Thursday, January 24, 2013

George Washington's Inaugural Bible Featured on CBS Sunday Morning

The Bible that George Washington swore his presidential oath was prominently displayed on CBS Sunday Morning. I was fortunate to be at the Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota to be within inches of this founding document. It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I also was able to speak with WBro. Piers, the Master of Saint John's Lodge No. 1, AYM, owners of the Bible. His insights were quite astute. If you have a chance to see the Bible, you will not be disappointed.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Hip-Hip-Hooray!

My wonderful readers,

I am happy as a clam, as proud as punch, laughing like a hyena, yeah, I think that's it. Anyway, tonight is the big night for Corinthian Chapter No. 33. We will be conferring the big degree, the most sublime degree of the Royal Arch, on 10 worthy brothers. It has been a long road but we are almost there.

I am so proud of all the hard work my Chapter has done. All ten will then be greeted into our Cryptic Council on the 16th of February. And perhaps, a Commandery is also in their futures as it is mine.

This is also my last night as High Priest, after a two year stint. When I started, our membership was at 32. Today, we'll have more than 50 companions. All the congrats go to my team of officers and companions who have jumped in and really done a lot to make our Chapter emerge from the doldrums of slumber.

I have most of my parts ready and hopefully, we can all make this a memorable degree. The Royal Arch is my second favorite degree after the Entered Apprentice degree. The lessons and information one gets from this degree will stick with the candidate for as long as he is a Mason. The American Royal Arch degree is chock full of themes that tie together everything that Masonry means and what it stands for.

I am just so proud and I can't wait to see what the future holds for our Chapter. In the words of Stan Lee, "Excelsior!"

Monday, November 26, 2012

Selling Membership in England

I happened to be going through Google News this morning and noticed a terrible, horrible idea. Apparently, one of the Co-Masonic bodies (considered clandestine by regular Masonry) is selling membership as a Christmas gift.

From the article,
The Masonic Christmas Gift Pack costs £80 and includes a tour of the local Masonic Lodge, an invitation to meetings with masons, and – subject to approval by the local Lodge - a year’s membership to the group.
This has to be one of the biggest affronts to Masonic ideals I have ever seen. There are a myriad of problems with this, from dilution of our Fraternity's ideals by a non-group, the idea that Masonry is so cheap that it can be conferred on anyone for Christmas, and a host of other truly terrible things.

Masonry is a transformative experience. It's not something that can be purchased off the shelf. The donning of an apron without earning it does not make one a Mason. It's in your heart, not in a gift certificate.

We, as regular Masons, must protect ourselves from an innovation like this. We must make membership a pinnacle of a man's life not something that he is given as a gift. Masonic membership is something earned, something granted for hard-work. And anything like this will only promote that which we are not, a social club with nothing to offer a man but a name badge.

What do you think? Leave a comment below.

**UPDATE**
For further analysis, head over to Tom Accuosti's Tao of Masonry blog for his take.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Case for Candles

Courtesy of Unizar Lodge No. 347


Brothers,

I've been thinking about the constant tug-of-war between tradition and modernity in our Craft. It's an interesting issue that continues to arise as the modern world outside the lodge and the traditions within the lodge either clash, merge, become accepted practice, or exist yet are ignored. Case in point, candles.

At the beginning of speculative masonry, lodges used candles as the lesser lights. This was obviously out of necessity. The only way one could light a room effectively was using candles as the long lasting and practical Edison incandescent light bulbs would not be invented until the late 1870's. Candles were the thing to use, it was just that simple.

As with all modern advances, the light bulb began to be adopted en masse as Edison and several competing inventors changed the way we viewed light, the night, and time. Of course, this modern advance finally found its way into Masonic lodges.

I haven't found any source material on when most Masonic lodges in my state switched from candles to incandescent bulbs but it must have been very nearly after when the incandescent bulb was invented and mass produced from age of the lamps I have seen. I can't be sure why bulbs were chosen but I wish to speculate. I believe the reason was to save time.

If you've ever seen a lodge with candles and not bulbs, you have probably noticed the biggest difference when lighting the lesser lights. The candle route takes time, at least two minutes for the Senior Deacon to go from candelabrum to candelabrum while a lamp takes, well, a second. Flick. Now the lesser lights are on.

In this case, switching from our old way to light the lesser lights to this new way has not improved the lodge experience. In fact, I'm going to go further and say that the bulbs have done nothing but to remove an important symbol from our lodge.

The lodge visits I have attended that employ candles change me somehow. Both methods of light come from the energy of the sun but only with candles do I sense kinetic energy. Candles, with their dancing flames, placing light in seemingly random sections of the Lodge Hall, changes my experience. The candles encourage action, sharpening my mind in a way a light bulb never could. In fact, I would say, I put no thought into the lesser lights when a lamp is used. None. They are just a perfunctory step to opening and closing.

Tradition and modernity can work together. Lodges can and should have lodge websites. If a lodge wants an organist but can't find one, using a prerecorded track may be okay. These tools allow lodges to accept a changing world without losing everything that Masonry should keep.

Modernity should not force its way in, disrupting what is strictly not its purpose. I can imagine that at some point, a lodge will attempt to use a Kindle, its screen set to "Always On", as a representation of the Holy Bible. I suspect, that some brothers will attempt to record the ritual and have candidates watch a screen, thus, losing that important connection of ritual to self-transformation.

As with all things, we must take care not to lose our traditions. We must always balance why we do things with what we can do after advances in technology take hold. I do believe that we can create a balance, we need only be cognizant and vigilant at every meeting.

What are your thoughts? How do we effectively protect our traditions and accept helpful technological advances into our lodges? Leave a comment below.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Knighthood or Bust




Today I start my first order in the commandery, the Order of Red Cross. As I think some of you may remember, I was hemming and hawing about even petitioning for the orders. I guess I should put my lists down again:

Wants:
To learn about chivalry.
To practice chivalry.
To feel close to my paternal grandfather who was a Sir Knight.
To be an honorable man and true to his word through the lessons of knighthood.
To carry a sword because, well, it’s freakin’ cool to carry a sword.
To learn about the history of early knighthood, and what it meant to be an historical knight.
To present papers on topics of Chivalry.
Don’t Want:
To do an excessive amount of drill.
To join an evangelical Christian organization.
To be a Civil War Re-enactor.
To join a Masonic body that believes all Masons should be Christian.
To swear an oath to harm others of a different religion.
After I thought about it, I decided that my family connection to the Masonic Templarism should win out. My paternal grandfather, Dick Johnson, was Sir Knight with St. Bernard Commandery No. 13 of Austin, MN. I felt that I should see what interested him. My grandpa was a good man and a dutiful Mason and I find as many ways as possible to emulate him.

The commandery I'm joining is Faribault Commandery No. 8 of Faribault. It's a small town commandery but with a lot of opportunities for growth. My degree work is being performed by Damascus Commandery No. 1 of Saint Paul. I want to thank the sir knights there for allowing me to be a courtesy.

I'm excited to see what this next avenue has in store for me. I'll let you know.