The Tao of Masonry

September is when lodges in Connecticut come back from their summer break, and frequently have candidates from late spring to be initiated. It’s common to see the busier lodges schedule a set of degrees in the spring and then another in the fall. As we approach the end of the month, most of the lodges in the 5th District have now had a fall EA degree. Over the last week, I’ve attended four of them, and participated in three in some capacity. One of the occupational hazards of being a District officer – indeed, of being any kind of officer who’s name and phone number can be remembered or easily looked up – is being asked, generally on short notice, to take a small part in a degree when a regular member is suddenly indisposed. My not passing up an opportunity to show off help out means that I often get asked to do some small part. In fact, when I became the District Grand Lecturer, I made a point of brushing up on some of those parts that are often the cause of frantic last minute phone calls by overworked Masters; I have all three Charges on my Palm so I can refresh my memory on short notice, in addition to my favorite piece of ritual, the Letter G lecture.

Good thing, too, because as I was attending one EA on Monday, I got a call from the ritual team captain of another lodge asking if I could do the EA charge on the next night. Having just rehearsed it at two lodges the previous week, I was naturally agreeable for another chance to display my enormous ego help one of the lodges in my district.

I well understand that many lodges do things differently from each other, but I’m often surprised at the large differences between lodges that are barely ten miles from each other. In Friendship Lodge, the chaplain offers up prayers from his place in the East, next to the Master. Several other lodges, however, escort the chaplain to the altar – a nice touch. Some have the Senior Deacon carry the American Flag to a position in the lodge prior to the brethren reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, others leave the flag in the stand. In the opening and closing ceremony, in some lodges the Junior and Senior Wardens acknowledge being addressed by the WM or another officer, others simply skip any acknowledgment and get right on with the words in the book.

Oh, and speaking of the words in the book…

Connecticut has a printed ritual monitor. For the last ten years or so, new officers who were given a copy of the ritual monitor turned to the front of the book and started learning the ritual. First, right at the very front, are a couple of pages on going to refreshment and coming back to labor. Then comes the (shortened) EA opening and ceremony, followed by the rest of the degree. Then comes the (also shortened) FC opening ceremony, followed by the rest of the degree, including the (also shortened) Middle Chamber lecture (sometimes known elsewhere as the “Staircase” lecture). Then comes the (yes, shortened) MM opening, followed by the rest of the degree. Then comes a section on decoding the few portions in mnemonics, and finally, all the way at the very end comes the correct, full-form opening ceremonies. In the section known, for what it’s worth, as the “Appendix.”

Yes, I typed that correctly. The official opening ceremonies are in the very back of the book.

At one time I understand that the book was in code (“mnemonics” they called it), then it went to English with only certain parts in code. At some point – obviously before I came along to explain things to them – the Grand Lodge authorized an edition that had, for reasons still unclear to me, a shortened version of our opening ritual right at the front of the book. The shortened version (so they explained to me) was to be used as a courtesy for when non-Masonic guests were waiting without, perhaps to come in to address the lodge as part of some evening program. Since a properly done opening ceremony takes less than ten minutes – five minutes if your officers are young and spry (and yes, I’ve timed it) – I fail to see what shaving three minutes off of that time actually accomplished… that is, what it was supposed to accomplish.

I can, however, tell you what the Jurassic Park-like unintended consequences have been.

For the last ten years, new officers have been reading the front of the book and learning the shortened opening ceremonies. As they became older, more experienced officers, they modeled those ceremonies for the next crop of new officers, and so on, until after several years, most lodges “forgot” how to do full form openings – unless there happened to be a Past Master who, for once, would have been correct in stating “That’s not the way we used to do it in my year.”

Even worse, since the closing ceremonies mirror the opening, some (by which I mean “most”) lodges that substituted short openings soon mutated the short opening into a short closing. And since the “labor and refreshment” sections draw on the opening, is it any surprise that some (that is, “most” in my experience) lodges now have mutated that section, as well?

In my opinion we’ve had too many years of not modeling the best ritual that we can do, and I think that this has been damaging to not merely the officers, but also to the candidates. What must a new candidate think after he goes through the interview process, hears the stories from the older members, and reads the list of the famous Masons that we love to trot out to impress the new guys, only to walk around a chilly room, blindfolded and half naked, and hearing sniggers, a multitude of prompts, “Ooops, sorry, heh heh” and other whispered asides? Personally, I imagine that I’d feel cheated out of a potentially great and moving experience if my first introduction to Masonry was conducted by a group of brothers who didn’t seem to take the ceremonies seriously enough to rehearse them beforehand. What, after months of anticipation, could possibly induce me to come back?

To reiterate, the short form was supposed to be used only to expedite the opening of a lodge in order to get right to important business. In my district there are eight lodges, and I know that several use the shortened forms regularly – including on degree nights. I’ve also seen a few of those use the (incorrect) mutated shortened closing ritual. One of them just got out of that habit a couple of years ago, and in the last year has gone to full form for all meetings, and once they got into the habit, nobody complained that it “took too long” to open lodge.

I’m not blaming this all on the book, however. A few years ago the Grand Lodge made a few corrections and reprinted the book, but it’s essentially the same as the previous one. Rumor has it that plans are underway for a complete overhaul, but even if it came out next week, it will take several years to undo the damage bad habits that have been learned from watching the bad habits of the previous generation of officers. Why? Because simply giving somebody a book to read does not make them proficient in ritual. Good Masonic ritual is learned by reading and understanding the words and phrases, coupled with seeing it properly modeled by those who are proficient – that is, comfortable utilizing gestures and inflection, and in using the an
tique turns of phrase. The words and directions are already in our ritual monitors; brothers who are interested enough to read the thing – even to casually skip around – can certainly figure it out. The question that we need to ask ourselves is why they don’t do it more often.

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

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

I love it when a plan comes together. But I love it even more when a half-baked idea manages to become a plan that comes together.

A few months ago, Worshipful Marshal Dave was bemoaning the fact that we had either too many candidates or not enough degrees planned. See, in Connecticut, we can bring in up to five candidates at a time. This makes sense when you consider the small size of some of those old lodge rooms. I thought that Friendship Lodge was on the small side, but I have visited lodges in which even three candidates would be a tight squeeze.

But “too many” candidates? Not literally so, but from the last couple of months of my year until this posting, we’ve had a fantastic number of inquiries; if I recall correctly we have between fifteen and twenty men who have petitioned or have received one or more degree. I would like to say that it is because they’ve all researched Masonry on the internet, found my blog and decided that they simply had to join Friendship lodge.

I would like to say that. However, the truth is more like they stumbled across The Tao of Masonry after they contacted our lodge and I bribed, shamed, or coerced them into reading. But hey, it all adds to my hit count…

Anyway, a few months ago, after listening to the moaning of WM Dave, a few of the old has-beens Past Masters thought that it would be a great idea to put on a show have a degree in which the regular officers could take a break, while the PMs and other egomaniacs older members take over the degree work. WM Dave, grasping at straws taking advantage of the opportunity asked WB. Richie to handle it. Richie immediately contacted a slew of other egomaniacs PMs (yours truly included) and spread the word. Richie and I are affiliate members of Sequin-Level Lodge (where he is also a PM), and he also tried to get some of the members of that lodge involved. We scheduled the degree for Saturday, May 19th; we wanted to start in the late morning so we could have a picnic lunch and then go back to the second part of the degree, the Hiramic drama.

It takes a lot of manpower to properly do the Hiramic drama, and in this neck of the woods the call usually goes out to a few other lodges to see if any bodies are available. But the other option is to call the guys at Frederick-Franklin lodge, because they have an actual “team” that specializes in doing the Craftsmen/Workers/Ruffian parts. In fact, I asked them myself last year; it’s a treat to watch their work, which is almost choreographed. The team has a nice set of costumes, and they rehearse the parts well.

They were also doing their own degree on that same Saturday morning.

If Friendship hadn’t already five candidates, we would probably have combined the degrees, but as Frederick-Franklin had two of their own, there was no way that could happen. After a bit of brainstorming, though, somebody came up with the idea of Friendship doing the first part of the degree, and then bringing the candidates up to Plainville for the last part. Frederick-Franklin uses an exemplar in the extended version of the drama, so the new brothers would not have to actually participate; this seemed to work around the five maximum rule, and more importantly, it would allow the new brothers to see some inspiring degree work. This required three weeks of missed phone calls and misunderstood emails in order to coordinate brothers of four different lodges in the Fifth District, and I only mention this for the benefit of non-Masons who still believe that we are secretly controlling the international banking cartels. But somehow we managed to get our collective acts together; the brothers at Frederick-Franklin were happy to accommodate us, and we agreed to bring some refreshments along.

May 19th was a wonderful late spring day in New England, and except for the Junior Warden, I don’t think any of the the officer’s chairs were filled by the regular crew. We obligated five Master Masons in a solemn ceremony that took us until just after noon, and several of the sitting officers carpooled up to the lodge in Plainville, while I stayed behind to close up. Everyone had sandwiches and chips – not exciting, but quite appropriate for the picnic theme. I got there just as the second part of the degree was starting, and sat in the northeast corner with WB Richie and the rest of the candidates.

It seems that no degree would be complete if at least one thing didn’t come off as planned, and in this case it seemed that Frederick-Franklin was lacking the regular Stewards to do the first section lectures (In Connecticut, these are often nicknamed the Steward’s Lecture). Fortunately, we had two brothers – literally – able to step up to the challenge. Bro. Eric is our Junior Warden, and his younger brother Kyle is currently out Junior Steward. They took a few minutes to refresh their memories, and despite the fact that Kyle had never done this part for an MM degree, it came off nearly flawless.

The Hiramic drama has been a part of the MM degree since the mid-1700s, and every jurisdiction has their own twist on it. In Connecticut, our ritual has a bare-bones drama that is required, but some lodges augment their MM degree with an extended version that resembles a play. It contains some background which helps the new MM to understand the morals and teaching of the degree. Both Friendship and Frederick-Franklin lodges utilize such extended versions, but last year, Frederick-Franklin added yet another section, called “The Builder’s Lodge” which gives even more background, and a great understanding to the legend of Hiram Abiff. This was the first time I had seen it in full costume, and I have to admit that I was impressed almost to the point of being awed. One of the brothers – a ritual junkie like yours truly – found an old version that they reworked for their lodge. Without giving too many details, it shows a meeting called by King Solomon, King Hyram of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff (the last such meeting that they will have together) and what transpired so as to motivate Hiram Abiff to act the way he does.

The seven candidates were almost as awed as I was, and watched with fascination as the drama unfolded. All had been through the short version, and could now see the degree exemplified, which gave meaning to what they had undergone earlier. After the well-deserved congratulations on all sides, we closed the meeting and went back downstairs to finish the sandwiches and chips. I would urge any brother from Connecticut to check the Frederick-Franklin calendar to see when their next MM degree is held so they can also see this new addition, and experience some of the finest degree work in the state.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Every once in a while, the Past Masters – I should get into the habit of saying we Past Masters, now that I am one – are fond of telling the new officers that the ritual is for the candidates. “No slacking off now, brothers,” we intone, “Remember that it’s for the candidates.” And of course, we tell them that because older Past Masters told that to us; and just like most of the other little things that have become traditions, we continue to pass this truism down, as well.

Ritual.

Do it well.

It’s for the candidates.

Our new Entered Apprentices are told right from the start that there are no more excellent tenets or useful instruction than are laid down in our various Masonic lectures. When properly delivered, these lectures are some of the most inspiring speeches ever handed down. Just the fact that they are handed down is in itself an inspiration to those who understand that fellow Freemasons have listened to the same or similar lectures for the last two and a half centuries. The lectures and speeches are filled with symbolism and instruction, and those of us who have put the time into learning them know just how difficult it can be to deliver them with meaning.

All this just for the candidates?

You mean those new guys standing there in the front of the room with the deer-caught-in-the-headlights look? Those guys?

Really?

Brothers – why isn’t it for us?

Let me ask this again: Our fraternity has some of the most morally instructive and spiritually inspiring ceremonies, all of which are delivered from memory at no small personal effort. When did we lose the motivation, the initiative to do it for ourselves?

I’m at the age where I attend almost as many funerals as I do weddings; but for each occasion I have lately discovered that during the ceremony I suddenly “hear” something new. Yes, I may have seen the ceremony and heard the same words a dozen times, but each time I hear something that I never noticed before. Why? Maybe a minister or rabbi delivers a line with more or less emphasis, or maybe because of where I am in my own life’s journey some passage that I’ve heard countless times before will strike me with a new insight. Who hasn’t been sitting at a wedding and suddenly turned to their partner upon hearing a line that reminds you of your love? Who hasn’t been to a funeral and been suddenly reminded of your own mortality? That is the purpose of ritual and ceremony – not only to instruct the new members, but to remind us - the old members – of our previous instruction.

Oh sure, after the umpteenth time we’ve heard the Charge to the Entered Apprentice or the explanation of The Letter G, we stop paying attention. Well, we almost stop paying attention; that is, we stop listening to the lecture and we focus on how many prompts the acting Senior Deacon needs, or we listen to see if the Senior Warden missed a word, or to feel smug when the visiting Past Master mixes up the paragraph order in an Obligation… that is, if we, ourselves, can even remember how it was supposed to go.

Did you recognize your brothers? Your lodge? Yourself?

Give this some thought: When did our ritual become less inspiring? When did our degrees become merely a pastime between dinner and desserts? When did you stop noticing something “new” in a lecture?

How many of us have substituted listening for hearing?

And more importantly, why?

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Before I dipped my toe into the blog pool, I used to write on the various Masonic web groups and on Usenet. In fact, despite the rather unpleasant signal-to-noise ratio at times, I happen to like newsgroups. The quick responses and multi-threaded conversations are often mentally invigorating; although lately it seems that most conversations that I have are just arguments with the Anti-Masonic crowd. That said, in searching for something else, I ran across a few of my posts to the group alt.freemasonry and soc.org.freemasonry that I made when I was a new officer. I’m going to post some of them here because they provide an interesting perspective from an idealistic new Mason – as opposed the the jaded and bitter ramblings of the Past Master that I’ve become. This one in particular I remember well, and here it is, slightly edited to clean up the typos and formatting.

It was 2004, I was a new JW, and we were only two or three meetings into the year. One of my best friends − the guy who brought me into Friendship − was the new WM, and the two greatest Stewards in the world were on either side of me, and we were about to have an EA degree, which was to be inspected by the DD and AGM, both of whom were frequent visitors to Friendship. We were well rehearsed and anxious to get started. It doesn’t get any better than this.

In Connecticut, the JW has a great section in the opening and closing ritual (that is, in the “long form” in which Friendship Lodge works. There is a “short form,” but we do not speak of such things in our lodge) . I love this part, and frankly, I do tend to ham it up emote a little because I like to get into the proper mindset before a degree. I have discovered that I really enjoy ritual, and constantly challenge myself to do just a little better each time. Anyway, within the section (which may be slightly different in other jurisdictions) I describe part of the JWs duties, and admonish the brothers against turning the purpose of refreshment into…

− and here I paused for dramatic effect and slowly turned to look at the dour and stern-visaged brother on my left −

“…intemperance and …”

− and here I paused and turned to the rather large and expansive brother on my right −

“…excess.”

I continued on with the speech, but the attributes of my Stewards fit so well with the section that everyone, including the purple aprons across the room, started cracking up. And from that night on, pretty much everyone in the entire district referred to them as Bros. Intemperance and Excess. Anyhow, at the end of the year, the Stewards secretly had name tags made up that resemble the regular officer’s tags; and yes, they had them made up as Intemperance and Excess.

I want to interject at this point to assure readers that we do not engage in such tomfoolery during actual degree work, and our candidates get nothing less than the most impressive and solemn ritual, quite possibly in the state. However, I do acknowledge that we have a bit of light-hearted fun during the normal business meetings.

So, why is this significant? I’m getting there.

Eleven months later we had our 2005 officer’s installation, and yours truly was now firmly ensconced in the West. Without getting into yet another long story, our lodge officers have a tradition: the officers, for at least the last 10 or maybe 15 years, wear bright red socks with their tuxedos. Each installation the WM presents the newest officers (usually a Marshall or Steward) with a pair of red socks. That year, the incoming WM announced that there would be a new tradition: in addition to handing out the red socks, we had The Passing Down of the Stewards Badges. He called up the old Stewards, and the old SS passed his “Excess” badge down to the incoming SS, who passed his “Intemperance” badge on to the new JS. He had this all set up ahead of time with the Stewards in order to rib me a little. It was very funny – in a “I guess you had to be there” kind of way, and we all had a nice laugh; even the non−Masons present enjoyed the joke after we explained it all (in most US states, installations are semi-public events). I hope I’m around in 20 years to see if they’re still doing it, and to see if they understand why they’re doing it.

And that brings me to my point: I know that there are some lodges out there − yes, even in Connecticut − that can barely fill the officer’s line, that have nothing but rusty, dusty, carping PMs sitting on the sidelines, or that need to close because of a lack of interest. I don’t know why this happens; demographics, time, culture change, there are dozens of reasons I suppose. And frankly, I’m not sure why Friendship Lodge has been so successful in the camaraderie department. Somehow, we’ve been fortunate to have a great mix of guys; our most active members are typically from their mid−20s to mid−50s. Most of the PMs are still active, too − I don’t mean that they show up, I mean that they’re active. Oh sure, there are a couple who might comment from the sidelines when you screw up, but most of them take you aside to point out a flaw or to give some advice; not because they want to show off their knowledge, but because they want the lodge as a whole to improve.

It saddens me to hear the stories of lodges with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash reserves that serve donuts after a meeting to 9 people − on a good night. Lodges at which members show up only ten minutes before a meeting and leave fifteen minutes afterward. Or lodges that have 2 hour discussions over minutiae, like whether to buy the $30 or the $35 coffee maker. Yes, I know that if they’re willing to argue for an hour over little points, then it means that they care on some level, but seems to me that it would be better if they used their energies elsewhere.

I’m proud of the officers in the line behind me; they’ve found a way to create their own traditions and culture; and maybe these little changes and additions that they create will make the lodge feel more like their “home”, and keep them coming back and contributing. Oh sure, I’m a teeny bit smug that it was my own little attempt at humor which has helped to create a new tradition, but that’s really not the important part. The important part is how they responded to the humor by taking something and molding it into something that works for them. It’s all too easy to just keep going along, doing the same old, same old without giving any thought as to why you are doing it. It’s no wonder that some people simply stop showing up at meetings when they no longer feel as if they are a part of something, and when they no longer believe that they are making any difference.

I want to come back in 20 years, not to see “The Passing of the Stewards Badges” in particular, but to see something, anything that tells me that these men – my brothers – are creating their own reasons to keep coming back.

On Thursday, November 16th, the brothers from Connecticut’s newest lodge, Universal Fraternity No. 149 treated their brothers of Sequin-Level No. 140 to dinner and a play.

The “play” of course, was a well-performed Master Mason degree, in which the officers of Universal-Fraternity assumed the chairs for the evening. Done in Connecticut form, the brothers added several small touches of Haitian influence, giving the onlookers a new and different perspective on the drama of Hiram. Fascinating as the degree was to watch, the event was even more impressive when one considers that in the last year, our new brothers not only had to learn ritual in Connecticut form, but also to give the degrees in English instead of the French customarily spoken in Haitian lodges.

Haitian Degree
Click on the picture to see the online photo album

Preceding the dinner was a short flag presentation at which the Haitian flag was presented and displayed with the collection of other flags at Sequin-Level. Afterwards, the brothers joined in singing the Haitian National Anthem.

A degree without dinner is like a day without orange juice, and not content with showing off their ritual skills, several of the officers of Universal Fraternity showed up at Sequin-Level early in the afternoon to show off their culinary skills. They prepared several traditional Haitian dishes, and steaming pans of seasoned rice and beans accompanied various trays of chicken, pork and seafood; more than enough to serve the 90 brothers in attendance for the ceremonies.

The evening ended with RWB James McWain Grand Jr. Deacon and MWPGM George Greytak congratulating the members on their degree work. Certainly, it was a fantastic example of how Freemasonry crosses the borders of language and culture.

For those that do not know the backstory, Universal Fraternity Lodge was charted “UD”, or Under Dispensation back in 2005. The brothers were already well-versed in Haitian-style degree work, but in order to be fully chartered by the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, they had to re-learn their degree work in Connecticut form, and in English. The brothers worked hard at this, and at the 2006 Grand Lodge Annual Communication, they were awarded the charter with the lodge number of 149.

I happened to be there – literally at the door – when our Haitian brothers arrived during the 2005 Annual Communication, and also happened to be available on the evening before the 2006 meeting. Actually, it was more like 2 a.m., when several of the nervous brothers popped into the room with an entourage of brothers from other lodges. They had vowed not to sleep until they knew for certain that they would be granted a charter, and had wandered the hotel looking for other Masonic night owls. Several of my officers were still up, so we shared fellowship and hospitality, and compared the differences between Haitian ritual and our own.

Several of the officers of Friendship Lodge came to see the degree work at Sequin-Level, and once again I happened to be in the wrong place at the right time; after assisting to see the four candidates were duly prepared, I was asked to escort one of them during the degree itself (I am an affiliate member of Sequin-Level). Although I was barely able to move after the fantastic dinner, somehow I managed to walk around the lodge room, following their Sr. Deacon (who did a fantastic job during the evening). I should also mention that the Master, WB Daniel did his best to make the degree a particularly memorable evening.

I was pleased to see a large number of brothers staying for the entire degree, and counted several purple aprons in the number of onlookers, including at least one from the MW Prince Hall Grand Lodge. The brothers from Universal have been getting a lot of publicity lately, and personally I think that it is well-deserved. Every time I run into them – an easy thing to do, since they seem to travel all over the state – they are always cheerfully spreading harmony and good fellowship. And when one considers that many lodges in the state – indeed, around the US – are closing their doors, we should celebrate those who so amply demonstrate their dedication and perseverance.

That reminds me: I really need to get the recipe for that paella-like dish; it was delicious!

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Every year, the next-to-junior Past Master of Friendship Lodge gets the the unenviable task of gathering together a large group of his predecessors for the purpose of putting on a Master Mason degree. We typically hold two sets of degrees, one in early spring and one in the fall, and the Past Master’s degree is performed at the Master’s discretion. Some choose to do it early to give them more time to study for their own degree. I chose to have them do it in the fall.

Past Master’s MM Degree 2006

We had three candidates, including the now-youngest member of the lodge; Connecticut lowered the admission age to 18 back in April, and Coulson applied shortly afterward. Being a DeMolay and currently the chapter Master Councilor, he already had some inkling – but only an inkling -of what was to come. Coulson is a fine young man, to the amazement and perhaps even consternation of his father, Doug. Coulson was joined by Rob, another Senior DeMolay from Marcus Holcomb Chapter. Finally, we had Leo who brought a long-time friend of his: WB Alvin from Composite Lodge in Bloomfield – one of the several Prince Hall lodges in Conn.

A little history: Connecticut was the first state to recognize Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodges in 1989, and Friendship Lodge was the first Connecticut lodge to arrange a visitation with a nearby Prince Hall lodge. We have full recognition in both directions, and so it was my pleasure to have WB Alvin on hand to assist in raising his friend.

To top it off, we planned the largest meal of this year, a Surf & Turf dinner with lobsters and some exceptionally tender fillets, lightly seasoned and pan seared, then wrapped in bacon and cooked to a juicy finish. Except for me; believe it or not, I’ve got a nervous stomach and rarely eat before a degree – maybe a slice of bread or a few sips of diet soda. Afterward, though, I found one of the very few leftover fillets and started picking at it. This freaked out a few people because it was only pan seared – to them, I was eating “raw” steak. It was the most tender piece I’d had in months, though.

Turned out that the piece belonged to Richie, one of the (slightly) older guys that I consider as a mentor. Richie took the East for the drama in the last half of the degree. I felt almost badly about eating his dinner, especially since there weren’t any leftovers. We planned for 40 dinners – a big night at our little ol’ country lodge – and only picked up a few extras. Sorry, Richie!

In theory, the Past Masters should be seasoned old pros, all serious and somber while performing the work of the evening.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice…

Our Past Masters seemed to enjoy their time in the chairs, and naturally did a fine job. Of particular note was one certain Past Master who apparently is less adept at following directions than he is at giving them; I mention this only because the next time he needles the younger officers about something, they’ll be able to look him in the eye and ask, “So, which door are you supposed to use to pick up the candidates?”

More importantly, at the end of the evening we had three new Master Masons who will never forget being raised in Friendship Lodge.

In the old movies, one could tell the bad guys because they wore the black hats. Not so with our very own Marshal Dave, the best Senior Warden east of the Pecos. Last week, Dave got the opportunity to lead the posse for the fall FC degree, and a fine job he and his band of compadres made of it.

Dave was on a trip out west with his wife and some friends. One day they mosied into a haberdashery, where Dave espied a particular Stetson, and tried it out in front of the mirror. A woman passing by exclaimed “You should buy that hat; it makes you look just like a marshal.” Dave, who in real life is a law-enforcement agent, decided that it was a good omen; and so last Wednesday found him riding high in the saddle… or at least, in the Oriental chair.

In Connecticut, the Fellowcraft degree is a little longer than the Entered Apprentice degree, and I was disappointed to see some of the members disappeared after the break. This happens fairly frequently, and I try to be understanding because I realize that some of the older members need their sleep. But it’s disappointing because some of the best work is performed during the second half of the degrees. In Connecticut, we have a particularly involved second Section lecture that we call “The Middle Chamber Lecture.” Other jurisdictions call it the Staircase Lecture, or the Senior. Deacon’s Lecture, or something similar. This time, the Middle Chamber Lecture was performed by our Junior Deacon Gerry, who delivered what was unquestionably one of the best explanations of columns, senses and the liberal arts that I’ve ever heard. Gerry likes to tease me by pointing out that I tend to use a lot of body language in my ritual delivery, but I noticed that he was doing the same – and I think that it enhanced an already fantastic piece of memory work.

Naturally, the rest of the Friendship officers performed admirably, moreso because just as last month, this was also a “move up” night for everyone, with the exception of me, for whom it represented more of a “move out” night. Yes, just like my complaint, er, observation from last month, I no longer get the opportunity to do ritual. Oh, Marshall Dave threw me a bone by allowing me to do the Fellowcraft charge, but that was the extent of my participation.

And of course, as saddened as I am, it’s the way it should be. I know that there are a lot, perhaps even a majority of lodges in which a particular member “owns” a part and may rehearse that for years. A particularly gifted ritualist will give that part meaning and character, and make it something that the candidate will long remember. But it also discourages the newer officers from developing their own ritual skills, and quite likely contributes to the encroachment of sloppy work, especially when an officer thinks to himself “I can just wing it, because ol ‘ Tom is gonna do that long part.” And while the rituals vary from country to country, and sometimes even from lodge to lodge in the same territory, the overall presentation is what makes Freemasonry what it is: the oldest fraternity. We should all be proud of the presentation that we make to our candidates, and we should encourage them by our own actions to become involved. When they see the same guy give the same set of lectures for the umpteenth time the familiar and comfortable will begin to become the trite and stale. But when the candidates – our friends and family – see us making the effort, not only does it inspire them, it also gives a sense of variety as each officer delivers a performance differently from the previous one.

But I’m drifting from my main topic, which was to point out the great work done by Marshal Dave and his posse.

As I get ready to close my own year of serving my lodge in the East, I like to reflect on the progress that I’ve seen my officers make as they’ve progressed through the line. I remember that Eric was one of the first candidates that I conducted around the lodge when I was a new Senior Steward – and considering that Eric is about 50% larger than I am, this was no mean feat. But I remember that he was a young and very nervous candidate, and became the young and nervous officer to my right when I was sitting in the South. He’s now a bit older, more experienced, and certainly more seasoned as he served at my right as Senior Deacon this year. And his brother, Kyle, was the first candidate that I initiated as an Entered Apprentice when I did my first move-up two years ago, and is now one of the busiest guys at the lodge. Likewise, the Stewards Kevin and Ryan are both active with the DeMolay chapter. I’ve known them since they were teenagers; while they’ve both matured, they’re not all that much different – and I mean that in a good way. Jim, the Junior Warden, is also busy as the Secretary of our building committee, and I’m sure he’ll do a great job supporting Marshall Dave next year. It’s been great working with all of them. The Marshal is going to have a fantastic posse riding with him next year.

And as for Marshal Dave, he’s been fun to play off of during our lodge meetings. Dave is always ready with a smile, a joke, or a long, rambling story that – eventually – has a punch line. I know that he’s got some interesting programs planned for next year, and I hope that he enjoys his time every bit as much as I have.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry

Everyone who serves as Master of his lodge probably has a favorite part of the many duties that a Master tends to during the course of his year. Some men probably enjoy planning or organizing the activities, some enjoy the extra visitations, or perhaps just being the center of attention.

I enjoy the degree work.

Amazingly, I enjoy the degree work even though (or perhaps because) I came into the fraternity in my 40s, never having been exposed to anything like it. I was not in the high school play, I never had much opportunity for public speaking, and as anyone that works for me can tell you, I have a memory like a steel sieve. But for some odd reason, I found that I enjoy and seem to do well at this one little aspect of our fraternity. During degree work, I get into a completely different mindset; I’m a 17th century protestant passing along light in an old farmhouse, as a couple of people tyle and watch out for the agents of the Church of Rome. I’m an 18th century inventor and the candidates are nervous young merchants from the local town. You get the idea – I want a little bit of drama as befitting initiation into the oldest fraternal order in the world. Which is why the end of my year is going to be so bittersweet. You see, for degree work, my job is pretty much over.

In the fall we allow our Wardens to practice for their year, so in September the JW will take the helm for an EA degree, and in October, the SW will do the same for an FC degree. In November, the Past Masters will do a MM degree. And in December, we’re caught up with voting and Annual Meetings and reports, and planning the Installation for the incoming WM, and in the beginning of January I’ll hand over the gavel and watch as the newer, younger Masons do the degree work.

Of course, being a Past Master, I’ll have the enjoyment of grunting and rolling my eyes at the mistakes that nobody made “in my year,” but it’s just not the same. I know that some PMs subscribe to the “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, criticize” school, but that’s not me. In fact, we’re pretty fortunate here at Friendship Lodge, because most of the PMs do stay fairly active, and even the couple that do make an occasional comment really aren’t all that difficult to take. Or ignore.

But it’s far too soon for me to get maudlin and start writing my retrospectives, especially when I wanted to write about the fantastic EA degree that we just had last week!

The Fall degrees are typically “move up” nights in which all of the officers, not just the Wardens, take the next chair. We’d had 2 practice runs (this is typical for us because we have a bunch of ritual fanatics at Friendship), which is never enough to quell the butterflies in the stomach. Jim took the wheel, and I was proud to see that he opted to give the obligation, in addition to the other parts he needed to attend. I know that some lodges have members who “own” certain parts of degree work, but we encourage the officers to learn their parts. I think it’s a good idea because it helps to teach responsibility, and it also feeds that sense of accomplishment when one walks away knowing that they’ve done a good job.

EA Fall 2006

Jim is part of a group of younger members at Friendship. We have an odd demographic curve: half of the active members are in their 50s, and the other half are in their 20s, several of which are recent DeMolay members. Most of the younger guys are also “gamers,” which may explain the stunt that they planned for Jim’s first time in the East. Before he actually needed to open the lodge, they wanted to get him to walk into lodge accompanied by the Star Wars “Imperial March” theme music (for you old-timers, think “Darth Vader”). When I got wind of this, naturally I discouraged any such tomfoolery. Masonry is serious business, and there would be no way that I’d allow any such displays in my lodge.

Unless, that is, I were part of it. I mean, hey – what’s tomfoolery without the “Tom”, right?

I explained to Jim that as the elected Master, I was obligated to congregate the lodge, and since it was his first time in the East, that I wanted to have him brought in and formally introduced. Just for the experience, you understand. So our SD escorted him out, our Secretary cued up the music, and we brought Jim in to the altar. He took about two steps into the lodge, and the familiar strains pealed throughout the room. But like (an Imperial) trooper, though, Jim allowed himself to be escorted right to the East.

Too bad the Wookie costume was at the cleaners.

Jim, now realizing that this would be the most embarrassment that he would suffer for the evening, was able to open lodge and conduct a fine degree. Last year, Connecticut started a “Certification” program for Wardens, and the new District Lecturer was on hand to see James work. He really didn’t need to be certified until next year, but no harm in getting it out of the way sooner. Our Grand Marshal was on hand, and sat at James side, displacing me into the less comfortable seat. Except for the SW, all of the officers moved up one chair, and they all did a fantastic job. We initiated four candidates, three from our lodge and one for a sister lodge in the next town.

The Working Tools are normally delivered by one of the new officers, but in this case we asked Doug. Why? Because his son, Coulson, was being initiated. Coulson is the first inititate since Connecticut changed the entry requirements in April to allow 18 year old members. He is the current Master Councilor in the Friendship-sponsored Marcus Holcomb DeMolay chapter, and if his DeMolay career is any indication, then I’m sure that we’ll have a fine Mason joining our own officer’s line some day.

As I mentioned last time, Wednesday evenings finds some kind of music playing on the Southington town green, right next to our lodge building. I warned Jim that it’s hard enough remembering how a degree is supposed to run, but when the music is pumping you have to put extra concentration into remembering who does what and when. Fortunately, the band that night was playing a little more softly than we’ve heard others in the past. The previous week our DeMolay chapter found themselves almost unable to hear each other over the polka music.

The person that Jim had asked to do the EA Charge backed out, so I did get to do a piece of ritual work after all. I had memorized this three years ago, but never got to deliver it because at the last minute an older member gave it to his grandson. It was a small treat for me, and I thank Jim for allowing me one of the few remaining opportunities that I’ll have this year.

Tao of Masonry | Freemasonry | Masonry | DeMolay | Degree | Entered Apprentice | Ritual