GM visit

Last week I attended our GM's district visit. The Brothers at Biltmore 446 put on a great dinner before the visit and were great hosts for the night. This was only the second time that I had been to a lodge outside of my mother lodge and I enjoyed it very much. The lodge was opened and business conducted with the business being conducted and news passed on by Most Worshipful Lewis Ledford. I had the opportunity to meet and talk with him before and after the meeting. It was a great honor.

Other than our GM being in attendance there was the Grand Secretary, DDGM, DDGL of district 39 and 40, and even Most Worshipful Past Grand Master of the State of Tennessee Dr. Thomas Boduch. It was a great night with good information presented. If a new brother has the opportunity to attend a meeting with their GM, I would highly recommend it. It will give you a better understanding of what is happening in your jurisdiction as well as meet many new brothers from your area.

I am the one in the middle along with my WM and GM.

Masonic Marker visit

This past weekend my wife and I decided to go hiking off the Blue Ridge parkway for a little while. We are lucky enough to live only about 7 miles from the parkway and visit it often. It is a great place to go hiking or for a picnic. There are some very beautiful spots to visit and you could spend weeks going from Cherokee, NC to Waynesboro, VA 469 miles later.

One place I had never been is just 2 miles off a side road between Waynesville, NC and Maggie Valley, NC. It is the Great Smoky Mountains Masonic Marker. It was dedicated July 11, 1938 and is made up of 687 stones and items sent from lodges all over the globe and from every continent including Antarctica. Leading up to the monument from the east is a series of 3, 5, 7, and  steps with the names of contributing bodies engraved on each.

For more history check out http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/Great_Smoky_Mountains_Masonic_Monument.htm as well as http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/masonicmuseum/Catalogue_of_Stones.pdf for a great pdf file of some more history and complete diagrams of the monument and each stone in it. 

I would encourage each Freemason to visit this marker if they are in the area. This was constructed during a time just before WWII and with the political tension rising. It is a monument to the cement of brotherly love and affection that bonds us into one sacred band of brothers. It is a lesson that we should never forget.

(Click on pictures for larger images)

This reads "The Visible stones of this marker were sent from historic or interesting places by Freemasons of the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Isles of the Seas. To Universal Benevolence"

This last picture is of the ground on the south side of the marker. Look close and you can see the 2 columns on each side of the square and compasses. Right above that is the
 symbols for each of the York Rite bodies. It is very nicely done and beautiful.

I plan on going back soon with a camera other than my phone to get some better pictures.

Why are we here?

Why are we here? More specifically, why did we join freemasonry? What is the motivation that drew us to freemasonry? For some it is creating friendships with a group of men. For others it might be family tradition. Some might even see it as a way to help their business or job. Still others might have joined to help make themselves a better man, husband, and father. And for others it might be some link to the more esoteric side such as alchemy, hermeticism, or kabbalah. Each of us joined freemasonery for our on personal reasons.

This simple question may well be one of the most important we ask ourselves. We need to look deeply within our own person and honestly ask why we joined this society. Is it what we expected it would be? Has our initial impression of it changed? Have we changed?

I know that I have started to actively change the way that I see things and my behavior. I have become a more patient person when dealing with others. I still have a long way to go with that aspect. Freemasonry has allowed me to look at what I value most in my life in a more detailed level. I am still very much a rough ashlar that is working on smoothing myself out. It is going to be a life long journey.

Is freemasonry what I expected? To be honest, I would have to say yes and no. I am not completely sure what I expected when I joined. I did not know anyone to be a mason. After I joined, I found out that there were quite a few people that I knew were masons. I did not know what they did or what happened in lodge. I had done research before petitioning, but there was still some mischaracterizations. What I found was a great group of men that cared for each other and helped each other and the community.

There is a common definition that all of us have probably heard multiple times. Freemasonry is ‘a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols’. It is a group of men that meet and are based on the three principle tenets of  brotherly love, relief and truth. We follow the virtues of faith hope and charity. All of freemasonry is supported on the three great pillars of wisdom, strength and beauty. There is a lot more to it than that as well. There is the beautiful ritual. Within it, the lessons of morality are taught.

Have my views of freemasonry changed? For sure. It is a lot more involved than what I first believed. It is not just a group of guys that meet and talk. They are involved in actually trying to make men better and help the community. One wise man told me that you get out of freemasonry what you put into it. If you are looking for a group of friends, it is there. If you are looking for a way to support charity, it is there. If you are looking to carry a card and not do much, you can do that as well. If you are looking to grow into a better husband, father, and man, the tools are given to you in freemasonry. If you are looking for esoteric meaning and philosophical thought, it is there.

What I am trying to say is that Freemasonry is a lot of things. What one man receives might be something completely different that another. Each of us gets out of it what we want. We can be as involved as we want or not. It is up to the individual. I tend to think that you should be involved to the best of your ability if you are able.

If you are a Freemason, I encourage you to honestly answer these questions to yourself.
Why did we become a Freemason?
Is it what we expected?
Has our impression of freemasonry changed?
Have we changed?
Why are we a Freemason?

If you are thinking of petitioning a lodge, research what freemasonry is. Talk to people that are masons. Call a local lodge and schedule a visit. Ask questions. Most of all, keep your mind open. There is a lot of false information out there.

Scottish Rite meeting

This past Thursday night I was able to attend my first Scottish Rite meeting. It was very interesting to see the ritual done. It is similar but different to that of the blue lodge.

We had a class for the Master Craftsman program before the meal and it was very interesting. I would highly recommend this program to any member of the Scottish Rite. We spent about 40 minutes going over a powerpoint presentation on the history of freemasonry and the Scottish Rite.  It was very interesting and informative. The more I learn about the history and ritual, the more interested I get.

We had a meal with the brethren of the lodge and it was a great time of fellowship. I got to spend some time with brothers from my class and exchange notes of what we have experienced. There were 2 of us in my class that attended a "Friends Dinner and Auction" put on by our valley the prior weekend. I did pick up a beautiful 14k white gold ring there but was outbid on some other things.

I am considering becoming a member of the Knights of St. Andrews. This is a group within the Scottish Rite that helps out a lot. They basically do the meals and cleanup for each meeting. They also help out with the reunions and degree work. This would be an opportunity to serve and help out. I live less than a mile from the lodge building and can do things there that some of the brothers that live further away can not. I am not sure yet if I am going to join now or wait a while. Either way, I would be doing many of the same things anyway so it will not add much to my time.

School of instruction

This past Saturday there was a district wide school of instruction. It was presented by our Deputy District Grand Lecturer (DDGL). It was an instructional period on the ritual and dealing with the finer points. There were people from most all of the lodges in our district and I was able to meet many brothers that I had not yet had the pleasure. It was only 5 hours long but covered all of the degrees. It is interesting to see how others do things compared to how we do them in our lodge. All said and done, it was a very interesting day that taught me a lot about how and why things are done the way they are.

In the Chairs

I just got back from lodge where I was installed as the Junior Steward. I am taking the place of a brother that needed to resign his position. He is away at college and graduating this Saturday. He is getting a teaching degree but is unable to find a job. He is going to be joining the US Army instead. Our WM wanted me to take his place so I stepped up for the remainder of the year. This should be a fun position.  I have been filling in since being raised anyway. 

Basically the duties of the stewards in the lodge is to provide for the comfort of the brethren. That means they are the cooks and such. We do not do meals before each meeting and do light snacks afterwords. The only time we do meals is before a third degree and that is usually provided by one of the brothers. In that case it is the stewards responsibility to set up and clean up afterwards. Most brothers in the lodge help each other out with this.

I am hoping that this summer we can do a BBQ where we do a few shoulders or hams for the brothers. I love to cook pig. It would be good to do some things like this outside of lodge meetings just to hang out and socialize.

I am looking forward to the coming years in my journey east. It is a big commitment to take a chair if you go all the way through. It is also a great honor that I do not take lightly.