MasonicMinute.com
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Posted at: 11:17 pm VOTE BEFORE VIEWING RESULTS!!! …and get a look at the Blog below.
How much are your Dues? (US Dollars per year)
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August 30, 2007
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Posted at: 11:13 pm “Increase our dues.” Those three words are anathema to so many Masons. The issue has been debated in Lodges around the world for many years. The issue will not go away until a reasonable formula is established for setting Dues. Later on in this blog, you will see my proposal for that formula…but before making a proposal, let’s look at the fundamental question; Why do we need dues in the first place? Dues allow us to do what we NEED to do. Pay rent, utilities, taxes (if applicable), per capita (Grand Lodge taxes) and all that other stuff like secretary supplies that must be paid and so forth. Without these essential items, there simply is no Lodge. The following, however, are not voluntary costs…like a VSL for a newly raised Mason, candles for degree work, PM aprons for the junior PM…these are unnecessary costs, from a purely economic sense. Dues, however, are not a purely economic consideration. They let us do all of the other stuff that we don’t ’need’ to do, but those things we ‘want’ to do. For example…four walls and a roof is really all we need, right? Of course it is, so long as there is a door to close and a wooden barrel in the center, we could all sit around on the ground with our legs crossed and still do our thing. But is it not part of our legacy to build the finest temples we can, both in a figurative and a literal sense? The statement above (”…dues…are not purely economic”) is important because dues are an emotional issue more than they are economic. That’s worth repeating - DUES ARE an EMOTIONAL issue. To be sure, you don’t have to pay your dues to be a Mason…right? I mean, we always talk about the guys who are Masons without really knowing it…right? Anybody, after the proper initiation, passing and raising, can pretty-much find the “right” information on the internet and in any library, blog or email folks around the world…subscribe to whatever research society they choose (how many of them check for ‘good standing’ on their perpetual members?)…and continue his personal quest to “Light” without needing a Lodge…right? Wrong. Real Masons attend their Lodge meetings, they support that same Lodge with dues, and they appreciate that you can’t be part of a fraternity on your own. We are NOT “A Fraternity of One.” (I hope the Army doesn’t sue me for this). We are emotionally, spiritually, and geographically connected to that ‘place’ we call home…whether it’s on a highest hill or in a lowest vail…or even in another State. We pay to carry the card. At the present time, most of the brothers I hear from indicate that their dues are laughably low. Some even charge as little as $35 per year for continued membership. While some might not like the exercise, I’d ask you to answer this question…am I paying more for annual dues than for cable tv? How about that cup of coffee twice per week? Smokes? Annual chip-in for Fantasy Football? Why is something SO important…SO life-altering…SO big-of-a-freaking-deal, SOOOOO CHEAP???? What’s your membership worth? Have you ever really thought about it? [Here’s where I get militant…and if you are sensitive and not willing to listen to an opinion that you might disagree with…stop reading.] We should shut up about how great Freemasonry is and put our money where our mouths are. All this talk about the greatest and oldest fraternity in the world…pride…knowledge…spiritual growth…brotherly love…it’s all a bunch of hot-air when each one of us is not willing to fork-out the cash necessary for the organization to live-up to its expectations. There, I said it. Put-up or shut up. We are hypocrites when we proudly blather about our private, men-only exclusive and secluded organization that has a hard time putting a new coat of paint on the walls! Enough with the complaining. We all know that dues need to increase sharply…and we all know that there are plenty of arguments why it should. But just increasing dues for the sake of having more money is as silly and short-sighted as saying we can’t increase dues because of our “poor brothers on a fixed income.” Yeah, right. (How many of those guys go to the Casino once a month and drop a few Benjamins…hmmm?) So here’s the idea. Masonic Grand Jurisdictions ought to think of a way to establish a formula that will 1) be flexible enough to change as the price of things changes, and 2) fix a steady source of income so that brothers don’t have to go around begging and pleading for money with time-wasting fundraisers and other non-sense like that. The Formula should take into account that the Grand Lodge is also going to increase its per-capita tax once in a while, so for starters, each Lodge ought to establish that no matter what their dues are, per-capita is a separate charge (to be added to the Dues bill). The Formula is simple; Annual dues shall be fixed at one percent of the State’s Median Household Income as established by the U.S. Census for Masons between the ages of 30 and 60. Masons up to 29 years old, and older than 60 shall pay one half of one percent of the Median Household Income. Annual dues will not include Grand Lodge per-capita, but said per-capita shall be remitted to the Lodge annually along with Dues. [This formula, of course, would be modified properly for other countries that don’t have the good fortune of having their own U.S. Census Bureau.] So, New Jersey Masons (for this example, we use 2000 census numbers, and the age 30 - 60 bracket) would have to pay $542 per year while West Virginia Masons would have to pay $285 per year. But think of the advantages…think of the simplicity…think of the predictability…no more fighting about dues! A small tight-knit Lodge of about 50 men could easily make ends meet. In Arizona, for example, the Median was $38,537. That means $385 per man per year to the Lodge (if you can’t swallow less than $33 per month, you got problems). If you had 50 men, that translates into $19,250 per year income from dues. I can’t think of a scenario where even a small Lodge could not thrive (with an environment worthy of Freemasonry) with those kinds of numbers! Here’s a real-world example for more illustration. Picture two Lodges, one with about 120 guys closes, and they merge. The closed Lodge buys perpetual memberships for all its members into the new Lodge. Now the total number of members in the merged Lodge is about 220. So the smaller Lodge gets the advantage of numbers right? Wrong. Now the Lodge has LESS paying members who support ALL the brothers from both Lodges (by support we mean building maintenance, food, furniture and all that stuff). Further, lets assume that the annual Dues in this Lodge are $50 per year, and the cost to operation the building, without a mortgage, is about $10,000 per year. At $50 per year dues, it would take 200 dues paying members to run the building. But with less than 100 members paying dues, the Lodge has to struggle each year, with deaths and departures and suspensions, to stay afloat. Now take that same Lodge and increase the Dues according to the formula above. You only need 26 men paying full dues to run the whole operation. 26 men! Wow. Pretend you’re the grumpy (cheap) retiree. Here’s the challenge…take the $50 annual dues, add ten meetings where you donate $10 per meal, random trips to the soda closet/coffee pot at $60 per year, raffle tickets at $50 per year…etc….etc. What does it add up to? About the cost of membership for a 60+ year old Mason in Arizona (under the formula). Dues are necessary. Dues give us the ability to do the things we want to do and the things we need to do. Most importantly, dues allow us to treat each other, and our Craft, with dignity and respect in a setting that feels appropriate for the Great Work of Freemasonry…that is, unless we are not paying enough. Hardship can be addressed. Under the formula, fixed income concerns need only be adjusted once every ten years. These are red herring issues that nay-sayers raise because they are cheap. I love them like brothers…and I respect them enough to be truthful about their attitude. But after all that…here’s the REAL test about our dues: Go to your newest member (or even a prospective member) and ask him what he EXPECTED to pay for dues before we told him how low they were. Chances are, his answer will be near or higher than the formula proposes. Why are we selling ourselves short? |
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Posted at: 3:45 pm Now that I have your attention I would like to impart my own opinion on the whole Satanic-Masonic crap. Since the fraternity has been in my family for at least six traceable generations from two continents I have heard the negative comments and commentary about the Freemasons from the time I was a child. When I did my preliminary research on Freemasonry before I decided to join I read a lot about Satanism, Wicca, Crowley, withcraft and all the other subjects that come up in fundamentalist vitriol. After many hours of research I had no doubt in my mind that I wanted to be a Freemason and I had no reason to believe that Freemasonry has anything to do with Satanism. My sentiments were not strictly ignorant either, I found out WHY and HOW Freemasonry was not Satanic. I was not going to defend my fraternity without doing my homework. My research consisted of reading the Satanic Bible, The Satanic Rituals, and other writings by Anton LaVey and I even sat and had a beer with a practicing Satanist to discuss my concerns. I will first talk about my chat with my Satanist acquantance. I knew this guy from high school and he was your average guy (actually very nice, well read and educated), he worked some complicated sounding financial job and was studying to receive his Masters Degree in English literature. I asked him about the connection if any to Satanism and Freemasonry, and he kinda chuckled when I asked him with the attitude that said “yeah, we always hear something about them when people talk about us”, which is funny because many Freemasons think the same thing when the same question is asked. He knew more than the average Joe about Freemasonry so I didn’t have to explain much to him. He was familiar with the ritual and use of symbolism, but he thought that on a fundamental level the philosophies were too different to be compatible or even comparable. He said that as Freemasons work to better mankind, their communities and themselves through charity, study and good works, Satanists have more of an individualistic philosophy. He said that the Golden Rule applies to Satanism on some level, but so do things like vengeance, retaliation and other more instinctual characteristics. He said that Satanists embrace their animal instincts, not denying that humans are animals like the rest so the thought of keeping passions within due bounds is completely opposite of the Satanist thought of exploring and fulfilling your passions. After a great discussion contrasting our philosophies, he went on to talk about symbolism and he said that the Satanic symbols used in his religion are for the most part exclusive in their entirety, but not individually. He pointed out that pentagrams, circles, triangles and other symbols have a larger historical context than the way they are used by Freemasons or Satanists, but their compilation and integration should be easy enough to distinguish. For his example he used the pentagram which in its most simple form is the same as any other pentagram, but with the inclusion of the Hebrew letters, the goats head, and all the other stuff THEN it becomes a Satanic symbol. The pentagram as used by Freemasons and other ancient cultures was never Satanic in itself. He also noted the fact that Baphomet was a HOAX and the drawing you see all the time (although used by Satanists) was not ever and should not ever be thought to be Masonic in any way. We then discussed ritual and we both agreed that the purpose and elements of the Masonic and Satanic rituals have nothing in common, he referred me to the book of Satanic Rituals and encouraged me to compare the two to dispel any confusion (it turns out many Satanists don’t like to be included in exposes about Freemasonry just as we don’t like being called Satanists, who would have thought). Although we disagreed on our philosophy regarding our obligations to the world and ourselves, we had a very civilized conversation and I felt better knowing that I had heard the opinions of someone who I was not, but is accused of being. He even picked up the bill. Now from the Church of Satan website (taken from the writings of LaVey) I will post some of their beliefs and credos. We all know that brotherly love, relief, truth, wisdom, strength, beauty, faith, hope, charity and all the other facets that make up Masonic philosophy. Now compare those to these: (The Bold type is mine.) The Nine Satanic Statements: 1. Satan represents indulgence instead of abstinence! (Opposite of the Compasses) 2. Satan represents vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams! (Opposite of Faith) 3. Satan represents undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deciet! (Uh, okay.) 4. Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates! (Opposite of brotherly love to ALL mankind.) 5. Satan represents vengeance instead of turning the other cheek! (Opposite of many Masonic elements too numerous to spell out.) 6. Satan repersents responsibility to the responsible instead of concern for psychic vampires! (I don’t really get this one, but there are no psychic vampires in lodge, only the real ones. Just kidding.) 7. Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who because of his “divine spiritual and intellectual development, ” has become the most vicious animal of all! (Masons would say that he has the potential to be the most LOVING animal of all.) 8. Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental or emotional gratification! (Again, opposite of the Compasses.) 9. Satan has been the best friend the Church has ever had, as He has kept it in business all these years! (Although a bit clever, it is clearly opposite of the Masonic sentiment towards faith.) The Eleven Satanic Rules of The Earth: 1. Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked. (Opposite of the Three Precious Jewels of a Fellowcraft.) 2. Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them. (Same contradiction as number one, including elements of the Five Points.) 3. When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there. (Fair enough.) 4. If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy. (Or, you could ask them to leave nicely first.) 5. Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal. (There is no mating in lodge, and no mating signal. That is a super-duper secret sign revealed only to those who have attained the most illuminated title of Awesomely Rad Chiefton of all things Bodacious.) 6. Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is such a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved. (I get the not stealing part and the part about relief, but other than that its a bit confusing.) 7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all that you have obtained. (No magic is practiced in lodge, unless of course a Shriner puts on a show for the kids.) 8. Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself. (Who hasn’t comlpained in lodge? It is the only real Masonic tradition!) 9. Do not harm little children. (This one is actually very good, but Masons would not harm big children or adults either.) 10. Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food. (How about not killing HUMAN animals?) 11. When walking in open terriory, bother no-one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him. (As a martial artist, I know that self defense comes in handy when you are attacked, so I cannot fully disagree with this one although destroying someone is FAR from defending yourself.) The Nine Satanic Sins: 1. Stupidity 2. Pretentiousness 3. Solipsism 4. Self-deceit 5. Herd Conformity 6. Lack of Perspective 7. Forgetfulness of Past Orthodoxies 8. Counterproductive Pride 9. Lack of Aesthetics Contemplate these and see how our Masonic purpose does not apply. The next time someone accuses you of being a Satanist instead of blindly saying “No, I’m not!” you can now use knowledge and reason instead of emotion to back up your claim and provide proof. I would encourage all Freemasons to read up on what people accuse us of being. By us knowing what we aren’t and why, we will be better prepared to address such matters. And remember, reading a Satanic Bible doesn’t make you a Satanist, just as reading the Koran doesn’t make you a Muslim, or reading the Tao Te Ch’ing doesn’t make you a Taoist, all it does is feed your brain and give you a little piece of mind. We are not in junior high anymore and nobody cares about what kind of shoes you’re wearing or what books you read. Let others be ignorant. |
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Posted at: 6:23 pm Wasting time sucks. Driving forever to get to your Lodge can be a problem. Although there are many many issues surrounding this idea…I just wanted to do a little unscientific survey. Tell your friends, and please VOTE BEFORE VIEWING THE RESPONSES OR YOU WON’T BE ALBE TO VOTE!!! Thanks. n
How much time does it take you to get to your Lodge?
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Posted at: 10:11 am Masons have stood for religious freedoms in America forever (well, forever for the US…which is about 232 years). We have always preached that ‘preaching’ (in Lodge) is bad Mojo. We don’t disrespect anybody’s choices regarding how or to whom they pray. It’s the Masons’ way to promote free religious worship and expression. A disturbing incident occurred recently in the US Congress. More disturbing, though, is the reaction to the incident and the distorting our history…OUR Masonic History! We are proud to have among our ranks many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and countless other Men who fought to create this country. The First Amendment to our Constitution, ratified many years after the Declaration was signed, signals the ideas of a secular government insofar as “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Masons were right there in the thick of it, and the principle stated above is one of our Craft’s founding principles as well. In fact, it would be just as correct to say that, “The Grand Lodge shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Right? Of course! That’s what Masonry is all about!! So here’s the set-up. Not too long ago, a Hindu holy man (I don’t know his title, but I know it’s not Preacher or Rabbi) tried to give the opening prayer on the floor of the US Senate. He was interrupted by some very rude fundamentalist wackos (it doesn’t matter what religion they are from…they were rude and stupid to interrupt him) because they didn’t believe in his Way. Can you imagine the outrage of the Senators involved? Neither can I…because there was none. The politicians nearby did nothing to shut-up the wackos and give this guy the respect that each one of us would have given him. But that’s not the point of this blog. It doesn’t matter that nobody reacted to the mistreatment of an honored guest opening the session with a prayer…as sessions have been opened for over two hundred years! What matters is what some of our representatives are saying in response to that prayer… Before I go on, let me make one thing clear. This is not a political blog (I mean, like party-politics…it is inherently political, of course, because it has to do with Congress). This blog is a call to Masons, in order to wake us to the incredibly anti-Masonic sentiment that is overwhelming our country! The Nampa Press Tribune did a story where Representative Bill Sali of Idaho (party affiliation is unimportant), in decrying the prayer (he was speaking against what he called multiculturalism…thinly veiled religious intolerance is what it really was) given by the Hindu holy guy…well, you read the quote: “Sali said the United States was founded on principles derived primarily from the Scriptures. And he said drifting away from those principles could put the country in danger.” Did you catch that? ‘Principles derived primarily from Scriptures.’ Ok Rep. Sali…as a Mason, I’d like to know which scriptures you are talking about? The Vedas? The Koran? The Satanic Bible? How about the Book of Mormon? You see, dear reader…the assumptions and arrogance of Rep. Sali permeate our own biases because we all know what ‘Scripture’ he is talking about. Our nation’s founders, many of whom were Masons, were quick to diminish the ties between the church and the State. They did believe in the S.A.O.T.U., to be sure. I seriously doubt that any of them were anti-religious or atheists. But to claim that our founders based this country on religious principles is nonesense and anti-American. It is revisionist history to put religion at the core of America’s founding…when it was religious freedom that attracted the original colonists in the first place. What’s worse, to claim that a bunch of Masons chose a specific religious text upon which to found the United States is plainly Anti-Masonic. But (you ask) how can it be that promoting the same VSL as a guide to our nations founding, which is the same book on the altar at my Lodge, is anti-Masonic? Masons are taught to follow the rule from that very same book, are we not? Our lectures and ritual are replete with references and reverence for the Holy Bible! AEdifico (I hear you asking) have you lost your mind? By being Masons, our founding fathers HAD to have followed the principles out of that very same scripture…right? Wrong. Here’s why; Masons and other founders lived in a time when the religion and the State acted hand-in-hand. The founders were sons of the enlightenment who knew the dangers of promoting and preserving close ties between government and religious leadership. Many of our founding fathers (and even some of the Masonic ones) were not even Christians! They knew the value of religion to the individual, and honored it. They were spiritual men who understood the value of worship and the importance that our faith holds to each one of us. But insofar as public institutions were concerned, they felt and recognized that religion, regardless of the sect or creed, was dangerous when combined with the forces of government. Otherwise…why did they make the first words of the first ammendment so clear? But the worst thing is not the distortion and implication that our founders were religious dopes who had not an original thought in their heads, and that they had to draw our government’s principles out of scripture (by the way, which sermon was it where Jesus mentioned a tripartite government?). It is bad enough that this politician from Idaho has never read his history, but after he re-writes one of Masonry’s proudest achievements, he makes his version of events a REASON TO FEAR! After falsely framing our nation’s founding principles, Rep. Sali tells us that, “drifting away from those principles could put the country in danger.” Danger?!? What danger? How is my country in danger by drifting away from principles that you just used historical revisionism to invent? Am I that big of an idiot to think that your new history is going to make me less-safe? Rep. Sali…please tell me that you are not creating new domestic enemies by dividing our nation on religious lines! That’s the most anti-American thing a sitting Congressman could do! Re-writing history in order to divide people?!? And doing it in a way that tramples the memory and work of our Masonic founding? Is this guy nuts? Does he think that we are all that stupid to fall victim to his rhetorical stunts? Sadly, there are probably lots of Masons that think the United States is a Christian nation. To be sure, a majority of Americans are Christian of one form or another, so statistically speaking we are a Christian nation. But statistically speaking, most Americans are female also, so does that make us a Women’s nation? A more accurate description (if we are focusing on the principles that framed our nation’s founding) is that we are a Masonic nation. The United States of America was founded during the age of Voliaire and Franklin, Diderot and Russeau. The United States of America, from a historical perspective, is a Nation founded by Enlightenment philosophers and their adherents…not by Christians. They may have been mostly Christian…but those ideas were kept to the individual. The ideas of the Enlightenment, one-man-one-vote, representative government, clearly defined powers and checks-and-balances, budgets and accountability, trial by jury, free expression, clear and respectful debate, the rule of law over all men…none of these are religious principles, they were Masonic in context at the time, and from them our nation was founded. Again, I am certain that many (if not most) of our founders were Christian. But what denomination? Did they follow the Pope in Rome? Anglicans? Lutherans? Puritains? Probably many others as well. But it was not the holy book that bound them together to form this political union…it was political ideas based in Freemasonry! Of course religion was a big part of all of their lives, but they were smart enough to keep it at arms distance when establishing a nation of (all) the people, by (all) the people and for (all) the people. Masonic America should condemn the idea that scripture created America. Men created America. Thinking men who respected differences and united themselves around political principles that allowed each of them to worship as they saw fit…these are the men who created America. These men used (even though some of them may not have known it) Masonic principles to establish the greatest nation that this earth has ever seen! Why would we let our Masonic legacy fall to religious competition or the immature and sophomoric platitudes of the guy who would claim “My God can kick your God’s ASS!!”?!? Why would we ignore the Anti-Masonic (and frankly, Anti-American) sentiment of those who would elevate one religion over the other where politics is concerned? Have we forgotten our obligations? Do we have no courage to decry the idiocy that is permeating our national discourse? No Jew, Muslim or Buddhist is ever less of an American than I am simply because I am a Christian. On the contrary, anybody who claims to be more American because of their faith is anti-American, and anti-Masonic. Our nation was based in reason and our founders thoroughly considered the role that religion should play in politics - a minimal one. We have opening prayers at the beginning of Congressional sessions because no man should ever embark upon any great or noble undertaking without first invoking the blessings of God. This is an appropriate expression of Masonic thought and teachings. We added “under God” to our pledge AFTER we survived a Civil War, WWI, the Great Depression and WWII. And even then, we only added those words to distinguish us from the Atheist Communists - Not to establish this as a religious or Christian nation! Again, Masonry permeates all aspects of American government, and American government is designed to prevent religion from permeating the same. But to distort history, and to de-Masonify this country, in a way that calls people to have inappropriate and unfounded fear of others because of their beliefs, is just plain bad. It’s anti-Masonic, anti-American…and when you think about it…it’s even anti-religious! This blog is going to upset some of our brothers. But what would we expect from mixing religion, politics and Masonry! I just hope that, by pointing-out the rhetorical trick used by that politician to subversively undermine our nation’s Masonic history, I have helped at least one Mason stand for our Craft’s proud history. My goal with this is not to change anybody’s mind, but to help identify why knowing our history and knowing our Craft makes it easier to see past the bull-crap. Religious freedom and free religious expression are under seige in America. Masons should stand-up and, at the very least, take notice. When all is said and done, it is our principles, expressed and executed by thinking members of our Craft, that will save this fraternity, and save this nation. May the S.A.O.T.U bless the U.S.A.! |
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Posted at: 10:02 am It was suggested by a Fellowcraft in my Lodge that we hold the Initiation of our next candidate at midnight. Now, I know that most of you are getting your beauty sleep at that point…but wouldn’t that be a hoot? Imagine getting a letter that says you have to appear at the Lodge on so-and-so Friday night at 11:30 p.m. in business casual attire. You arrive, and everyone there is in a tuxedo or a suit. The whole place looks totally different than the other times you have visited because it is entirely lit by candle light. Even the semi-familiar fellowship hall you were just getting used to has a mysterious glow about it. You are directed to a person whom you already know…the guy that’s going to be your coach…and he says very little to you. At about ten minutes till midnight, the entire group, minus you, goes into the Lodge room. After some time, two men appear carrying long rods and……. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but this seems like a great idea. Keeping Freemasonry fresh and exciting is one of the best ways to energize and motivate the Craft. The problem is, trying to get a big-enough group of men together to arrive at that hour. I know the younger guys would probably get a kick out of it, but what about the others? - Quick Hit #1 is brought to you by brothers who don’t want to read very much, but still like to sit and chat about all things Masonic. - |
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Posted at: 11:24 pm I like to hear people freak-out trying to figure-out why Masonry is not a religion. It’s usually somebody that has a strong desire to find flaws or faults in other people so they can feel better about themselves. What a hoot! As a Christian, I take great umbrage at those ideas. But as a Christian, and as a Mason, I recognize that there are great lessons in the VSL that sits on my personal Altar. So, I decided to go to the little Giddeon Bible that sits at my bedside. For years, I have read through it and once in a while a passage catches my eye. Tonight, I will share some of my favorite quotes and passages out of the Bible…specifically quoting from the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs. (As a side note, this is the bible that I got at the MEPS station the day I shipped-out to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego for Boot Camp. It has been at my side ever since.) Here’s the small print (I’m putting it at the front so nobody can get their panties in a wad about me hiding it!). I DO NOT SPEAK FOR FREEMASONRY!!! I’m just a regular guy who drinks beer and tequila, smokes cigars, glances at hot women (while hoping not to insult my wife), and living the American Dream. I am NOT better or smarter than any of the rest of you, nor am I a prophet, holy-man, seer, diviner, wizard, or any other type who claims to have insight greater than the average person. I am a regular guy who owns a book. So all you fundamentalists, atheists, conspiracy-mongers, bible-thumpers and Jesus freaks can just chill-out. My interpretations below came from my head, not from some robe-wearing holier-than-thou preacher trying to force HIS interpretation down my throat. The way I see it, God gave this brain to me…so I’m gonna use it. And if you disagree with me for religious purposes, fine. This is, after all, America. (so why did I take all that time to qualify my statements?). Jesus tells us in Luke 8:17, “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” I like this one for two reasons…first it teaches me patience. Second, it acknowledges that secrets and hidden things exist, without making any judgments about them. So, my read is that, secrets are like ketchup…they make you wait. Here’s a good one, also from Luke (18:10-14). It describes the very nature of hypocricy and public desire for admiration. In the last verse, Jesus speaks to the one who ‘exhalts’ himself instead of ‘humbling’ himself. Guess which one “will be exhalted.”? Of course, that’s a no-brainer. This is an idea I alluded to in a previous blog about “Public Service….” Take that - Skeeter. At one point during Boot Camp, I found the beginning of Psalm 7 to be especially comforting, it reads, “O Lord my God, in You I put my trust, save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me.” I don’t know why it gave me comfort, but I remember reading it alot…it’s one of my favorites. Along the same lines is Psalm 56 (among others). I have a note in the margin that says “Protect me from my enemies.” I don’t remember why I wrote it, or what I needed protection from at that time. It was either an ex-girlfriend, a cop or Saddam Hussein. The one passage that is by far my favorite comes at the beginning of Proverbs at 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I just love how Masonic that is! It appears to me that what is written as “fear of the Lord” would be a natural reaction to coming in contact with something we do not understand. All humans have a tendency to fear the unknown. Our ‘fear’ (belief in awesome power?) is where we must begin (both our spiritual and Masonic journeys begin with belief in, and acknowledgement of the S.A.O.T.U.)…and only an idiot would leave it at that. So, only a fool would NOT want to know more, and thereby get closer to God. Now, Proverbs is just full of great little passages. I’ll give you a list of the ones I like (you know…if you care to look them up, do it…I’m not going to spoon-feed you.) I like Prov.1:24-29, 2:10-11, 3:11-14, 4:7, 12:1 is fantastic (my version says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.”), 12:15, 14:15, 15:32, and others. So, in the very narrow category of passages I have quoted above, a sermon could be built around the idea that only an idiot wants to remain an idiot. Or something like, God wants you to know more…look…He told you so! But in any event, I don’t think that matters. What matters is that you take the time to look into your own VSL. Not because Masonry tells you that you should, but because most of the VSL’s out there tell you it’s a good idea. Masonry is not a religion…and I would renounce my membership if it ever tried to become one. People looking for religio-masonic connections usually claim to be totally right but they only use small snippits of the book to justify their positions (like I did above). But don’t take my word for it, check-out the great stories that your church probably never talks about. Don’t just find out what that great book has in store for you…but find-out for yourself. |
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Posted at: 12:52 am This is interesting, but this site takes no position regarding the truth of this video. Additionally, nobody here at MasonicMinute.com has verified anything this guy says. Watch the whole thing… |
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Posted at: 11:43 pm Emeraldi’s “G” blog got a lot of responses. Let’s see what you all think about this… Vote here…
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Should the letter "G" be removed from the S&C?
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Posted at: 11:14 pm In his post below (see “…NOT a Corporation.”) Emeraldi hits on an important theme that deserves deeper exploration. Emeraldi writes, “Depends on who you ask, but if you want to put yourself out there DO NOT do it in the name of Freemasonry or your lodge, do it in the name of your community and do it because your community needs it, not because your lodge does.” Now, I would have said it slightly differently, but the spirit is the same. By promoting ourselves, we are selling ourselves. This should offend our basic views of the Craft. Does the little catch-phrase, “We do not recruit…” have a qualifier that states “…directly.”? I have seen and heard too many lawyers (trust me on this one) qualify some pretty solid statements…just so they can weasel their way past the commitment they may have made. Here are some of the things you have probably heard at your Lodge; “We have to ‘get out’ into the community.” “Nobody will know who we are unless they know we’re here.” “The public doesn’t even recognize us anymore.” “How are we going to get new members if nobody knows we exist?” …and so on and so forth. The problem with every single one of these statements is this…they all base themselves on the single premise that we need more members. Our fraternity, and each member in it, should not care what the outside world thinks. We should do good because it is right, not because it is popular. Our basic motivation for public service should come out of our love for the people in our world…those brothers and sisters in our sphere who share our communities, or stories, our places…our lives. Neighbors, clergy, police, teachers, clerks…and even assistant managers at Walgreens…they each deserve our best. We know they do because we are Masons. But when we ask for recognition in return, we betray the spirit of our Craft. When we are motivated to ‘get out’ in the community with our baseball caps and lettermen jackets…we are no better than any politician or snake-oil salesman…selling, selling, selling. Masons should serve the public. We should show-up in force at the local Heart-Fund Ball, the annual Police Fish-Fry, the County Book Fair. We should volunteer and be important men in our community. We should live-up to the promises that we make…and we should do it with the quiet resolve and dignity worthy of our Craft. Unlike my friend Emeraldi, I like the phrase “Making good men better.” However, we should not be shoving it into the public eye in an indirect effort to recruit new members. “Well then Mr. Smarty-Pants…” (I can hear them saying) “What are we supposed to do when our numbers are suffering and the old guys just can’t support the Lodge? Should we just close our doors?!?” Yup. Harsh, I know. But when men do not fulfill their mission for generations, and when those men allow our Lodges to diminish in internal luster to the point of near extinction…their legacy is a closed Lodge. Plain and simple. Many Lodges are flourishing today. They are not those who are raising half a dozen men at an altar made out of a pic-nic table. The flourishing Lodges are taking each one of their candidates very seriously, and they are investing time and energy into each man. Teaching him, listening to him, becoming real friends to that new brother. Flourishing Lodges are taking a one-man-at-a-time approach to the craft. Great Lodges are RETAINING members at high rates. The two concepts work well together. Increase the quality of the men in the Lodge…and their friends and neighbors will want to be around them. Once they become close enough to that brother (who, by the way, is the greatest neighbor on the block) THEY will ask HIM…”So, Bob, what is it that you do every Wednesday night…you’re not at home…where is it that you go?” Character is the best recruiter. Character has been defined as, ‘what you do when nobody is looking.’ Insofar as that is concerned…the anonymity facet of this definition should apply to our membership in the Craft. What do Masons do when nobody is looking? They feed the homeless (on Thanksgiving…standing shoulder to shoulder with others), they visit Veterans and shut-ins (while accompanied by a friend from church or temple), they help build a home (on a hot weekend, standing next to the police chief and a second grade teacher)…and they are just men when they do it…not Masons (at least to the public eye). Advocating for secrecy is not sinister. Advocating for privacy is not evil. Advocating for righteous motivations - that’s Masonic. When we act like better men, we become better men. When we do it for recognition, then we are not better…we’re average. Pandering for public recognition is…well…pandering! MY Craft does not compete with football. MY Craft does not compete with YouTube (although, it is a nice distraction - don’t tell my boss). MY Craft is unaware of any impact that other organizations have upon it. WE are the masters of our own destiny. WE decide what is worthwhile. OUR Craft deserves to be elevated to the high rank that it once held in society…but it will never be so while we stoop to compete with “The Simpsons.” So go ahead and take-out your ad in the local paper. Go ahead and wear your caps and your jackets. Cheapen the square and compass by floating it down the street in some vulgar display of pride. Do what we have been doing for years with so much success! ‘Get out’ into the community! It has worked so well for years…right? Or…you can just be better men all the time. And when other men finally decide that your reputation is worth emulating…they will knock at your door. And when you let them in…the work has just begun. |
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