Brother meet a friend

Last night was out annual Brother Bring a friend night. As I arrived at the lodge there in a car next to me were two gentlemen I’d never seen before. This isn’t unusual since I have only been a Mason for a year. I said hello and gave both a handshake. I proceeded to collect my things for the meeting and crossed the parking lot to enter the building and spotted the Master speaking with a gentleman I also did not recognize. I thought this might be an exciting night since I was supposed to bring one or two interested men as well, but alas neither could make that evening. As usual I went right down into the collation hall for some refreshments and Charlie’s oh so customary Hors d'ourves. I am particularly partial to the pickled eggs, although my wife pleads with me not to have more than one an evening.

When almost all the brethren had arrived Charlie and Tom served up the pasta and sausage. As usual I had a manly sized portion, you’d think that my wife doesn’t feed me enough by the size of it. That may not be far from the truth, my wife is on a diet and I am too according to her. I just can't ever accept a salad as as meal, no matter what's in it. After all had eaten their fill and there was still a great deal left over. But we had to get started there were candidates waiting.

In speaking with one candidate, he relayed a story about how a friend of his was a member of another lodge (not ours) and when he asked about joining he had given him a petition and he filled it out and gave it back to his friend with his initiation fee. Well this gentleman then waited for 6 -8 months with not so much a call from a member of the lodge to let him know what the status was. After this wait the gentleman was a bit annoyed to say the least. At this point the candidate feels like he is not wanted and asks the lodge for the initiation fee to be returned since he is no longer interested in joining that lodge. Reasonable request since the lodge in question sat on this man’s petition for 6-8 months. I would have thought that would have soured him from ever joining the craft. Instead he located our lodge and reasoned rightly that “this cannot be the norm in Freemasonry as a whole”. Well as we spoke about things he relayed that he would be shipping out to Iraq in January. Since I was also in the gulf back in ’91 this piqued my interest as well.

It still bothering me today, what I had heard from the candidate last night. I can’t help but think that something has gone really wrong in that other lodge. I know all lodges must have some petty issues that go on between the members and alike but to neglect a candidate, seems un-masonic. After all had gone home the Master and the Sr. Warden and I stayed and discussed this a bit further. We really like the gentleman we’d spoken with and would really like him to become a member of our lodge. Well that will be voted on at the next meeting and I hope we can help bring this candidate to Masonic Light.


The other two gentlemen I had spoke of meeting in the parking lot turned out to be brothers from the now defunct South Side Lodge out of Patchogue. This is the lodge where a member was tragically shot during a Masonic club initiation. From what I was told that all members of that lodge were suspended from Masonry after that incident and the Lodge’s charter revoked. Well apparently most of those members were re-instated and have joined other lodges in the area. These two brothers decided to join our lodge and having met spoke with them I believe they will feel welcome at our lodge and I would be pleased to see more of both of them.

The one day Master

In investigating Freemasonry, before I petitioned the lodge for membership, I had read a bit here and there about “one day wonders” or “one day Masons”. I have to admit I would have considered it had it been offered to me. In previous blogs I had written that once I’d decided to pursue membership I had asked my Pastor if he knew any Freemasons. He had and as I previously stated I was surprised to learn who it was. It turned out to be a gentleman who I’d spent many a weekend working alongside in setting up all sorts of church events an afterward having a beer with when the work was done. After I was raised and began to get involved with lodge events I always wondered why he never before even mentioned the Freemasons to me. Just for the record he still has not given any explanation other than I didn't know you were interested.

In subsequent conversations over the past year he relayed to me that his father was a Mason and I believe so was his grandfather. My friend and sponsor, I was surprised to find out had only joined about 5 or 6 years prior. He also relayed to me that he was a “one day Mason”. He spoke about this to me and a few others after a meeting while cleaning up the coalition hall. I found it a bit odd that with the family tradition in Freemasonry that he would have opted for the one day class. Still very new to Masonry I didn’t really grasp the significance of it or the debate around it.

Since that time I have been a faithful student of Freemasonry and I have endeavored to learn all I can. I had come across several references to “one day Masons” and the arguments pro or con and the debates about should we or shouldn't we. The debate that has been sparked about the “one day wonders” as opposed to traditional ritual seems to pop up every few years due to what is perceived as declining membership. Well my humble opinion may not be as weighty as others who have spent a lifetime in the Craft, I have one nonetheless. In my case my brother and friend had his legitimacy challenged by other “older” brethren early on. In one instance an ‘old Past Master’ had made some scurrilous comments to this brother on more than one occasion. Finally after a year or two in the lodge the new brother had had enough. And in a stern voice he looked him in the eyes and set the record straight. He stated unequivocally, “Tom and I went thought the one day class together and we have been at almost every lodge meeting and almost every lodge function since we joined the lodge. How many of the traditionally raised brothers since we joined can say the same thing?” The old ’Past Master’ realized that he was right and never made another comment again and the two have become great friends and have a mutual respect for each other.

Our lodge’s next stated communication will revolve around a “brother bring a friend night”. I believe we could use more membership or at least more current members showing up and getting involved. This theme is also echoed in the church I worship at. So I don’t think Freemasonry is fading out or is no longer relevant in society. I believe that most just don’t have the time.

As an aside I was driving in my car last year around Thanksgiving time and I had the radio on and a commercial for a church was played. Since this seemed unusual my ears perked up a bit. The commercial was an invitation to worship at a church not too far from my home and the ‘pitch’ was that the service would not interfere with watching the Sunday football game and you can enjoy your beagle and coffee during the service. Believe me I wondered if I had just heard that right. After some thought I came to the conclusion that now even God was competing for time with PTA and soccer games and alike. I am not the best Christian in the sense that I sometimes skip Sunday services in order to catch up on my loafing hobby. But my family and I do try to be good Christians in practice.

In the end, after experiencing the ritual of all three degrees the traditional way I would not, given the choice, have it any other way for me. In a way I feel bad for my brothers and my friend who really never experienced the beauty of it. But in the final analysis all is right with the universe. The brother and friend mentioned above is now the Master of my lodge and has, as he has in the past, done a great job so far and I cannot wait to see what GAOTU has in store for him for the rest of his term. The other brother who also was a one day wonder is now the Senior Warden and I expect will make an excellent Mast next year. One day Masons can be great Masons and Brothers or can come once or twice a year and very little heard about. Whether you do it traditionally or not makes no difference in the type of Mason. As I have been told in many undertaking in my past as well as Masonry; you get out of it what you put into it. I accept that as an axiom.

Brothers, Meet on the level…always

Reading, reading always reading

I have been reading quite a bit. Mainly the books that are mailed to me from the GLoNY Livingston Library. I have also read one or two that are not on the reading list just to get a feel for what else is out there, in print anyway. I am working on “The Builders” right now and will have it finished before the middle of the month. When not reading from the library I am scanning the web for information. I came across a blog from a brother in Georgia that has me perplexed. The brother who writes the blog is a younger brother and has only been in the Craft for a few years. He states he was very active within his lodge and the brothers in is lodge we happy that he was so. At some point things seemed to go terribly wrong for this brother. The description of events that he relates seems almost too fantastic to have happen the way he has written them.

The first event was that, as he was webmaster, he posted information about another brother that had been convicted (plead guilty to) a serious crime involving a child. Then when asked to remove the information he refused. I should say that at this time I believe he was the Junior Warden of his lodge. Now I am still a fairly new Mason and only hold an appointed position in my lodge and by no means and expert on Masonic etiquette or Masonic jurisprudence, although I am the webmaster for our lodge (lead by a committee). That being said, I would not have posted the information on the web site of the lodge until after getting the approval of at least the Master of the lodge and the Senior Warden. Even if I thought, as this brother did, that I had the right and obligation to do so.

The crime that the convicted brother had perpetrated in at least my opinion is one of the most heinous you can commit short of murder. This is doubly true for a Mason. In the end the brother also was brought up on Masonic charges and there was a hearing in the lodge and he was expelled from the fraternity, as is right, if the brother blogging the story is in fact relating the story truthfully.

As a result of all this the brother that reported the story was made to feel very unwelcome in his lodge. I realize that his zeal for his new found place in the fraternity drove him to want to stand out and show the brothers that he could make a contribution. I have that same zeal or enthusiasm for Masonry. The problem however is that I know I have to temper my zeal with respect for those who have gone this way before me. As Geddy Lee of Rush sang, “He knows changes aren’t permanent, But change is.” All people I have ever met in my life have had or expressed at least some resistance to change, some more than others. As a newly raised brother I would not assume to try and change Freemasonry to fit what I thought it to be, even when I reach twenty years. We should however make sure Masonry is what it was intended to be, the gentle Craft. Sometimes it is not about the individual it is about the group as a whole.

Now the story I am relating is written by a brother (?) of a lodge in the State of Georgia who seems to be aligned with or at least sympathetic with the expelled (suspended/ demitted) Masons who formed the Grand Orient of the US (previously the Grand Lodge of America) or GOOFUS. I have done some cursory investigation and found Bro. Ed King’s page here to be very informative as to the events and history surrounding this escapade. I have to admit that while reading the blog in question I was concerned that this kind of disharmony could exist in a Masonic Lodge. As I dug just a little deeper I did find that it did indeed, but to my relief it seems to be centered on a dozen or so people.

I asked to join Masonry only after some research and personal investigation. I found the history and moral teachings to be sublime. I will keep reading and learning and I hope that the individuals that have been making such a ruckus will find what they are looking for. For it certainly is not Freemasonry. Over the 300+ years that Freemasonry as existed or evolved, of course there have been upheavals and scandals. As with any large organization, unfortunately this will happen. It’s akin to when airplane crashes killing all aboard; the reason it makes the front page of the paper is because it is a unique event and not often seen. As much as I despise that example it seems apropos. Well as I am off to Washington DC on business next week, I am hoping to get some time to see the G. Washington Masonic Memorial and/or the Scottish Rite temple.


Brethren,

Meet on the Level…always..

The Master, the new brother and the Internet

As a newly raised brother in Feb. 2008, I was full of enthusiasm as well as trepidation. I really was not sure what my position was in the lodge, other than "the new guy". I attended every meeting and met and got to know most of the brethren in my lodge and a few from some other lodges. As is turns out the brother I knew best and who sponsored me, was at the time the Senior Warden and would be installed as the Master the next year. When he asked me to be his Marshal for that term I happily agreed. I enrolled in the GL library reading program and dove in head first. I wanted to know all that could be know about the Craft and it's history. What would I be doing? What was my place in the lodge. Being the "new brother", I was cautious about what I said and to whom, mainly I just listened.

One question I could not seem to avoid was; how come our lodge does not have a web site? The best answer I could get was; I don't know. Well this seemed to me and easy fix as I have done a few in my time. So I felt that here I could at least shine a bit in my lodge and offer my expertise. For the next week or two I crafted a site that I thought looked rather nice. What I didn't know was another brother was working on a site at the same time or before me. When I was told this at the next meeting, I was a little disappointed. I really wanted to do this and make it a light that could be for all to follow.

After a few more weeks I approached the brother who was creating the web site and offered my assistance seeing that the web site had really no usable current info on it. After a friendly discussion we agree to both work on it. After a few more months I still had not been given the admin password to connect to the web server and add content. With much care I approached the brother with who I had had a previous conversation and through the new Master he relayed that he would not have time with his changes in job functions to really pay the web site any attention. I suggested to the Master that we form a web site committee and include the current group to steer the web site. I dusted off the old design I had come up with months earlier and re-activated the IP it was attached to and presented it to those who were mention previously.

Well in the end I was pretty much left to do what ever I wanted. I am not a web site designer per se, but I think I did an OK job. If you would like to see the current site it can be found at www.potunklodge.org. I included the info I wanted to convey but as I am "still un-instructed" atleast fully, I was hoping to get some suggestions or criticisms from from my brothers. I am realizing that this is why we did not have a web site to begin with. For their purposes it really is not that important in the scheme of things. I had though that if Freemasonry were to continue into the twenty first century we as and organization would have to embrace new methods of communications and technology to interest more of the new generations. I remind you that my career is in IT so this seems like a no brainer to me. I was hoping for a greater response and a real way I could use my talents to benefit our gentle Craft. I am really hoping that this would be a task worthy of doing, in time I hope this becomes true.


Bro. Bill

What happens in there?

When I was a teenager growing up in suburbia, I would often pass an old building on the corner of a main intersection almost in the center of town. It was a large white building with greco-Roman architecture. The words "Masonic Temple" prominently displayed on the front of the building.

I always wondered, what goes on in there?

As I got older and graduated HS, I entered the USAF and was eventually stationed at Castle AFB, CA. I didn't think much on the Masonic Temple I used to pass on my way to school anymore. I had 'important' stuff to do now. I had to train and party, more of the latter and as little of the former as necessary.

As if a reminder from my past I was in a nearby town to the base and I was walking to a nightspot with some friends and we passed by a familiar building. I paused in front of the building just for a moment to capture the image in my mind.

The rest of the night and on and off for the next few years I wondered again, "what goes on in there". Since I was still a very young man of 20 and that since the only picture I had ever seen of a Freemason was and elderly man of about 50 or so, that it was a organization of people who were probably not interested in me. In retrospect I wish I had investigated that earlier. Well I again put it out of my mind and went about my life. Although ever now and then, the imagery and thoughts would come back.

After I left the service in 1991, I bounced around awhile looking from my niche in life. I soon came upon my career in IT of which i will spare you the details. Soon after starting on my career I meet and married my wife of 8 years. After 2 wonderful children and my career going well I was sitting in my den and watching the History Channel, when a show came on called "The Mysteries of the Freemasons". The narrators voice was ominous and foreboding. I watched the program and was once again thinking, "I still don't really know what goes on in there". I turned to the only source of information I could think of on the subject, the Internet.

Many weeks went by as I poured over the pages I found. The more I read the more I felt i sort of "knew what goes on in there". The time had come to make inquiries. Since as far as I knew I did not know any Freemasons, I decided to ask someone who might know one, the pastor of my church. Since some of what I had come across on the net were people who were dead sure that the Freemasons either controlled the world, worshiped Satan or both, I wasn't sure how a man of the cloth would respond to this request. I did however also find that Masons are urged to attend church regularly, so I took the chance.

When I next saw my pastor I started a conversation and had it all planned out as to the tact of my approach on this subject. After a few words however I just blurted it out. " Ken, do you know anyone in the church that is a Freemason?". To my astonishment he replied that yes he did know of at least on person. When he told me I was surprised to learn that it was a man I had worked side by side with on an number of church functions and we have spoken to at many meetings. When I got home I opened my file cabinet and got out the church phone list and gave him a call.

While talking with him he relayed to me that the lodge was having a "brother bring a friend" night in about 2 weeks. I was looking forward to attending.

When the night finally arrived I drove to the lodge and open the door and stepped in. I was greeted by my friend and soon to be brother after a few minutes. I was led into the lodge room with a projector and a screen set up. Other brothers in the lodge were sitting around in chairs talking quietly. Another brother who was introduced as the Secretary of the lodge spoke a few words and we watched a short video produced by the grand Lodge of NY. When the night was over I was convinced I would like to be involved in an organization such as this. Everyone I met there seemed genuine and welcoming. I filled out my petition and handed it to my friend from the church for his signature and then to the Secretary.

About 2 weeks later I was informed that my petition had been accepted and I would be scheduled to receive the 1st degree soon.

There are few things in this world I regret having done or not done. Suffice to say requesting a petition to join the fraternity was one of the ones I regret having not done sooner.

In the end I learned that "I knew what went on in there" since it was in my heart all the time. But more on that another time...