The Tao of Masonry

It has been at least a dozen years since Friendship Lodge hosted its own “Lodge at Table,” and even though the members are regular visitors (and helpers!) at other functions, WM Jim Sinclair decided that this was going to be the year that we would have our own.

WM Jim wanted to have some kind of theme to the dinner. Being proud of his Italian ancestry, he wanted to make that part of the theme, but having Italian food? Gosh, don’t Masons already eat enough macaroni and cheese or ziti with sauce? The answer soon became obvious: A Roman theme! And what better to reinforce the theme idea than to ask guests to dress for dinner… in togas ?

So the past week found a dozen different Masons wrestling with old bedsheets and bits of fabric, while the esteemed WB Richie took care of the menu. Ceasar probably didn’t eat pasta, but it’s quite possible that he ate freshly prepared vegetables, eggs, olives, chicken, lamb, pork, cheese and fruit. Oh, and in veritas, he would have had vino as well.

Roman Table Lodge Click to see the online photo album

When I got there, the food was cooked, and WB Richie was preparing the dishes in his typical artistic fashion. I found the rest of the officers upstairs trying to get dressed, assisted by several wives and girlfriends who had shown up earlier to help in the kitchen. I’m happy to see that in some ways Friendship is becoming a nice hang-out spot for the brothers, and glad that their partners feel at home when they come down.

I noticed that it seemed to take much longer to dress the officers in sheets than it does to dress them in tuxedos. More ironic, too, because there is a hell of a lot less material in a sheet. On the other hand, most of the brethren managed to be fairly well wrapped. Interestingly, both WB Jim and I dressed alike, the both of us wearing tunics with purple togas draped around it. I didn’t actually use a sheet, my outfit was the result of a half hour at the local fabric store and another few minutes of my wife working up a few stitches on her sewing machine. I was amazed at the number of “toga party” hits I found when web searching, and was able to find quite a few tips on wearing togas – almost none of which worked perfectly.

And let me tell you – it’s dang near impossible to drive in one of those things.

Anyway, visiting brothers from Sequin-Level Lodge showed up to join the festivities, so we closed the doors and opened the lodge for the first of what we hope are many more Table Lodge functions.

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Well, we pulled it off.

On Saturday, March 29, a dozen and half officers from the eight different lodges of District 5 managed to put together a very nice FC degree in the auditorium of the Masonic Health Care Center in Wallingford.

Anyone who has ever seen the bedlam which accompanies a normal degree rehearsal can only imagine what our single rehearsal was like the week before the degree. Well, that’s not fair – since half the people didn’t show up, the confusion in the temple wasn’t anything like it could have been, I’m sure.

On Saturday morning, several of the brothers met at Friendship and piled the officer’s stations, jewels, aprons, and the movable set of stairs into RWB Gary Arseneau’s and Senior Steward Kyle Charette’s pickup trucks. WB Ted Hasty, the poor guy who coordinated this event was already at the auditorium, moving the chairs and rearranging the room. By 10:45 am, everything was in position.

Which was perfect timing for my arrival at 10:55.

Apparently, WB Ted was a bit antsy about the event, and got there very early just to make sure that things were going to work out. He’s obviously my Bizarro world twin: he shows up as early as I tend to show up late. Oh, and I think that Ted has a reaction to the red kryptonite.

After the room was set up we were treated to lunch in the MHA cafeteria. I declined, owing to a traumatic lunchroom incident in my childhood involving spaghetti, soy meatloaf, and canned wildebeest – the details of which are best left to the imagination. But shortly afterwards, several of us took a small tour of the Ashlar Village facility, just up the hill from the hospital. Ashlar Village is a small community having a mixture of independent and assisted living buildings. We took a look into the newly remodeled main building. “Newly remodeled” is perhaps not the best term, and for the last several years it seems to be under a new plan called “constant remodeling.” I think that the facility changes every month. One of the highlights, though, was the small lodge room that has been built on one of the basement areas. It hasn’t been used for any official purpose, however as you can see from the pictures it’s had some unofficial uses.

By the time we got back, other people started showing up: officers from other lodges, several interested onlookers, and eventually, a few brothers from the hospital itself. Personally, I was a little disappointed at the turnout – only eight brothers from the hospital and nearby Ashlar Village ended up visiting. But that disappointment was mitigated by learning that one brother had not been to a lodge in over 40 years, and another had been hoping to see a degree for several years, but had no way to travel. Four of our guests were in wheelchairs, one had a walker, and another had a cane. One brother happened to pass by me heading down the hall and called out “What part are you doing, sonny?” I slowed down to talk to him and keep him company on the walk down. After assuring him that I really did not need to borrow his ritual book (why do some of the old timers read the books while following the degree? Self-appointed quality control inspectors?) he told me not to walk with him because he was shuffling along rather slowly and he didn’t want to hold me up. “I’m pretty sure I’ll make it by one-thirty!” he called after me as he inched along the hallway.

Click here to see the rest of the photos

The degree itself was a pleasant affair, made interesting because we had one candidate from Sequin-Level and one from Unity. Being a Fellowcraft degree, Friendship brought along their stairs. Yes, we have a set of spiral stairs that appear to have been built in the 50s; they disassemble for storage, so we were able to fit them into the back of a pickup and haul them down. Some of the visitors who had never been to Friendship spent some time testing them for strength; but we’ve never had a problem. I fear, however, that we’ll need to make some minor repairs, simply because age and knocking around in a closet every few months is taking it’s toll on them.

The officers performed admirably and the candidates had a very nice degree, made even more memorable by the fact that parts were done by officers from eight different lodges. Even the “Staircase Lecture” was broken up into several parts to allow the lodges to take a more active role.

On the way home, most of us wondered why we didn’t do this kind of thing every year. By the time several of us had driven back to Friendship to help unload the furniture, we’d resolved to have another District degree for the residents of the hospital for next year.

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For those 19 readers that I have in Connecticut, there will be a Fellowcraft Degree at the Masonic Hospital in Wallingford on Saturday, March 29 at 1:00 pm in the auditorium.

The purpose of the degree will be to allow Masonicare residents who can not normally get out to attend a degree. The various lodges from the 5th District will have different officers take the chairs, and we expect that several candidates from the 5th District will be passed.

We drew names positions out of a hat at a recent Blue Lodge Council (our periodic District meetings), and came up with this mix of positions:

Worshipful Master: Valley Lodge# 36
Senior Warden: Sequin-Level #140
Junior Warden: Unity #148
Senior Deacon: Friendship #33
Junior Deacon: Frederick-Franklin #14
Senior Steward: Silas Deane #147
Junior Steward: Village #29
Chaplain: Evening Star #101
Charge: That egotistical District Lecturer.

Several of the lectures are going to be split up amongst various other officers in order to have a good representation of the lodges in the 5th District. The degree is being coordinated by the already overworked Ted Hasty, the Associate Grand Marshal for the northern part of our district. Anyone who remembers that all lodges have their own little quirks and “traditions” can well imagine the amount of aspirin that WB Ted is going to need in order to coordinate (and accommodate) eight separate lodges.

Some of us will be showing up at the hospital at 10:00 am in order to transform the auditorium into something that resembles a lodge room. Hope to see you there!

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The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur because of all the family visiting, people to transport to and from airports, phone calls, and the assorted arrangements that one makes when a family member dies.

I visited my grandmother at the hospice section of the hospital where she had been checked in. She was tired, but alert; we joked about the advances in hospital technology since she had been a nurse in the 1940s. She offered me a cookie, and after an hour or so decided that she wanted to take a nap. Less than a week later she was moved to a nursing home. My wife and I drove out to visit, but she was sleeping. I stayed away for the next few days, having come down with one of those flus that’s been making the rounds. Three days later, she passed away.

She was 95 years old. She died peacefully in her sleep, in a warm room surrounded by trashy romance novels, jigsaw puzzles, and loving family members. We should all be so fortunate.

But that’s not what I’m writing about.

The funeral was almost a week later. In any group of people in which I am present, you’d come out pretty well if you had bet on me to be the one person who wasn’t following the directions. I pulled into the visitor’s parking at the funeral home, which means that I never signed in for the automobile procession, had my name logged in, etc. As it happens, this allowed me to be the first to leave the funeral home and head for the church, several blocks away. I took a turn, drove halfway down the block and something out of the corner of my eye made me slam on the brakes.

If you were the soccer mom in the minivan behind me, I’m really sorry about that.

I had happened to catch sight of the familiar square and compasses on a sign as I drove down the street; I was surprised because I hadn’t known that there was a lodge in this town. Just a few weeks earlier I had been at a lodge in the next town, in a huge, old building. This lodge, just across the river, was a complete contrast. A small, unassuming building in a residential neighborhood, with the S&C prominently displayed. I’ll have to stop in sometime.

But that’s not what I’m writing about, either.

I pulled into a side parking lot of the church, and waited in the cold for the hearse to show up. After the family had gathered, we opened the back of the car and brought the casket out to trolley and wheeled it through the outer doors of the church and waited while the other family members filed past the casket and into the pews. We then wheeled the casket up toward the sanctuary.

It has been some years since I’ve been to a Roman Catholic service, probably since before I joined the fraternity. The church was done in the architecture more common after the 1960s – open and airy, almost giving the impression that the services were taking place outdoors. But it was the imagery on the crucifix – an ornate cross carried by one of the assistants – that caught my eye.

The crucifixes that I remember seeing when I was younger tended to be thin strips of wood, supporting a small sculpture of the crucified Jesus. This version was made of wide sections, with Jesus painted in the typical crucified manner: arms outstretched, head hanging down, blood on his side.

But that’s not what caught my eye. I had never seen – or at least, had never noticed – imagery around a crucifix. This one had at the bottom (under the picture of the cross itself) a skull atop what appeared to be a small pile of bones. While Connecticut Masonry does not use the skull and coffin in the ritual, it’s certainly familiar to any Mason who has seen pictures from other jurisdictions.

Looking up, I saw on the left side of the cross-piece a stylized picture of a crescent moon. This was matched on the opposite side by a stylized picture of the sun, complete with a number of radiant streamers. Both of these pictures would have been immediately recognizable to any Mason in Connecticut who has ever carried a Deacon’s staff. The likeness was unmistakable.

But there’s more.

At the very top of the cross was a large equilateral triangle. Inside the triangle was a dove, poised head downward. The wings, however, were partially outstretched and bisected the upper sides of the triangle, passing, or perhaps, breaking through the sides. The wings angled upward in such a way that if you had drawn a line from wingtip to the head and up to the other wingtip, you would have an angle approximating 90º.

Just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, at some point in the service I leaned over to my 12 year old daughter. “Check out the symbols around the cross by the casket,” I whispered.

It took her about three seconds. “That’s a Mason thing, isn’t it?” she whispered back.

Okay, so it wasn’t just my imagination – the setup had vaguely Masonic undertones.

As I listened to the priest describe the significance of the white shroud, the flowers, and the various other items around the area, my mind drifted off to wonder how our two organizations managed to develop the symbols that they
did, and why we had similar – though not necessarily identical – explanations for them. It led me to wonder if the semiotics – the underlying symbology itself – wasn’t based on some deeper or older meanings, meanings of which we may be currently unaware. Or perhaps, meaninngs which have passed the threshold of awareness because they are such a basic part of our cultural memes.

But that’s not really what I’m writing about.

Driving from the church to the cemetery, we passed a well-known local landmark; a statue of one of our Revolutionary War heroes mounted on a horse with one foot raised. I reflected on the folklore which suggests that one foot raised means that the subject was wounded in battle, while two legs off the ground meant that he was killed in battle.

The service at the cemetery was very brief, perhaps owing to the raw, damp weather and the forecast of snow. Several of the family members tossed rose petals into the grave.

My sister rode with me on the way back home, and we passed another well-known local statue of a famous area resident who had lived until a ripe, old age in a nearby city. He was on a horse with both legs off the ground.

But that’s not what I’m writing about.

My sister stayed with us overnight in order to better catch an early flight out. Although we had eaten in the afternoon, we decided to have a little snack. She put some bread into our new Italian-designed toaster-broiler-convection oven. She spent some minutes fumbling with the buttons, until I showed her the combination that would work: the one that looked like a stylized sliced section of a loaf and the other one that had wavy lines, presumably to represent heat. Very easy to follow, if you know what you’re looking for.

Sis doesn’t get out to Connecticut all that often, so we spent some time chatting, trying to catch up with each other’s lives. She’s less active with her church than she used to be, but has been spending a lot of time building up her side business as a photographer. I, of course, have been working a lot and when I’m not with my family, I’m usually doing something in my capacity as the District Grand Lecturer, which I explained was the guy in the area that tried to help the lodges in my area maintain the integrity of our ancient ceremonies that we have performed since time immemorial. I went on to explain that each ceremony has specific significance to it and teaches certain lessons in morality and natural philosophy. I also explained that while most states are similar in ritual, other countries have ceremonies and forms that are virtually unrecognizable to us – although, of course, we’re all still brothers… and in some cases, even sisters.

At that point I had to stop explaining so we could get some pizza.

But that’s not what I’m trying to write about.

The next day I dropped her off at the airport. On the way, I noticed the sign for the local Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union. There’s something familiar about it, isn’t there?

Anyway, I continued on my way to work, put in a full day, and then headed down to lodge right from the office. Just as I was pulling into the parking lot, a light blinked on in the dashboard of my new truck. I’d never seen this light before, and had no idea what it meant. I parked the car and opened up the manual in the glove box to see if I could figure out what it was, but I couldn’t find it.

I hope it wasn’t anything important.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

On Saturday, Dec 29th, Friendship Lodge installed one of it’s youngest Masters: WB James Sinclair.

WB Jim joined Friendship about a year before I did, and was on my investigation committee. WB Julian, the WM at the time, lived halfway down the block from me, and was joined by WB Dennis, who is now the very overworked Treasurer of our building committee, and the newly raised Bro. Jim, who, I seem to remember, showed a hearty enjoyment for the lightly chilled Motepulciano d’Abruzzo that I brought out to the picnic table on my back deck.

I got to renew my acquaintance with Jim when he became the JS to my SS the next year. I promise not to tell anyone that he used to duck out on me all the time whenever I had to clean up after a big meal.

Kids.

It’s been pleasant to watch WB Jim grow and mature – masonically and otherwise – into a dedicated and hardworking brother who has shown a talent for organizing and a willingness to listen to the wisdom of others when making decisions. A good example of this was getting the officers together to outline his plans for the coming year to get their support and their ideas.

I understand that many lodges have Past Master’s meetings at which the incoming Master discusses what he would like to do for the coming year. For some reason, Friendship doesn’t do this – or at least, hasn’t done this in the last six or seven years. Anyone running a lodge understands the importance of the support from the officers under them, though, and WB Jim has already implemented some of his ideas: I just received a four-page Trestleboard – via email, saving on postal and printing costs, and bringing more newsy items than our previous single-paged calendar.

The installation itself was a pleasant ceremony, as was the dinner afterwards, prepared by our Stewards and Associate Stewards. Associate? Er, yes – some of the brothers are not as strong with their kitchen skills as they are with their ritual skills, and usually beg ask their significant others for help. It has actually turned the lodge into a great social hangout, which in itself is not a bad thing.

JS Installation

Here’s to a great year for the new Worshipful Master!

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I am often out to lodges both in and out of my district, and as a result I get to see a lot of different ways to have a degree ceremony. Unfortunately, sometimes I see lodges that – and I’m going to put this as tactfully as I can – really do not seem to be putting as much effort as possible into initiating our new brothers into the mysteries of the Order. That is why it’s a pleasure to watch a lodge perform a well-crafted degree.

The other night I stopped to see an Entered Apprentice degree at Evening Star Lodge. Evening Star No. 101 is what I think of when I imagine a rural lodge; it’s in one of the older lodge buildings in District 5, a small building near the center of the village, with little room for parking cars (although at one time I’m sure they had room for a lot of horses). The lodge meeting hall is on the second story of a narrow building, and the lodge room itself is on the third floor. No elevators, Stairmasters, but at least you don’t have to rappel off the side of a cliff to get down. I’ve been to Evening Star several times, but never for a degree.

I got there about fifteen minutes before lodge started and was greeted by WB Gerhard, the Master from last year, now the Chaplain. He explained that it was a move-up night, and that the Junior Warden was heading up the degree. I said hello to a few other guys that I knew, and went upstairs. It was a little strange to see RW Sivert, my predecessor, in a plain white apron. I greeted him, and looked around the lodge. It’s about the size of Friendship, maybe a bit thinner and a bit longer. I introduced myself to the JW, and headed to the East to chat with the Past District Deputy and a few other guys. At some point right before the degree started there was the usual few moments of panic as they realized that one of the Stewards failed to show; likewise the Marshal, who was slated to give the EA charge, was out sick. A member who showed up at the last minute was drafted to be a Steward (in Connecticut, the First Section lecture – sometimes called the ‘Catechism Lecture’ – is generally given by the Stewards). Just when they thought someone might have to read the EA Charge, I heard what was happening and volunteered to recite it. The JW accepted, and asked me to take the Marshal’s seat. I had been looking forward to one of the more padded chairs, but since my butt is cushioned all day in my office, I graciously accepted.

Anyone that’s been active in the lodge for a few years knows that the two bits of ritual that always need last-minute replacements are the First Section lectures and the Charges. When I became the District Grand Lecturer, I made a point to remember the Charges; a few years ago, I was in a lodge in which nobody was present to do the charge, and the WM asked me to read it. Despite the fact that I had no beforehand knowledge, I was still embarrassed. So, I figured that if I was going to need to look over the ritual proficiency of the lodges, I should at least bring something useful to the party.

The replacement Steward grabbed a book and ran over the section for a few minutes, while I grabbed my Palm and did the same. A few of the guys were amused to see that I had it on my PDA, but truthfully, it’s been a huge help for me. I don’t often carry my ritual book around, but I’ve always got my Palm Tungsten handy. Since I had just done the charge several times in the last couple of months, I just wanted a quick reality check – mainly to make sure that what I remembered was the EA charge and not, say, the Master Mason charge (which I’ll be giving in a few weeks). My greatest ritual fear is not that I’ll forget a line, it’s that I’ll suddenly recite a line from another degree.

Despite the last minutes changeups, the degree started off well. I was surprised to see RW Sivert filling in for the other Steward – apparently both of them were out that night. Solemn and serious, the Stewards and Senior Deacon did their jobs well. I was pleased to see how seamlessly the officers integrated the Koran – the candidate’s Volume of Sacred Law – into the ceremony, as if they’d done it dozens of times in the past.

After taking his obligation, the candidate was presented with his apron, together with a “long form” lecture from another brother. I’d seen this done before – two Friendship brothers use the long form all the time – but this brother also had a bit of an introduction or preamble, which was rather nice. I don’t know if he made it up, or found it somewhere else, but it was a nice touch.

Some lodges take a long break after the candidate new brother is sent back out to change, but Evening Star simply waited five minutes or so, and got right back into the ceremonies. I watched the Secretary present the working tools, and the replacement Steward and the JD present the First Section lecture. About halfway through the lecture, it occurred to me that while most of the officers – indeed, most of the men present – had been around the block a few times. There were several Past Masters in the officer’s seats, but they had not developed that bored, disinterested attitude that I’ve seen in a few other lodges. Every one of them presented their parts with calm, practiced voices and mannerisms that were a pleasure to observe. Despite having only a few minutes to look over his lines, the fill-in Steward spoke naturally, as if he’d been rehearsing all week. The brother giving the Apron Lecture was also natural in manner, and the Secretary had explained the Working Tools as if the candidate had just stopped by his garage.

Afterwards, I talked with several of the officers for a bit. We congratulated each other on fine degree work and had some coffee and pie. It turned out that one of them – the brother giving the Apron lecture – was a member on the committee that oversees ritual and ceremonies. We had an interesting conversation about the rumor that the next version of the Connecticut ritual would be written in some kind of code. A lot of people seem to think that code makes it easier to memorize, because you have to work at learning the words. While I agree that working at breaking the code could help, he mentioned that another good thing is that the new brothers that need help now have a reason to sit with a mentor for a while, getting to know them and feeling more comfortable. Interestingly, he and I both learned the work from a plain English book, and don’t feel it’s affected our quality of ritual; obviously so, as he had one of the more “natural” speaking qualities that I’ve seen.

Admittedly, I’m accustomed to the snap and sizzle of the new officers at Friendship; we haven’t recycled a Past Master in 30 years, so every officer is a “new” officer. The good thing is that our lodge has a lot of vitality, however, it makes us forget that there are other ways to be good at degree work. As I drove home, I was hungry, so naturally a food analogy came to mind: ritual work at Friendship made me think of sushi, while Evening Star was more of a comfort food, like beef stew.

Yeah, the analogy leaves a little to be desired, but I had not had a chance to go home for dinner first, okay?

Seriously, though, even though we’re all brother Masons, individual lodges develop their own culture. It was nice to visit a lodge in which everyone seemed relaxed and comfortable. I’m sure that the new brother will find himself right at home.

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So, it started off simply enough. I was to travel to Newington to Sequin-Level Lodge No. 140 in order to check the ritual proficiency of one of the officers. We opted to do this on a night that they were to have a degree rehearsal – a plan that I encourage because running a degree is nerve-wracking enough without the officer worrying that I’m going to be checking little flubs on my clipboard. Certifying at a rehearsal gives me a chance to coach the officer, and perhaps toss out some ideas for the rest of the lodge.

Unfortunately, the officer had some issues which prevented him from attending the dress rehearsal. Even more unfortunately, that left nobody to take the East for the EA degree that was only 2 nights away. Fortunately, the Senior Warden, who has been filling in as Master for the last few months was ready to take the helm.

Perhaps that’s because a few years ago, he was the Grand Master in Connecticut.

I took the chair across from the Most Worshipful Chip and we went right into a dress rehearsal. We paused several times to give tips to the Senior Deacon because this degree was to be a “move up” night for the officers, but it was an otherwise smooth experience.

Despite the fact that he was a Grand Lodge officer, MW Chip did an exemplary job of opening and closing a lodge, and accordingly I’m now able to certify our Past Grand Master for Ritual Proficiency.

This means that he’ll be able, should he be so elected, to move up into the East in his home lodge.

As to the rehearsal? The way it stands now, it looks like I will be sitting in the Senior Warden’s chair for the upcoming EA degree on Thursday evening. I’ll let you know how things go.

Pictured above: The officers of Sequin-Level at rehearsal on Tuesday evening:
1st Row: Marty, John, Steve
2nd Row: Bob, MW Chip, Larry
3rd Row: Chuck 2.0, Bill
Back Row: The District Grand Lecturer

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Ah yes, it’s the end of August, Labor Day weekend is here, and families and friends are rushing to get those last few holiday cookouts in before we kiss summer goodbye and settle in for the fall.

Where did the time go?

This means that it’s also time for me to get back to my new Masonic duties, to wit: keeping an eye on the ritual proficiency of the officers in the 5th District.

The Senior Warden at Friendship actually made his last year, and Eric, the Junior Warden made his last month. I know that a few other lodges in District 5 are covered, but I think that a few potential Worshipful Masters still need to be certified. That’s why I’m posting this message, so that my Connecticut readers – all 23 of them – will be ready to get together soon.

If my experience with the Ritual Day at Friendship last month is any indication, it will probably take about a half hour per officer. I’m hoping that any officer who needs certification would prefer to do this on a degree rehearsal night (usually Sunday evenings), that way we also have a chance to clarify any other points that might come up. Besides, as anyone who has sat in the East for a degree knows, you already have enough on your mind, you certainly don’t need the distraction of a purple apron sitting next to you, taking notes.

Although I’ve discussed Ritual Certification several times, I’m going to reiterate what is expected.

“Proficiency” in Connecticut is actually very simple; unlike some other US states in which entire passages of ritual need to be recited and judged for exactness and conformity to some standard, we only ask for five things.

• - Open the lodge in full form
• - Receive a Masonic dignitary (A District Deputy or Grand Master, for example)
• - Go to refreshment (some people refer to this as “calling off”)
• - Come back to labor
• - Close the lodge in full form

That’s it.

Well, okay, there’s more. We expect you to do this without (or at least, with very minimal) prompting. And getting most of the words correct and in order would be preferred.

Sorry, I don’t mean to sound flippant, it’s just that compared to some jurisdictions in which officers are tested on word-for-word accuracy, what we’re asking seems almost embarrassingly simple. Yet, several of the lodges in which I’ve sat (not necessarily in District 5) have shown a surprising lack of consistency. I’m not talking about “off nights” because, GAOTU knows, we’ve all had them; I’m talking about Worshipful Masters who have made it to the Oriental Chair who seem to have “off” nights more often than “on” nights.

At the risk of blowing my reputation as a nice, easy-going guy, I’m going to repeat what I’ve written elsewhere: While I appreciate that we are all volunteers, and have limited time in which to memorize ritual and to study obscure bylaws, the fact remains that in volunteering for the job as Worshipful Master of a lodge, we gave an implied promise that we would do everything possible to be up to the task at hand. If all you need to do is know how to open and close a lodge, and to remember, or at least know where to look up an appropriate rule, then complaints about a lack of time begin to smack of a lack of effort.

I mean, c’mon brothers: if you can memorize 20 years of sports statistics, or repeat word-for-word the dialog for Monty Python sketches you saw in college, then you really don’t have an excuse to not get at least most of the opening and closing ceremonies.

All right, all right. I’m off the soapbox.

For now.

While I’m on the subject of Grand Lodge requirements, though, I want to remind everyone that there are some additional (although very easy) requirements that went into effect this year. I’m copying from the Grand Lodge website:

Wardens should heed MW Greene’s requirements for 2008 Worshipful Masters. Certificates of successful completion will be necessary before installation as Master of a lodge:

1. Be certified to open and close a lodge and receive dignitaries. Contact the District Lecturer for certification.
2. Perform at least one of the following:

• Attend the Masters Seminar, October 6, at Ashlar Village, Wallingford, 8:00 a.m. registration. Attendance to be verified by the Committee on Masonic Education.
• Attend the Wardens Seminar, November 3, at Ashlar Village, Wallingford, 8:00 a.m. registration. Attendance to be verified by the Committee on Masonic Education.
• Successfully complete the Masonic Education Course. Contact RW Dwight Mertens
• Pass the 50 Question Quiz prepared by Grand Lodge. Contact the District Lecturer for certification.

I want to point out that our Grand Lodge could make things easier by listing the contact information for RW. Brother Dwight Mertens, not to mention the various District Grand Lecturers. Any of you l33t GL w3b d00ds reading this?

Well, that’s enough for me today. I have to rest up tonight so I can hit the picnics this weekend.

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Well, that didn’t take long.

In Connecticut, we are split up into districts – 9 of them at the moment – and we have occasional district-wide meetings to pass along news, and keep the others informed of the goings on. Generally, this is also the time for the District Deputies (Connecticut drops the GM designation) and other Grand Lodge officers to speak on whatever might be coming up. We meet during the 5th week of those months that have them. That’s because most lodges meet on the first and third or second and fourth weeks; not all months will have a fifth week depending upon the year.

So, three days after my investiture with the jewel and apron of my new office I show up at the 5th District Blue Lodge Council meeting, held in one of the lodges. The President – a Past DD – takes the traditional moment to introduce and recognize the DDs and Past DDs.

Then he recognizes the Associate Grand Marshals, and the Past AGMs.

Then he recognizes the WMs and the PMs.

Then he starts getting into the meeting.

RW Gary – the new Grand Junior Deacon – glances over at me with a twinkle in his eye; we both knew that this was going to happen; he stood up to remind the President that we had a new District Grand Lecturer, and after a few moments of confusion, the President realized that he’d skipped over me. Well, not so much skipped, as completely forgotten.

I stood up and remarked that I could see that the DGL was at the bottom of the food chain. I thanked everyone, asked for their support, and resumed my seat.

And just like that, my fifteen minutes of fame was over.

Actually, I really did expect this. The DGL position is only four years old in Connecticut, and we are all still working out the details of what the officers are supposed to be doing. Ostensibly created to maintain and/or improve the quality of ritual in the lodges, the DGLs have only one specific duty at this time – to make sure that the Wardens can open and close a lodge. Back in 2005, Connecticut began handing out certificates in proficiency, which a Warden needs to be installed as Master of a lodge.

Sadly, some Wardens had a very difficult time with this, and that included some who were Past Masters going around in the chairs again. But one might look at this as being a “chicken or egg?” dilemma; with no Grand Lodge authority to be accountable for this proficiency in the first place, it is certainly possible that the quality of ritual quietly ebbed, and nobody really noticed. For the last few months I have had innumerable conversations with my brothers about this, and nobody has any good answers.

But now it’s time to stop thinking about how it happened, and to start looking at how things can be improved. To that end, I’m looking at taking the DGL position from that of a theater critic (so to speak) to that of a drama coach. I have no desire to sit in a lodge with a pen and a checklist (“Okay, he did this, he forgot that, they messed up this part, but that part was better than last time…”), and I’m willing to bet that nobody else wants that, either. Rather, I am planning to visit each lodge and to ask them what they would like to do. I think that perhaps some coaching during degree rehearsals would be a great way to approach this, and I can think of a few brothers in the district who would be willing to help out with that.

Naturally, I’m always open to ideas. If any readers have suggestions for me, or if you would care to let me know what goes on in your jurisdiction, please feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

King Solomon sent an Entered Apprentice, a Fellowcraft, and a new Master Mason to a dark, quiet apartment of the temple with instructions for silent meditation on the nature of Masonic Light.
He assigned a Past Master to watch over them.
Soon after they settled in, the Entered Apprentice accidentally overturned the candle.
“Hey, the light went out, and it’s dark in here!” he exclaimed.
“You fool,” said the Fellowcraft, “you’re not supposed to talk!”
“You are disobeying King Solomon’s orders,” said the Master Mason, “Please be quiet.”
“Humph,” said the Past Master, smugly. “It seems that I am the only one who has not talked.”

I wrote in my last post that I went up to the Grand Lodge session in order to show my support for a few brothers being installed into new Grand Lodge officer’s positions. I was also there for one other Grand Lodge officer installation that I did not mention:

Mine.

Yes, that’s right. I’ve been seduced over to the dark side. Let this be a lesson to new Masons everywhere: If you look interested in something, you are going to get asked to do it. I’ve talked about my interest in the Masonic ritual and workings, so I should not have been surprised that when the officer in the current spot decided to retire, the Grand Lodge officer in my district thought of me.

I am now the new District Grand Lecturer for District 5.

And yes, I can prove it; they gave me a new purple apron and some serious Masonic bling-bling to wear. For any readers from District 5, please be advised that Hell has not frozen over, pigs are not flying, and as far as I know, the Pope is still Catholic.

When the Deputy Grand Master (now the MW Bill) asked me if I would accept the position, he asked me not to tell anyone until it was properly announced. Being a good Mason, I said that I would keep it on the DL (DL? Down Low? District Lecturer, get it?) and so I did.

For three entire months.

As Grand Lodge approached, I realized that there probably wasn’t going to be a proper announcement, so I continued to keep it a secret, intending to have some fun. You see, the members of my own lodge didn’t know about this. I was hoping for an opportunity to walk into a meeting wearing the purple apron and flashing my gold Masonic bling, just to throw my brothers for a shock.

I was really looking forward to surprising them. I have to admit that I can be such a child at times.

That hope ended when the new officer’s contact books came out last week. The Secretary was looking through the list for an email address, and stumbled across my name in the back. He mentioned it to WM Dave, who kept quiet until he talked to me, figuring that if I hadn’t mentioned it, there must have been a reason. We came up with a plan to have me walk in on the brothers during an upcoming FC degree.

Anyway, at the Grand Lodge session, even though Dave did not want to have a room, some of the other brothers got a room on their own. Somehow, they forgot to mention it to me (they will be dealt with later), and as the libations flowed, so did the gossip. Somebody blabbed the news and soon all the officers knew about my new position.

So much for the vaunted secret-keeping of the Freemasons.

But it’s all good. The next night, Friendship brought a few candidates up to a lodge in my old hometown for an FC degree, at which I was heartily congratulated. The parts were done by a mix of Wolcott Lodge officers, Friendship officers, and a few visiting Prince Hall brethren. Their Senior Deacon did a great job as our own WM Dave took the East. The visiting Prince Hall brothers split up the Middle Chamber lecture (sometimes called the “Staircase” lecture), and I took the Letter G lecture (which is absolutely my favorite piece of work) and the Charge. It was a fine degree evening.

At the end of the meeting I suddenly realized that I was the only GL officer in attendance and that I would have to stand up and give the traditional greetings of the new Grand Master. Eep! I had forgotten to prepare any closing remarks, so I simply stood and extended the warm, fraternal greetings of MW Bill and congratulated the candidates, and praised the work of the rest of the officers. Keep it simple, right?

Gosh, I hope that all this power doesn’t go to my head!

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry