MasonicMinute.com
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Posted at: 12:19 pm As the SD is to the WM…as the JD is to the SW…as the SS is to the JW…each pillar officer in our Lodge has his “Right-Hand Man”. I never thought of this till I was setting-up my appointments for the officers in my Lodge. I guess I never paid that much attention. But if you look at the structure of each Blue Lodge, a line of progression, coupled with the physical placement of the officers in the Lodge, makes for a very tidy and thorough way to cultivate leadership and make a Lodge thrive. Taken to its functional end…it is the incoming SD that ought to have a heavy voice in appointing the JS. Why? Well, when elected to the South, the JS will move to the SS position. As that man progresses, the other one does also. Let me use an example with names to illustrate my point. Aaron is the WM elect of the Lodge. At his side in the West is Adam…the JD. In a perfect world, Aaron and Adam would have had a similar relationship last year when Aaron was the JW and Adam was the SS. Get it? So now that Aaron is going to advance to the East, Adam is going to become the SD. So Adam, expecting to be in the South next year, should help Aaron select the man who will be sitting at Adam’s right when Adam ascends to the South. In the meantime, Bob, the JW who is going to move to the West, had a part in selecting Ben, the SS who will be the JD next year. This pair will then move to the WM and SD positions the following year. And, of course, Chip, the outgoing WM gave Cameron, the SD, a chance to help appoint Carlos, the JS. Now, when Cameron moves this year to the South, he will have his right-hand-man Carlos with him for the next three years! I don’t know why it took me so long to figure this out. But the formula (A+a)*(B+b)*(C+c+(c))= OGL comes to mind. OGL in this equation, of course, means One Great Lodge. The point is this…if the WM works hard to ensure that the SD and JS can work very well together, then the pattern will be established every year. The SW and the JD will be getting ready for their shot in the East, and the JW and SS will be making certain that they are ready to advance by working together on ritual and administrative aspects of the craft. This team approach could be very easily expanded on, and would make for one great officer core where the buddy system can promote teamwork at the most basic level…two men standing as friends. It’s not just about “carrying messages from the WM to……”, the SD also carries-on the traditions, attitudes and motivation of the man who helped put him in the progressive line. The SD, presumably the next in line to ascend to the South, will take a little of the Immediate Past Master with him when he gets there. And the new SS will have worked with both of them as well. Continuity in Lodges depends on personal commitment. If every incoming WM was to take his appointed SD by the arm and let him know that he is glad to have him, and wants his input about whom to appoint as JS…after three years of this the lessons would be an incurable virus of commitment on a personal level. I’d really like to know what everyone thinks about this. Please don’t be shy…comment! |
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September 27, 2007
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Posted at: 5:19 pm Hey everybody, I know I haven’t posted anything in a while but I was suddenly inspired by the public rantings of some stupid college kid, again. With the recent (hilarious yet troubling) release of the video with that kid getting tased at that Kerry forum it has come time for me to vent a little bit more on this board about something that annoys me to no end. It was not the questions about the ‘04 elections or even the fact that he got owned by a bunch of campus security guards that irritated me but rather the same old question about the Skull and Bones came up. Granted this particluar student didn’t mention the Freemasons, but 99.9999998 % of the time they do. Now, I have a slightly different view about the whole Skull and Bones-NWO-Bush Administration-conspiracy theories-secret society-masonic crap than most of my Brethren only because I was in college when I joined, and am fully aware of the crap that is put on the internet in the form of youtube videos, paranoid blogs and in useless student demonstrations or debates. I’ve argued with many a college student who has read one-too-many crappy books and everytime they mentioned the whole secret society thing I’d jump on them like a was a kid with bubblewrap. They would always say “You’re a sheep! Don’t you know about the (enter conspiracy-secret society-and then a President’s here)….? Take in mind I am a Freemason. I never let anyone know I was a Freemason in college, especially not during a debate only because I know that the whole class would’ve come down with explosive diarrhea simultaniously and I would be in a world (or class) of shit. I will tell you what I would tell these college students who have the imagination of a five year old on acid. In regards to all those Masonic Presidents, the realm of influence of the Skull and Bones alumni, the cross membership of other fraternal organizations and organizations such as the Trilateral Commission, and Council on Foriegn Relations, I say to the paranoid college kid SOOOO WHATTTT!! It doesn’t make any difference what college fraternity some guy belonged to when he was 21 and getting wasted on a daily basis with a bunch of other guys. Same thing with fraternal and other professional organizations. These conspiracy theorists, college activists and fabricators of history have created an imaginary enemy with imaginary strings that for some illogical reason reach EVERYWHERE. Now, I really don’t care if someone thinks that the Masons control whatever. When I have told some of these people that I am a Freemason, they say the usuall “well, you don’t know much, you’re not HIGH enough yet”. I then say “well, I am a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason, A Knight Templar, current Warden of my Blue Lodge, a member of two research bodies, etc… Then they scramble for some other reason to discredit me (usually after these kinds of exchanges I realize that I am not high at all, but they usually are and smell like bong water). But I think it is hilarious when I tell the crazy people that we DO control the world. Their face alone is priceless and they usually believe me for some reason. Anyways, my point to all of this is that the usuall suspects of anti-masons and anti-fraternal conspiracy nuts have reached the populous of undergrads who are in search for political satisfaction, involvement, and best of all TRUTH. But, where they go wrong is that they start to form connections that do not and cannot exist (i.e. the whole Politician-NWO-Masonic connection). So, to all the assclowns out there that aren’t happy with whatever you see or read somewhere I commend you on asking questions and questioning the legitimacy of certain policies etc, but once you fall off your rocker and start believing that just because someone carries a card, wore certain letters on their sweatshirt in college, or is a member of an organization with any reverence for antiquity they are controlling the events of your stupid, unfulfilling, meaningless, empty life, that’s when you look like a donkey wearing a dunce cap. They are not the source of your insecurities and shortcomings. You call people like me a “sheep” because for some reason you think you know something I don’t about clandestine organizations, well to me you have less credibility than Mother Goose. So keep fighting the invisible enemy and keep trying to expose the imaginary power grids you have so eloquently made up in your rancid excuse for a brain. Sooner or later you will figure out that whatever time you have wasted on revealing “secrets” and learning “the truth” would have been more productive if you were playing Dungeons and Dragons with sixth graders. The boogyman was never in your closet or under your bed, but now for some reason you think he left your house, went to an ivy league school, joined a fraternity and now seeks to ruin your life, AGAIN!! Man you people are pathetic. But thats okay, I’m a member of a world dominating organization who is aware of anything and everything. I have to go and buy/sell politicians now, maybe start a war with New Zealand, I’m not sure how I want this afternoon to go. I guess I’ll play it by ear. Be sure to watch the news tonight, something bad will happen and when it does you can blame me and my buddies. |
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Posted at: 10:22 am Time, we are taught in the first degree, is an invaluable and irreplaceable resource. Franklin tells us that it is the stuff that our lives are made of. So it stands to reason that time cannot and should not be wasted. In recent weeks, there has been a decline in the frequency and length of the blogging activity on this site. The important factor that we all realize (because we are Masons, and we’re smart) is that the primary authors of this site may be involved in more important activities. To be sure, sharing thoughts with brothers around the world is important work. But as we all know, there is a time for everything. Have you made time for your family recently? Your Lodge? Your “I gotta do that thing I’ve wanted to do all my life” thing? Have you invested your time in yourself? If you are like so many others, you have not. You spend so much time and energy doing the things that you have to do, that you don’t have time to do the things that you want to do. Such is the life of a busy man. But I take you back to that first degree…the night of your initiation where you were introduced to that first and most important of tools. Look back to that ritual. Figure out which was the first tool presented and explained to you. Are you using it as you were instructed? Are you taking command of your life? Or is your life taking command of you? Tonight, I will be at my Lodge playing poker with my brothers. No ritual, no meetings, no discussions about the building or the budgets. We are taking the time to enjoy each other’s company as friends do. Sure, we had to set a date and make other calendar adjustments…but tonight we play. It is our gift to ourselves and each other. It is time well spent enjoying the fruits of our labor and we will enjoy every minute (until the Big Unit takes all of our money…then we all get silly and complain about his cigars and cushy government job). It is the time of your life. Spend it wisely. And never forget that having read this, you have spent a few Masonic Minutes with my thoughts…and for that, I am eternally grateful. |
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Posted at: 6:31 pm One of the principal steps on our winding staircase is Music. Music of the heart, of the ear, of our lives. While we are instructed to appreciate and learn music, many of us do not take the time to simply sit and listen. We don’t give ourselves the time of our lives…to meditate on music. As Masons, we owe it to ourselves to expand our horizons, to search and learn, to become better men. Music is not gaining ground as an appreciated artform in our culture. Good music is a matter of taste, like coffee or wine, that differs from man to man. But Music as a concept, that artform/discipline, is a valuable addition to our lives that many of us choose to omit. Do yourself a favor…listen. A soaring melody or a triumphant march will both stir something different inside of you. Are you worth that extra 10 or 20 minutes? Can you try to sit for a short time and close your eyes while some song or sonata allows you to feel that little feeling inside? It is an exercise that may awake something in you that you lost, or you may not have known you had. Like a prayer (no, not Madonna’s pop hit from the 80’s…I refer to the reverent exercise), meditating on and focusing into music for a short time is a vital part of the development of of a complete man. That’s why Masons are exposed to this in our teachings. So, I encourage you to consider Music…and enjoy your time with your soul. |
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Posted at: 10:51 am Masonry, that progressive moral science, teaches us about our Craft in stages. It is a journey that one takes to further light in and through our Craft. Our personal development as Men is not dissimilar. We go through life learning, teaching, re-learnig and hopefully thinking deeply along the way. I often have the privilege of working with young people who may be going slightly askew in their lives. The following is what I tell them about learning and knowing more… “Your little cousins or siblings do crazy things…right? I’ll bet you have a three year-old cousin that eats dirt, right? And by the time you were six or seven, you knew better. You were twice as old and had learned so much about the world, that you no longer ate dirt. In fact, now that you are much older than that, you can see the simple foolishness of that child because of your age and experience.” “Now, fast-forward to today. I am twice your age. I see a young, inexperienced person eating dirt. How do you think you will feel about your decisions when you get to be my age? So…you see why I am telling you this? Do you see that I have the perception of age and experience with you just like you do with your little cousins? THINK ABOUT IT!” Carlos Castaneda, in his book “Tales of Power” brings the concept of knowledge and experience out of the playground and back into our Masonic world when he writes, “There are lots of things a warrior can do at a certain time which he couldn’t do years before. Those things themselves did not change; what changed was his idea of himself.” I always like to see the similarities in different paths, whether they are the warrior’s path or a Mason’s progression through degrees. |
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Posted at: 9:18 am Masons have always viewed death as a next step…a continuation of their journey. We see the skull and cross-bones as a humbling and hopeful symbol of our physical demise, perhaps with a promise of something to come. The Greeks (the ancients, leading into the classical period we know from most writings) saw death differently. They saw a shadow of thier selves (their ’soul’) leaving their body with their last breath, and crossing that great river into Hades. But to them, Hades was not hell. It was a place where you went to kind-of hang-out for all eternity. To be sure, Heroes were cast to the plains of Alesium and lived in a veritable paradise…but even paradise is not a Western concept. Paradise is a Persian word…it means garden. So our own attempt to be good and die well really is only an attempt to re-enter that garden from whence we came. (am I mixing-up too many stories here?) Anyway, the point here is to deliver a quote from Carlos Castaneda…it is a message from his mentor, the Yaqui Shaman don Juan Matus. “Death is our eternal companion. It is always to our left, an arm’s length behind us. Death is the only wise adviser that a warrior has. Whenever he feels that everything is going wrong and he’s about to be annihilated, he can turn to his death and ask if that is so. His death will tell him that he is wrong, that nothing really matters outside its touch. His death will tell him, ‘I haven’t touched you yet.’ This lesson is really like most lessons regarding Death. They are not lessons on how or why to die…but about how and why to live. |
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Posted at: 12:40 pm I have heard from a few young men in my short time blogging. Many of them are ‘interested’ in Masonry, but their interests are driven by many things…not the least of which is the stuff they get off of the internet. You know who I am talking about. They read, research and use their intelect to try to discover what Masonry is about. Unfortunately, the internet is one of the last places where ”Masons-in-waiting” will discover the truth about the Craft. An example: recently I heard wind of a young man who went-out and found the meanings for various little codes that I have used in some of my blogs; VSL, S.A.O.T.U., and others. This young man is intellectually curious, has a strong sense of his own faith, and does not want to get involved in an organization that will compromize his own spiritual background. The Dome, for those of you who do not know, is not one man (although there is one guy who has used that screen-name). I refer to The Dome, in this blog, as all of those who keep searching for a justification to petition a Lodge. They want more out of life than ESPN and Spike TV have to offer. They are looking to see if Freemasonry will blow them away and help guide them along the path of manhood with solid lessons and secure frateral relations. Before I go further, I must reiterate one thing…THIS IS NOT AN EFFORT TO RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS!! There, that’s done, now on to the substance. Fear: The Holy Bible on the Altar in Masonic Lodges (in the US) is an actual Bible. Truth: While it is a Bible, Freemasonry does not promote or require that a person practice a particular faith. The Bible on the Altar is a SYMBOL of each of our individual faiths. It symbolizes the Volume of Sacred Law (there’s that VSL thing) that each brother adheres to while practicing his faith. Our immediate Past Grand Chaplain is a very faithful practicing Bhuddist and my particular Lodge recently initiated a man on his grandfather’s Tanakh, which was placed on the Altar for his initiation ceremony. It is not unusual for more than one VSL to sit on the Altar. We are not a religion, despite the moanings of many ignorant critics. Fear: Freemasonry rules the world. Truth: In the US, each State has its own Grand Lodge. The Grand Lodge is the Supreme Masonic Authority beholden to no other. In fact, in 2006, the MWGrand Lodge of Arizona recognized a Grand Lodge in Europe, and later found some irregularity…so we rescinded recognition in 2007. You see, it’s like a whole bunch of Grand Lodges with no central global government. Independent minded men created this system. In my State, our Grand Lodge was created by several Lodges who were originally chartered in other States first. Many countries have their own Grand Lodges (France has at least two), but each other Grand Lodge can recognize whomever they wish as legitimate (Arizona only recognizes one of France’s Grand Lodges). If this is global domination, then I am the Emperor of the World! Fear: I will be brainwashed and sucked into a crazy cabal. Truth: Smart people can’t be brainwashed. Masonry will expose you to an entire world of thought that you may not recognize at first, but there is no systematic means by which you will learn. Enlightenment ideals are normal, but there is no brainwashing. If you are afraid of new perspectives, new ideas mixed with a tolerant and mature view of the world’s history…forget about Freemasonry, it’s not for you. Fear: I will have to commit too much time and money…I don’t have the resources. Truth: You get out of it what you put into it. Freemasonry is a lifelong learning experience. Honestly, I don’t see why more men don’t commit MORE time and MORE money to the Craft. As I stated in another blog much earlier (See “What the hell do you guys do?” in the July archive), we are re-building the fraternity right now. Our personal commitments are on the rise as we increase the importance of the Craft in our own lives. Past generations, for reasons which continue to elude me, did not meet the challenges of preserving our rich history of learning and teaching. Thankfully this is changing…but again, you get out of it what you put into it. The Dome is interested, but does not want to sit-around and talk about painting a building or awarding bikes to kids who read lots of books. The Dome wants to read books himself, and then spend time with like-minded men who thirst for knowledge. The Dome wants the old Freemasonry, the gentleman’s club, the thinkers’ circle, the path to enlightenment. The Dome wants more than most Lodges are equipped to deliver. The Dome has very high expectations and is willing to work hard…but will demand knowledgeable mentors who are well-read, well-mannered and equipped to deliver the kind of guideance that Socrates, St. Augustine, Voltaire and others could give. The Dome has delivered us a tall order, and wants to go beyond the coincidence of dollar bill art features and Washington D.C. street lay-outs. The Dome recognizes that spiritual growth without real thinking, real reading and real analysis is worthless. Are we capable of delivering? Can Freemasonry meet these high expectations? If we cannot, then I suggest that The Dome look elsewhere. It is true, we are not ready to meet all of these expectations. Not, at least, as a whole Craft. But there are Lodges that are taking the leap. They are building traditional observance rituals and discussion groups, learning and teaching in the old way, opening-up their libraries and dusting-off Pike and scrutinizing his work and that of others. Now is the most exciting time to be a Freemason. We are at the beginning of a Masonic renaissance. The Dome can participate in it, but he must come to the Craft with a pure heart. He must be ready to surrender what his eyes see in favor of what his mind will learn. If he comes to the Craft as a curiosity, he will be rejected. If he comes because he is eager to learn how to become a better man - in all ways - then he might be welcomed. I do not encourage passing interest, split-second decisions or idle curiosity to be a motivator to any man interested. These men will detract time and energy from the Lodge, and they will waste everyone’s time. I also encourage Lodges to be very very suspect of all new petitioners. There are many out there who have no honor, and will join simply so that they may wear the S.&Cs. They are not men we should allow into our ranks. Lastly, I hope that The Dome remains interested, and keeps asking questions. Our ritual refers to a passage in Scripture that could apply to any good and important endeavour; “Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” And after looking and learning, if Freemasonry is not for you, fine. I wish you the best of luck…elsewhere. But if you do want to join, be prepared to answer some serious questions about yourself. Anyone can knock…but WE get to decide who gets in.
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