brave husband Lieut. Col. Albert H. Wilcoxson.
Very Respectfully
Mrs. A.H. Wilcoxson

The Brothers of St. Johns Lodge No. 6 F.&A.M. upon receipt of the sword and letter from his widow entered into their records the following.

Whereas it has pleased Almighty God in his inscrutable providence to swell the number of our fallen Brothers who have gone forth in defense of our Union and our Countries flag by removing from this lodge by death our Brother P.M. Albert H. Wilcoxson and
Whereas it is due to his memory that we shall place on our records our appreciation of his character as a Brother and a well skilled craftsman of the order. Therefore be it be resolved that in the loss of P.M. Wilcoxson we deeply and sincerely mourn a Brother who by his intimate knowledge of Masonry has become a credit to our Lodge and an ornament to the Fraternity.
Resolved that we shall ever gratefully remember him as a kind and charitable Brother and honest and trustworthy and an associate possessed of qualities of character that alike honored his head and heart.
Resolved that we tender our heartfelt and Brotherly condolence to the widow of our departed Brother and invoke for her the protection and tender care of him who does not willingly afflict the children of men.

Years passed and the "tender memory" of Albert Wilcoxson faded, and the story of how a Civil War sword ended up in the bottom of a dusty glass case was forgotten until a "mere curiosity" found the story again. Perhaps this time we can live up to Mrs. Wilcoxson's heart's desire and prayer and have it remind us to be as true to our god, our country, and our fellow man as was my dear departed Brother.

Brotherhood

The night before was spent in a hotel in Springfield Massachusetts, where men (actually Boys) from all over New England gathered before boarding the plane to Great Lakes Illinois. We didn't know each other but we had all taken the same oath.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
After a short flight we were herded onto a bus and driven to the place we would call home for the next eight weeks, Boot Camp. After we arrived, we were stripped of all of the worldly possessions we came with, which were then boxed up and sent back home. We were then dressed in the same sweat suits and lined up for a barber to remove the final distinguishing characteristics of our former selves, our hair. Although we came in different shades of melatonin, from that point forward we became one color, Navy Blue.
The next eight weeks of trial and error, pride and punishment, joy and pain, united eighty men from every state, creed, color, and background into one. We learned early on that we were only as strong as our weakest shipmate, so we needed to quickly adapt the mantra of teamwork if we were to shine as a unit, which we did. Never in my short eighteen years of life did I ever form such a tight bond with other men as I had in such a short time. That was boot camp. It was my first experience of true Brotherhood.
Men and women who never volunteered for the military service can never exactly know that trust and bond which servicemen the world over share. Servicemen and women all experience a similar trial, and upon completion, become bound by a tie that never can be broken. Since my departure from service I had not felt a similar tie until I knocked upon the door of Freemasonry.
In like manner, I came of my own free will and accord to offer my services to the Craft. On the night of my initiation into the fraternity I sat in a room with men whom I had never before met. We were divested of our belongings and then bound by an obligation. After the trials of the degree were over we were Brothers. Unlike boot camp we all went home to our own houses and went our separate ways until the next meeting of the lodge. The ties of Freemasonry are harder to forge because of this fact. There is just too much time in between meetings and too many distractions in our lives to quickly bind men. Yet with much work and perseverance we can labor to build that temple built from living stones that we call a lodge.
There are walls that we as men build in our minds to protect us from others. From a young age we begin to erect these walls from stones of rejection. Some build walls of macho' ism, "me big man you can't hurt me", some build walls of aloofness "I am far too intelligent for you to hurt me", and others of scorn "you cant hurt me cause I don't give a sh**!". These walls may protect our egos and our self esteem but they are facades which do not reveal our true selves to others. If we never live the life we were meant, because we hide behind walls, we fail our true purpose of being. This is where brotherhood steps in.
In boot camp we were put on the same level by the government and built up in the image of our particular service. While there I saw men cry, fight, laugh and overcome great obstacles together because we worked together. Not all of the walls were removed but we could not help reveal our true selves because that was all we had. We could not hide behind a suit or gangster clothes or leather jackets because they were left behind at the beginning. When one guy could not do the push ups that we were all doing, he got help at night because he was our shipmate and we were not going to leave him behind, we needed him. He, in turn, helped guys who had trouble with the academic side to basic training because that was his strength. That is what our lodges should be.
When we are divested of our material things and appear before the lodge, neither barefoot nor shod neither naked or clothed, we stand before the lodge and more importantly our creator as the raw material needed to complete a spiritual temple. Not all stones are created the same. Some are naturally stronger and more dense and can hold heavy loads on their shoulders. Some have the quality of being carved into intricate and beautiful things to adorn the aesthetics of the temple. One is not better than the other because with out them all gathered together the temple will never be complete.
If we take the opportunity of entering into the Craft to start chipping away at our "walls" and reveal our true selves to our Brothers we take the first step in the building of that spiritual temple. We cannot labor alone, we must use the talents and uniqueness of every Brother in the lodge to build, but we cant lay a foundation on a man who acts like something he is not. Until we reveal our true selves to each other we can never start that spiritual building project that Freemasonry is meant to be. Your Brother can accept you for what you are better than your friend. Friends come and go, but Brotherhood is forever because we swear to our creator that we will protect and defend our Craft for the benefit of ourselves and the men we will for ever after that time call Brother.



Post Script. At the last meeting of my lodge I sat in the East for the first time to confer the degree of Entered Apprentice on a friend who has been like a brother to me for a very long time. Quality men from a lodges halfway across the State came to help me in this endeavor because we became friends after a man whom I consider a friend and mentor left me in their fraternal care a month ago. Now my old friend is my Brother and my new Brothers who I just became friends with, helped me do it. We all met on the Level, acted on the Plumb, and Departed on the Square and I look forward to all of the fraternal relations to come. Its great to be back in a Brotherhood!

A Tale of Two Lodges

Nestled along the body of water known as Long Island Sound, on the Eastern Coast of the United States of America, lies a small city separated by a river and gathered around a safe harbor protected by a string of islands. It is a typical New England harbor city famous for its oysters that thrive in the protected waters of the sound. It was colonised back in 1640 and was a major industrial city in the 19Th century.

Freemasonry came to this city by way of a certain merchant and sea captain who applied to the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York in 1765 for a charter to make masons. The lodge met and organised in the home of this Episcopalian merchant of Jewish origin and quickly grew and thrived. It survived the Revolution and continued to prosper and as it grew it met in various houses and buildings in the similarly growing harbor city.

Now, this city is not the biggest in the state of Connecticut and it certainly was odd that in the mid 1800's a certain number of brothers from the lodge decided that it was better to break off from the mother lodge and form their own just down the road from where the lodge met. They did this, according to their history, because their wives were unhappy with their getting home so late from meetings. The colloquial history of the matter is that the men who broke off to form their own lodge were unhappy with the progressive officer line and not being able to break into the line decided to form their own. This turned into another "tradition" of one lodge being the blue collar lodge and the other being the white collar lodge.

This division of brethren in the city was handed down generation to generation, father to son and boiled up from time to time. One such spat grew into an all out "Masonic War" that was covered by the New York Times in detail in the late 1800's. The fight got all the way to the point of the older lodge voting to leave the Grand Lodge over the unfair treatment of the matter by, according to them, investigators appointed by the Grand Master who had stronger ties with the younger lodge and gave them preferential treatment. This grew into a lawsuit against the Grand Master by the older lodge in court, which was consequently thrown out of court because the judge said the government had no jurisdiction in a matter within a private organization.

Old divisions are hard to get rid of and fraternal relations between the lodges have ebbed and flowed like the harbor in city that hosts the lodges. There were times were they tolerated each other and gathered together for events and times were communication was almost none. This division between the two lodges continues to this day and the biggest perpetuator of the split is pride, one of the seven deadly sins. Dante's definition of pride is "love of self, perverted to hatred, and contempt for one's neighbor." Pride is considered one of the most serious of the cardinal sins because it is one so easy to fall into. Pride in itself is not the bad thing, it is taking it to a level that leads to thinking you are better than others that is wrong.

Freemasonry has seen its heyday pass in this city. Both lodges prospered and had large memberships with tremendous participation at one time, enough to justify the need for two, this is no longer the case. With diminishing numbers and growing costs, merging the two lodges would be the best solution to reestablishing the craft that was once a cornerstone in the city but pride stops this from happening. It was once discussed not to long ago, but there were still old guard members on both sides who could not overlook their pride and history and move forward into the future for the benefit of the craft. Talks are swirling among some of the newer members who have not been totally indoctrinated into the old way, on both sides.

Perhaps pride could be put on the shelf for the good of the order in this city and a bridge could be built between the lodges separated by a river in actuality and a chasm of history and pride in the hearts of its members.

How do you get men who have carried a grudge longer than their own lives to come to the table of brotherhood?

Morals as Dogma

As a member of the order who has been responsible for shedding light upon the dark world I take my obligations seriously. While our exoteric rites performed in lodge may not awaken anything in some, I am one who sees the sprout in the seeds we sow together. If you look at our working tools without seeing the truth hidden within you will never be a true Freemason. All the titles and baubles and rings and lapel pins make not a man a Mason. He must put the working tools of his trade into action everyday from the time he first is made a Mason to the time they fall from his cold grasp.

"Where were you first prepared to be made a Mason?"

If it was in your head and not in your heart, even if you go through every degree in all of the rites of Masonry, you will never be a Mason.

We are not mind readers, we can not know for sure your intentions when you petition the Craft for membership. Many slip through who join for selfish reasons but they will never be Masons. They can rise to the title of Grand Master and never be a Mason.

"In whom do you put your trust?"

Many answer correctly to go forth in our initiation but truly believe not in the words they speak.

We must uphold the institution of Freemasonry. If we do not live up to the rituals we bestow upon worthy candidates we are nothing. If we do not use the working tools of our profession at all times, we fail the men who were worthy of being called Freemasons that propelled the Craft to the vaunted status we once held. All men fail at times, but we must labor continuously at our rough ashlars for the spiritual temple we set out to build.

We are builders.

Before we can help others build we must refine the temple of our own being. Without a solid foundation it will never soar to the lofty heights of the divine. Using the common gavel we must continuously chip off the the rough corners of our spiritual ashlar. It is a constant duty of the Entered Apprentice to remove all vices and superfluities of his mind and conscience until he is ready to build. When he does so he is ready to become a Fellowcraft. Not everyone does this.

Moral law is the the truth we must uphold. If we are not just and upright Masons we are stooped over animals. I do not want to be an animal. An animal lives in a world where the simple impulses rule; food, shelter, and reproduction. An animal succumbs to those urges at all times, he will violate other animals to satisfy those simple needs. The world is filled with temptation and only the just and upright temper those animal urges.

"Learn to subdue my passions."

It is not an easy thing to be a Mason. Labor is hard. We labor in the quarries of a dark world. Only by seeking out quality material to build with, will we restore the foundation of our worthy order.

There is much work to be done.

Where's My 24 Inch Gauge

For my twenty or so readers:
When things are going great it becomes even harder to manage time. With the exponential growth of my lodge comes exponential responsibility to the few who do the most. I am proud to say we have already initiated more Brothers in the short time this year than we had done in the past two put together and we still have more waiting. This makes things extremely hard for a married man and father of three who has a hard time saying no to anything and is involved in more things than anyone my wife knows.

Between my blog, lodge, local theatre company, church, regular work and second job, I have been admittedly absent from my family way too much even when in their presence. That is why my posting has precipitously dropped as of late. It was my lovely wife who shed the light on me and I thank her for it. I had been so immersed in all of my extracurricular activities that even when I was home physically, my mind was almost always somewhere else, thinking about the future of my lodge, my next post, memorizing ritual or dialogue from my play. The problem was not in that I was doing all of these things, it was that I was doing these things alone and in my thick skull.

There are some of us who are bound by an even more ancient and important obligation than our Masonic one, you know, the obligation that allows us to wear a ring signifying our membership in the oldest organization in the world, marriage. It is a mysterious and magical union that takes a lifetime to master, and not all can. I call to my mind an image of the night I was installed in the South. The installing officer was a Most Worshipful Past Grand Master of Connecticut and his prompter was not a Mason but his lovely wife sitting on the sidelines with the ritual in her hands. It was reassuring to see even a PGM can miss a line every now and then and even more reassuring to see that his wife helps him with his ritual.

When I joined Freemasonry I had read from many different sources that the only secrets of Masonry were its grips, words, and signs and that the ritual was not a secret. It is my firm belief that that is true. As I started to be asked to perform parts of the ritual for degrees I readily went to my wife for help. I know I could go to any of the brethren for help but it is much more convenient to go to my wife and helping me memorize my ritual helps her to understand that we aren't sacrificing virgins or anything else ominous and evil at my meetings. It also keeps up a dialogue between us that is necessary for a healthy marriage and I can say without a doubt her help is more beneficial than any other method I have tried. When she corrects me I can hear her voice in my head and I wont mess up that part again. For some reason or another I had not been going to her for help. I had been engrossed in reading and writing and all of the other stuff I do. I can trace back my disastrous "G" lecture (read my Fumbling Fellowcraft Degree) directly to not having her help me with that lecture and it was my fault for not asking.

It is all behind me now, and she is currently helping me memorize my dialogue for my upcoming play and all is well on the home front. When I start to prepare for my second attempt at the notorious "G" lecture in two weeks, I am going straight to her and maybe this time wont fumble it all up.

Do you tell your wife what goes on in lodge?

I Hate This Post

It was another outstanding evening at old St. John's. The energy was at the same level as it was at our last meeting, and that one was buzzing. Brethren were arranged in groups chatting, laughing, and enjoying the greatest benefit of our craft, good fellowship among good men. The District Deputy was waiting for me when I got there(I am always the first to arrive) and quickly ushered me to the candidate preparation room because it was our annual inspection and it was time for me to be tested. No problems there. After blazing my way through the words and grips, I went back to setting up the lodge for our second Entered Apprentice degree in as many meetings. We had three candidates waiting to be brought to light and with the usual degree of pomp that accompanies a Grand Lodge inspection. This went on without a hitch, delivered meaningfully and gracefully by the Brethren of my lodge. Our three newest brothers were then treated to three meetings worth of minutes that had been pushed aside for too long and a couple of bills,which I was sorry they had to sit through! We then closed in due fashion and went downstairs for a little refreshment and more fellowship.
One by one the Brothers left until it was myself, the Worshipful Master, the Senior Warden, and the Junior Deacon. We started to discuss the heavy matter of the future of the lodge and during the discussion it was decided that we should move it outside so the W.M. and S.W. could have a cigarette and me and the J.D. decided to join them and have a cigar, which has become a little tradition that I am really enjoying with the J.D. after our meetings. All sorts of angles were covered outside and due to the cold, we decided to cut it short, so I went inside to lock up so we all could go home. Before I went inside I noticed a car pulling in to our parking lot, it kind of creeped in and parked near to where we were all standing. I thought maybe it was somebody from the church who owns our building and continued turning off the lights and when I heard a conversation going on outside, I came outside to check if it was indeed someone from the church needing to get in. It turned out to be a young man in search of some answers about Freemasonry so I went back in and finished locking up.
Now this is why I hate this post.
As you may or may not know, here in America there are two distinct bodies of Freemasons. Each has a tradition going back to the 1700's. Each operate in accordance with the ancient landmarks of our order. Each are proud to be called Freemasons and I see no difference between us as I have stated many times on my blog, but unfortunately due to the atrocities of history there evolved two distinct bodies of Freemasons, so called"mainstream" or regular Freemasons and Prince Hall Freemasons. We here in the state of Connecticut were the first in the nation to officially recognise each other and we continue to work together in harmony and brotherhood. It was my Grand Lodge that reached out and asked the Prince Hall Masons in our state for them to recognise us, not the other way around. It is a really incredible story that I have permanently added to my side bar and I think everyone should take the time to read just how hard it was to reach the point of recognition. Now to the crux of my post.
The young man asking us about how to join Freemasonry was African American, which makes no difference to me because I do not see people by their color, but I am in turmoil as to how to handle him. We all answered his questions about the fraternity and unfortunately due to the late hour and the cold ,we had to cut things a little short with him, but I gave him my card and told him to call me anytime and we could finish our Q&A session. During the conversation we explained to him that there were three lodges in our city that all operated the same way and he would be free to choose what ever lodge best suited his time schedule, as we all meet on different nights. Here lies my problem, while I whole heartily want to welcome this fine young man into my lodge and would gladly recommend him for the mysteries of Freemasonry, I don't know what to do about telling him about Prince Hall Freemasonry. I feel as if I were to say "one of the three lodges in our city is Prince Hall which is African American" would be like telling him we don't want him, which is not true. At the same time I feel as if I don't tell him about the P.H. lodge it would be like hiding something from him.
I hate that I am in this quandary. I hate the fact that after Prince Hall became a Master Mason and the Military Lodge that raised him left (which was Irish, I believe), he had no where to practice the lessons of Freemasonry. I love the fact that he did not let this stop him from forming his own lodge and extending the good work of Freemasonry to African Americans like himself. I love the fact that the lodge he formed spread and multiplied and became the foundation for the proud organization of Prince Hall Freemasonry. If my Grand Lodge allowed me, I would gladly affiliate myself with the Prince Hall lodge in my city as a dual member. I have worked with the Brothers from that lodge and marched with them in our Memorial Day parade together as Brothers. They are my brothers and I wish there were no line that separated us, but there is. If I were a Prince Hall Mason I would never want to relinquish the proud history of that organization and merge with a "regular" Grand Lodge, but it is that same pride that keeps us separate. We are a result of history and we cant change it. There are two bodies of men that practice the same tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth and unfortunately the thing that keeps one separate is the color of their skin. We can recognise each other and work together as Brethren but I don't foresee any change in the fact that there are two separate but equal forms of Freemasonry in America, which is sad.
What can we do?
What should I do?
There is much work to be done.

The Stone That The Builder Refused

I was recently asked a question by a Brother that I had no real good answer for. While we usually concentrate on how to get good men to join our fraternity the question on how to turn someone away rarely comes up.
My Brother has a certain someone who he has known for a long time, who constantly hounds him for information on the craft. Good news right? Well, this man, according to him, is far from the type of man who we would wish to call a brother and my Brother asked me how best to turn him away.
Recommending a man for our order is one of the highest honors that can befall a Freemason, but it also comes with great responsibility. With the future of Freemasonry still uncertain it is my opinion that we should be extremely careful of whom we bring among our numbers. It is hard enough sometime just to find good men who are also willing to take the chance on a Brotherhood veiled in mystery and history, but there will always be those out there who have no problem taking solemn vows just to find out what we are about. Men with no honor to keep their obligation and you know sometimes there is no real way of knowing this until way too late.
After getting the idea of what kind of man my Brother was talking about, I suggested he stress the moral basis of our order which might turn off an amoral person and if that did not work I suggested he just tell him that it is just a bunch of old men! I did not know what to say. I try to keep myself away from those type of people and if I must associate with one, and we all have to at one point or another, I keep it as shallow a relationship as possible.
What do you do with a man who wants to join Freemasonry but you think is not a good fit? Or even yet, what about a person who you think is alright but you just don’t like?
Tough questions when most of our lodges need more people, but I don't ever want some visitor to leave my lodge thinking of what I thought when I wrote Higher Standards or Lack Thereof.

Chance Inspiration

It was your run of the mill Sunday.
Got up from bed, had breakfast, and read the paper. Then church, lunch, and I brought my girls for a visit with their grandparents. The visit to my parents tied in with the need for my wife and I to go to a visitation, or wake, of her co-workers brother who had died of an early heart attack.
We dropped off the girls and plugged into our GPS the address of the Baptist Church in Yonkers, New York and were on our way.
The drive wasn't too bad at all and before we knew it we were being guided by satellite through the confusing streets of Yonkers. I never saw the movie "Lost in Yonkers" but I can certainly relate to the title because of the many times I found myself lost in that city, though not anymore due to the miracle of modern science and cheaper electronics. As we made our way through the city, we crested a hill and went down a street that over looked the Hudson River, the view was beautiful. As we approached the church we were forced to take a few laps through the surrounding streets because there were cars parked everywhere. On our second turn around the block I started to notice some Square and Compasses emblems on some of the cars, nothing new because since I have joined the craft, I have kind of a S&C radar for car bumpers and am always on the lookout for a Brother. The strange thing was how many I was noticing as we looked for a spot to park our car on the overcrowded city streets. I asked my wife if her co-workers brother was a Mason, to which she replied that she did not know.
We finally found a spot and proceeded to the church. It was a beautiful stone church on the hill overlooking the Hudson and when we entered its packed interior it became clearer that he was indeed, a brother Mason as I saw someone holding a white apron in the entry hall where the visitors book was. Not only was he a Mason, it turned out that he was a Past Master of his Prince Hall lodge as his body, the vehicle that held his soul, was adorned with the apron of a Past Master. The visit all of a sudden turned from supporting one of my wife's friends,to saying goodbye to a brother I never knew.
After giving his family our most sincere condolences we sat down in the back of the church to pray. As we sat down I noticed about 60-75 women in front of us wearing black hats that looked like fezzes. They were all dressed in black with long stemmed red roses pinned to their left lapels. Although they wore no pins or had any adornment on their hats I assumed they were a Masonic order. When my wife asked, I said that they were either Order of The Eastern Star or Daughters of the Nile, of which the former turned out to be true.
After noticing a man with a Marshall's baton, in white gloves and apron in the back door I whispered to my wife that she was about to see her first Masonic memorial service. It was exciting for me also, because I had never seen a Masonic memorial outside of my jurisdiction, let alone a Prince Hall one.
Behind the Marshall I saw the familiar staffs of the Junior and Senior Deacons carried by their respective officers and behind them was a man in a Derby hat, who had to be the Worshipful Master. The usual retinue of about 9 or so brothers marched in with him, nothing special, it was what happened next that amazed me. After setting up the officers at the front of the church the Marshall proceeded to the back of the church and led in what had to be 100 brothers dressed in black suits , white gloves and aprons, and that number is on the conservative side. They stood along both sides of the church and in rows at the back because of their great number and this was not a small church. Next came some brothers in familiar red trimmed Royal Arch aprons, but they wore hats that I had never seen before, they began the memorial with an address from their Chapter and gave his family a scroll with his achievements on it.
Next came the Masonic memorial delivered by the W.M., from memory, which was quite impressive as it was much longer than the standard service that we use in Connecticut. I cant recall all of the details, but it had many parts just like the service I have performed before, but with singing (we need to sing more!) and some preaching mixed in. It is hard to describe the feeling of being surrounded by over one hundred Brothers in Masonic regalia singing together and all at once producing a sprig of evergreen for their fallen brother. After commending his spirit to god who gave it, the assembled brethren deposited, one by one, their evergreens upon their brother craftsman who had been called to the celestial lodge. After the Brethren all proceeded out in procession, the Matron of the Eastern Star Chapter gathered the roses from the Sisters and gave them to the family and then they too proceeded out.
He was not a Grand Master, or some high ranking member of the order, just a Past Master of his lodge and there were more Masons assembled to dignify the passing of their Brother than I have seen at the largest gathering of Connecticut Masons I have yet been to.
It was at once extremely moving and embarrassing at the same time because of how hard it seems to pull my brethren from their lives to perform any Masonic deed. It was a look back for me into how it must have been to be a Mason in my own city 50 years ago when the craft was thriving. During the ceremony I could not help myself from joining the "So Mote It Be's" and doing the hand motions of the memorial. I even found my self putting my right hand to my heart in the sign of fidelity every time the W.M. removed his hat. I wish that I had an apron to wear because, if I could have, I would have proudly been a part of the final act of brotherhood to a man I did not even know. He must have been a truly great man because at the young age of 46 he had so many people paying respects to him, or perhaps the Brotherhood in his lodge is stronger.
I have read and heard how most Prince Hall Lodges would put the "mainstream" lodges to shame with their true devotion to the craft and its principles and flawless ritual. I have now seen it with my own eyes, Prince Hall Freemasonry is every bit the same craft as I practice and more. The supreme travesty of our time is that there are still Grand Lodges in our Nation that do not recognize these men as Brothers.
I left that memorial prouder than I ever have to be a Mason. The love for their brother and dedication to the craft that they showed had me wishing that they all knew that I was one of them. I am ashamed that some other so called Brothers would not think the same. We should stop the injustice that is a disgrace to the craft and everyone of us so called "mainstream" Masons. We, as a fraternity should do everything in our collective power to change the minds of the Grand Lodges that do not recognise our brethren. We should do it, not because it will be hard, but because until every man that lives up to the high honor and privilege that is being a Freemason, is recognised as a brother by us all, we ourselves fall short of the title.
There is much work to be done...
Was it by chance that I was there, or as I am now seeing more and more clearly, that in a life lived truly there are no chance happenings.

Philosophy and My Hammer

Ten years or so ago, which now seems like a lifetime, I took a philosophy class at my local community college. Being a self taught student of philosophy I was so excited to take the course, that I was the first person to arrive for every class, notebook in hand, with a head full of ideas and opinions to share with my first organized class of one of my favorite subjects. It became a terrible disappointment. Unlike some of the other classes I took, where there was allot of discussion and creative thought, the philosophy class was more of a read what they wrote, understand, and reiterate.

I had significantly different opinions than that of the philosophers we studied and I was constantly challenging the professor with counterpoints from my own personal philosophy. I also challenged the fact that the whole course revolved around the history Greco-Roman philosophy. I did not want to throw out their ideas, but I wanted to also discuss the philosophies of the rest of the world, particularly the Eastern philosophies that I had more of a spiritual connection to. For our final paper the professor asked for an essay on our own philosophy based on what we were taught that semester.

I wrote a paper on my philosophy based on what I believed. It was full of well thought out arguments on our existence and purpose, and also full of what I thought was wrong with the philosophies our Western civilization was founded on. He gave me a C, which ruined my perfect grade point average up to that point. I was very disappointed because it was a really good paper, but it was just not what my professor wanted. Looking back I wish I had lifted some of the blinders of stubborn personal thought and opinion and listened a little more to the Greco-Roman philosophies. When I read them now, with the much less prejudicial view that comes with maturity of thought, I can appreciate them much more. Although I still have my own opinions on philosophy, I can now hear their voices more clearly now that I have learned to subdue my own passions and turn off my own opinions while listening to someone else, no matter how much I may disagree with them.

This skill is definitely one I did not have before my entrance into Freemasonry and I am all the more better for it.

I am currently reading about the ancient philosophies and mystery schools and gaining great light from those schools of thought that I had previously been so opposed to. This is part of my "I'm Gonna Swing The Hammer" mantra this year. Many of my readers implored me not to give up reading all together after reading that post because that was kind of how the post sounded. That was not my point. Instead of reading the thousands of books about the craft, its history, and its symbols, I am doing what our ritual asks of us. I am turning inward and improving myself with the study of the liberal arts and sciences. As or ritual states:

"The internal, and not the external qualifications of a man, are what Masonry regards."

It will be through the study of grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy that I will polish my rough ashlar, this year and from now on, not someones history or explanation of our order. Amazon need not fear the loss of my revenue!

Masonic Education need not be a lecture on a subject given on the floor of the lodge. It should be discussions that send the brethren home thinking of how they can polish their own rough ashlar. If more brethren did what I am doing, lodge would be an amazing place to go to, a place where you would not have to find an excuse to go or not, you would not want to miss a meeting.

Obligation and Self Interest

Being a part of a lodge that is coming upon another turning point in its history is sometimes hard. For almost 243 years my lodge has survived. Through revolutions, buildings, movings, hard times, good times, world wars, and declined interest, it has stood the test time for almost a quarter millennia. Man that is a long time. Thousands of men have held office in the lodge. It is a heavy responsibility entering the South this year on my way to the Oriental Chair. To tell you the truth there is not many moments where I don not think of how the fate of such an old institution is in my hands. It is daunting.

We are a lodge with no real home.

We are a lodge who's numbers can only decrease incrementally no matter how many we can bring in.

The men who have held the torch for so long will be vacating important positions and it will be up to me and my contemporaries to run the next leg.

After the New Year I decided to tell my mentor that I was guilty of blogging under a pseudonym. I am really proud of what I have built here and wanted to share with one of my Lodge Brothers my thoughts. It was not an easy decision to make. My semi-anonymity provided a curtain to hide behind so my rants or raves could be pure and uninfluenced by thinking about someone getting offended. It served a purpose but it made me uneasy because I have nothing to hide. The thoughts I have published for the whole wide world to read needed to be entered into the forum of discussion of my lodge. I will freely admit that my disclosure to my mentor has already affected my posting. There have been a couple of things that I would have had no problem sharing before I knew someone at my lodge might read it and know about. Nothing earth shattering or scandalous but as I writer there is now a bell that goes off when I write about mt experiences. C'est la vie.

I am happy that I can now at least have a force on the sidelines knowing what I dream about doing with Old St. John's.

There is much work to be done.

The first thing we need is a crop of candidates who want to rebuild this old group as much as I want to.

For to long it has been up to one man, who like atlas, has carried the great burden of keeping the lodge alive upon his shoulders. He has done everything. He has single handily ran my lodge for a long time because no one else would. Yeah there have been many men who have sat in the East in the past 20 or so years but it seems to me it was much easier for them to allow this one man to do everything for the lodge because no one had a vision for the future of the lodge. St. Johns has always been there and would always be there is an all to common attitude of most of my brethren. Now I do not want for one second to downplay anyone else's contribution to my lodge, but in my 2 years of being at every meeting (but one) there is only one who has captained this ship and has been the chief, cook, and bottle washer for too long. This man happens to be, of course, my mentor.

One of the stories he has repeated to me, and everyone else, on many occasions is of how his fathers lodge back in his home state went dark the day his father died. It is his great fear that if something were to happen to him that the same fate would befall old St. John's. I of course always respond to that story with "You don't have to worry about that anymore because I'm here". My response has never been received with what I expect because the last thing he wants to happen is for me to take his place as the "glue" as he has been called. It is not because he doesn't think I am capable but that he doesn't want me to shoulder all of the responsibility for the next twenty years. "It will break the strongest man" he tells me.

We have discussed on many occasions the fate of our lodge and he is very right in not allowing me to just do everything that I want to do. I would gladly relieve him of the burden but I cant do it alone like he has. I need a team. That is what a lodge is supposed to be.

I received a great response from my Beauty post from Brother Rui Banderia all the way from Portugal and there is one line that sticks out in my head from his comment that really helps with what my lodge needs:

"The important thing is that each Lodge be capable of building its own project. Once that's done, the Lodge identity is established and all the problems (there are always problems) are solved."

My lodge needs a project. That project is rebuilding our lodge to be the cornerstone of my city that it once was. I will do my best to lead my brethren in that direction but I can not do it alone. I need a group of like minded (young-er)men to share in this project. Which brings me to my last subject.

Last Friday my friend, who redesigned my Square and Compasses icon, came by my house for a long overdue old fashioned B.S. session. He is not a mason but is really thinking about joining the craft. He is one of those friends of mine, and there are unfortunately too few, who can sit down with me and discuss all the things about life that should and need to be discussed more often. We need not see each other all the time but when we do get together it is always like we never left off. He has really been enjoying reading my blog and had many questions about the fraternity. We had a great few hours of conversation that seemed to go by in a few minutes. The type of conversation we had is what my dream lodge experience is. Deep thoughts, heady topics all being freely discussed back and forth between brothers and even though he doesn't wear a ring (yet) he is my brother. He lies my problem. If he were to join the order he is unsure of where to petition. There is a lodge a couple of minutes down the road from his house which I know to be a fine lodge and would be convenient for him, yet my lodge is between his work and home. I would love to have one of my best friends sit in lodge with me and I believe we could do some great work but at the same time I have always been a proponent of choosing a lodge that is close to your home. Knowing that he will read this that little bell is going off in my writers mind so I will stop with that thought so as not to effect any decision he makes ;-) It is my obligation to point him to his nearest lodge and it is in my own self interest that I want him in mine.

Anyway if there are any brethren out there with some stories or insight into having a close friend entering into the brotherhood behind them I (and my friend) would love to hear from you.
M.M.M.

I'm Gonna Swing The Hammer

Being an avid reader I could not have chose a better organization to join than Freemasonry. Just type Freemasonry into an Amazon book search and you will come up with 13,986 results! I can freely admit if there is any conspiracy linked to the fraternity it should lead right to Amazon.com. Since joining the craft I have purchased countless amounts of books, pamphlets, and novels with Freemasonry as its topic or somewhere in the title. It is quite a bad habit I have picked up, as soon as I see some book promising more insight into the order, I order! My wonderful wife has yet to say anything to me about this awful habit but I can certainly see that "another book on Freemasonry?" look in her eyes when the UPS driver stops by the house.

I may sound crazy but it is a real thrill.

The plodding research on what book to purchase.

The endorphin rush while clicking order (because of the pain in the wallet area).

The obsessive tracking of the order from the point of origin to my doorstep.

And finally the tearing open of the box or envelope revealing (hopefully) another gem to add to my Masonic Crown Jewels.

Wow!

Each book I have purchased has added to my knowledge of Freemasonry. They have generally served their purpose in shedding more light on the subject of Freemasonry by illuminating some aspect of the history or character of the organization and the men who have in the past belonged to it. Some have gone into detail the symbolic and esoteric aspects of the craft and up until now I have been a conspicuous consumer of such works. It has been my bad habit of buying every book someone mentions on their blog or website for well over a year now and I have come to a decision that it must stop.

Not because I haven't gotten anything from any of these publications, but because recently I had an epiphany about books on Freemasonry and a hammer.

A hammer is a tool, if you don't know, that drives in nails. It also can be used to break apart rocks or punch holes in walls (by accident) or nudge a piece of lumber into place. If you turn it around there are prongs used to remove said nails you drove in if they are not straight or if you put them in the wrong place. They are numerous uses for a hammer. There are also different types of hammers. Hammers come in all shapes and sizes. If you do an Amazon book search for "hammer" you come up with 183,470 books associated with hammer as a subject or somewhere in its title.

I could read all 183, 470 books associated with the hammer and not even come close to what you learn in just ten minutes using a hammer.

A hammer is a tool.

So is Freemasonry.

So this year instead of buying and reading every book I can find on the order I chose to belong to, I am going to just experience what it is to use the tool.

I'm gonna swing the hammer and see what I can make.

Reflected Light

One aspect of light is that it can be reflected and redirected to somewhere where it was not found before. As an avid reader of others blogs I find my self sometimes so moved that I want to share what I read, and now is one of those times. So like the moon I can only redirect a cosmic light that shone somewhere else, but even reflected light illuminates.

Please go to my new found Brother Osiris's blog, Kingdom of Conscience, and read his Masonic Secrets. It is one of the best esoteric pieces of writing on our secrets that I have ever read.

We Must Become What We Claim To Be

Now is our chance, enough pretending, we must restore Freemasonry. If we are to survive as an institution we must live up to what we are supposed to be.

In the months that I have been writing this blog and reading everyone else's (thank you King Solomons Lodge), I have read more masonic thought and insight online than all of my time spent in an actual lodge building. The Masonic Blogging community is what our lodge experience should be, intelligent and responsive discussion on the mysteries of life and our fraternity. I say responsive because most of the bloggers of the craft take the time to respond and comment on each others well though out posts with well though out responses. We all get nothing from this but learning and that is why I love this forum.

When I receive a comment on one of my posts from brethren from across the globe it reassures me that I have not joined some simple charitable organization that likes to play dress up. Yet I think that on the whole that is what most men discover when they finally are raised Master Masons. The ritual has survived but it is mostly done for rituals sake and not for what it is intended to do.

If you go to church every Sunday but live your life in a immoral way or even cut a few corners in a moral sense you are no better than someone who never sets foot in a church. I do not want to confuse the uninitiated. Freemasonry is not a religion but we do teach lessons through symbols and ritual just like a church and I want to illustrate the hypocrisy of going through ritual and not actually gaining anything from it. You could recite to a word every part of the Masonic ritual perfectly, and from memory, but if you do not live and act in a way reflecting those words you are in no way any better than someone who has never taken the obligation. Freemasonry is a progressive science. We are here to learn, and in learning and living what we learn we become better men.

Most of the Masonic education I have been a part of involves being lectured on ritual. "Say it this way","walk around the lodge like this","we do this because"... this is not education and this is the reason most of the brethren roll their eyes at the mention of a Lodge of Instruction, it is BORING! The rules that govern an opened lodge create the perfect forum for pure philosophic and intellectual discussion. We go through the opening ritual to bring the collective consciousness of the brethren up to the level where such discussions can take place, not because some dudes back in the 1700's wrote these lines to torture future brethren with arcane language. When we are on the level, we should take the time to discuss the things that will improve ourselves and the society in which we live, not just pay the bills, recite the minutes, and vote on new candidates. Speaking of candidates we need to stop rushing to fill the membership rolls with guys who become Masons in name only. You know, the guys who get their dues cards and show up every now and then if there is a good meal or mostly not at all.

If we created an environment that justified the ritual we go through, then perhaps some of the men who become Masons and stop coming after a couple of business meetings will stay. If we live up to the mysterious, elite brotherhood that many believe we are, maybe we will become it and that is not a bad thing. That is what brought such incredible men in the past to our doors not a cheap meal, camaraderie and some charity. For some reason elite has become a bad word when in fact by definition it is what we all should strive to be: ELITE, A group or class of persons or a member of such a group or class, enjoying superior intellectual, social, or economic status. What is wrong with that? It is what I want to be. I don't want to be like the rest of the schlubs out there.

There is a movement to lift the veil of secrecy that enshrouds our brotherhood. Some think that secrecy is what has kept our numbers dwindling and are going out of their way to show everyone what it is we do. There was a recent Discovery Channel expose that apparently showed in detail one of our degrees, I found this out because a guy I work with saw it and began to ask me specific questions about the "First Degree"(that is what he thought it was). He even recited some lines from the "ruffians". This took me aback because I thought exposing this part of the degree ruins some of the mystery of our brotherhood. My co-worker had expressed some interest in joining our fraternity in the past and was happy to have seen the "First Degree" so he would not be surprised by the initiation. If he does decide to join he will have been robbed of a part of the initiation I will never forget because I had no idea what was coming.

I don't want to come off holier than thou because it was a History Channel expose that brought the fraternity into my focus way back when, but it did not expose the initiation or ruin the mystery. I have seen an expose that showed the public an installation of officers, not in detail, but enough to wet the appetite of an interested party to research more. I had no problem with that because it is a public ceremony anyway, but can what ever lodge it is that is doing degrees for the Discovery Channel stop and think about what it is we are.

Masons go through a three part initiation meant to bring the candidates to a greater understanding of themselves and the world we live in. Our initiation means a lot, to a serious searcher for truth and even though it can be easily found in many different places it still needs to be searched for I am sorry that you can now watch it on TV.

I know I am going all over the place here but keep in mind I have not gotten allot of sleep in the past week with my newborn daughter and I have not gotten to really blog in a while. I just hope that the experience I am finding with every post I make to my blog becomes more of a reality in the collective experience of Freemasonry. As I enter into the South this year I am going to do my best in my performance of my duties to bring this light to my lodge and I hope that more brothers will do the same in returning our craft to what we should be. With all of the attention we will be getting from all of the crazy movies and books about us, why don't we give them what they think we are, secret rulers of the planet(haha), and not just a bunch of guys in tuxes with funny necklaces and aprons.

No Candle Snuffing Allowed

My lodge was founded in 1765 by an Episcopalian Jew and American Patriot. No, I did not miss a comma. It is said that the founder of the craft in my city's family became Episcopalians because of a lack of a place to worship in their tradition. He was also a merchant and although we don't know how or when he was initiated into our order, petitioned the Provincial Grand Lodge of New York for a charter to meet and make Masons in our harbor city on the Long Island Sound(the Grand Lodge of Connecticut would not be formed for another 30 years). The original lodge building was his house and the membership included many of the founding families of the city. It was a tumultuous time in American History as we all know. Like many Freemasons at the time, our founder was a supporter of the American cause for Independence and belonged to other organizations that played a part of some "unmasonic" acts of revolution against his King and Government. Remember we as masons take an oath......

You may be wondering why I am giving this history lesson today.

Not every brother in my lodge wanted to rebel against the crown. Like any gathering of intelligent men there was a large spectrum of political belief, religious persuasion, age and intellect in the lodge. There is no way around that and it would be a sad and very boring world indeed if we all thought and acted the same way. At one point during the Revolution our Worshipful Master was a passionate Patriot and our Senior Warden was a staunch Loyalist. That is the beauty of our institution. When the gavel falls and the lodge is duly tiled brothers meet upon the level to do the good labor of our gentle art and when the work is done they depart upon the square. Political talk and discussion of religion has no place in a lodge where we are to work in harmony building sacred temples out of the rough ashlars of human beings. Those two topics as we all know can make the worst enemies out of the best friends. But we rough ashlars all have to live in a world filled with politics and religion.

Governments are a necessary evil of mankind because most of mankind would revert to an animal state of survival of the fittest without laws to govern them. We enter into a compact creating government to protect the rights of those who cant protect themselves. Governments are corrupt because mankind is corrupt. It is the uncommon man who lives and acts in accordance with the divine, because it is just too darn easy to live in sin and corruption and hard to live justly. It is so hard to live a just and good life that it can be equated with labor. Why sweat your ass off growing and caring for an orchard all year long when you can sneak into one under the cover of darkness and steal some apples when you are hungry. The other reason for entering into the compact of government is to protect the labors of the just. We all have different ideas as to how this compact is enacted, but we need government.

Religion gives us hope. I am not talking about organized religion, but a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. I don't care who you believe in but you must admit that there is an amazing structure that is the basis of every things existence. When we meet someone who has a similar belief we congregate to discuss that belief. Some people live in a way that reflects the divine light of the universe so brightly that lesser people will follow them and try to live their lives in their image. People then try to spread what they believe in and share what they find divine and organized religion is born. It is mankind's feeble attempt at government of belief. Some people need someone to tell them what to believe in because they cant see it for themselves.

There will always be a need for government and there always is a need for religion and people will strongly voice their opinions on both of these matters, it is what makes us human.

We are taught as Freemasons to leave these passions behind us when we enter into our lodge not to drop them all together. A Freemason with no political belief is like a candle with no flame. We need to control the flame of political belief from becoming an all encompassing fire as much as we need to shine our collective light no matter what direction it comes from. We must believe and share those beliefs but, in lodge we learn to control our passions. That is why lodges are sometimes called temples and that is why we leave politics and religion at the door, you cant do divine work when clouded by human passion.

After the work is done and the gavel falls we are returned to the world we live in. Hopefully with some more rough edges chipped off the course stone of our being. We labor to become better men and to share with mankind our own personal light. If, after we leave lodge don't share what we learn to control in lodge, then we labor for nothing.

Shine on Widows Son!