Tag:

mason man

Masonic Correspondence etc.

by MasterMason

Masonic Correspondence etc.

In this paper I want to deal with a topic that came up in a Masonic Education Day I recently attended here in Victoria.  The subject was the difference between a “Notice” and a “Summons” and the difference between a “Meeting” and a “Communication”.

The speaker expressed his opinion that the current common practice of the Lodge sending out a “Notice of Meeting” is not in keeping with good Masonic practice and I am in full support of his position. Hopefully this position can be supported by what is about to follow.

Let me begin with selective definitions of each of these words from Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.

Notice A written or printed announcement

Summons A call by authority to appear at a place named or to attend to a duty

Meeting An assembly for a common purpose

Communication A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a                                     common system of symbols, signs or behavior, also exchange of information

Now let me relate a quote from our Ritual which states:

“answer and obey all Sns, and Summonses sent to me from a Master Masons Lodge, if within the length of my C.T. and plead no excuse, except sickness of the pressing emergencies of my own public or private avocations”

Comment

Brethren, I believe, and I hope you agree, that there is no question that what we should be receiving from our Lodges is “A Summons to attend a Communication”

It is also worth noting, from the quote given above, that we are obligated to heed that summons and make every effort to obey same.  In the event of being unable to attend, may I suggest that we as brothers make every effort to contact our Lodge Secretary and inform him of same.

Using today’s technology, this would take only a moment and the effect would be enormous.

Can you imagine the impact it would make on the communication if the Secretary were to read apologies from those Brethren unable to attend.  Possibly our Agenda’s could include a section for REGRETS which would follow the reading of the Summons.

I believe this initiative  would be very positive as it would indicate that those missing Brethren had the Lodges best interests in mind and would have preferred to be present.

To those Secretaries who have always sent Summonses my congratulations.

Moving on, I have recently been asked by a brother who has progressed to the Degree of the Holy Royal Arch why Chapter meetings are referred to as Convocations rather than Communications.

We have already dealt with the meaning of Communication and, in that I have space, let me quote from Mackey’s Revised Encyclopedia (1958 Edition) on this subject,

Convocation

“The meetings of Chapters of Royal Arch Freemasons are so called from the Latin convocatio, meaning a calling together. It seems very properly to refer to the convoking of the dispersed Freemasons at Jerusalem to rebuild the Second Temple, of which every Chapter is a representation.”

Comment  None seems necessary as the definitions speak for themselves.

Friendship  For what you are

“When your friend speaks his mind  you fear not the “Nay” in your own mind, nor do you withhold the “Ay”

And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;

For without words, in friendship, All expectations, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed

When you part from your friend, you grieve not;  for that which you love in him may be clearer in his absence,

As the mountain, to the climber, is clearer from the plain”                                    Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

Conclusion

Brethren, it is always my objective to leave you with an Educational piece, something to think about and maybe even be a little provocative, hopefully this edition will provide a little of all three.

Have a wonderful day & God Bless.

Norm

0 comment
0 FacebookLinkedinWhatsappEmail

Symbolism & a Few Poems

by MasterMason

 “Symbolism in Craft Freemasonry” by Colin Dyer.

It is my hope that this paper will further enhance your perspective on this extremely interesting subject.

Symbolism & Speculation

“Symbolism is the key to all mysteries, to all ancient and modern religions, to all esoteric knowledge.

Without and understanding of the meaning of symbols, one will never be able to appreciate the beauty of life, or understand what his own religion is trying to teach him. But as knowledge of the meaning of symbols comes to him, he becomes more and more a free man, or initiate.

Words are inadequate to carry or convey spiritual truths, for all the words have a material origin, and originally, a material meaning.

Masonry does not use words to convey the deeper spiritual truths, it uses symbols, generally simple figures whose beginnings are hidden in the mystic past and whose first users are unknown, perhaps unknowable.

In the old Symbols of Masonry, few in number and bare of meaning to the uninitiated and ignorant, the ancient Masters concealed the Hold Doctrine and the Master’s Word, yet expressed them in so plain a manner that the most humble seeker can find them.

Modern stupidity has attempted to add many new Symbols to Masonry, and to explain all the old symbols in mere words. These explanations challenge the admiration of the wise by their triteness and banality, and awake the pity of the understanding by their lack of knowledge.

Study the Symbols of Masonry, and dig deep in the rubbish of the Temple for the great truths buried there. They are well worth your digging and search. But the study of symbols, without practically applying them to your life, is a mere intellectual exercise that will result in more trouble than profit to you, if you merely seek to understand without living up to them.

As soon as you learn what is meant by a Symbol, you must make it a part of your life, let it be the rule and guide of your heart, drink it as water from a pure stream, feed your soul upon it, and you will grow in knowledge of a deeper meaning, while your soul will reach further upward toward the stars and the Divine knowledge they typify. For wisdom is a growth of the soul, and the reward of labour and effort, not to be bought except by its equal value in sacrifice.

Each time you have progressed, if you look back, you have had to lay upon the altar of sacrifice, something that represented the labour of your hands and heart, symbolizing that you would repay by labour for your brethren and humanity the benefit you had been freely given.

The design of the Masonic institution is to make men wiser and better and consequently happier. It lays down in its symbolic instruction the principles of morality, those secret springs that have inspired the lofty lives of the truly great.

He who obeys the Masonic precepts will not need to consult the opinions of friends of the public, he will find in his own breast an unerring monitor upon which he can always rely.

The student desiring to learn what these principles are must be willing to live them.

Wisdom is a growth of the Soul.  Moral principles are worthless until they have been made alive and driven deep into the interior recesses of the soul by practice.

Knowledge is worthless unless it can be put to use. If you are not willing to live your Masonry, do not seek to know your secret mysteries. Such knowledge carries with it the responsibility of use and obedience; and this responsibility cannot be evaded. ”

Comment

I do not know for certain when this was written, however, my source was published in 1976 so it probably over 50 years old.  I mention this because, in my opinion, the comments made are as accurate today as they were then.

How can we, after discovering the truths of Freemasonry, not employ those truths in our daily lives and still call ourselves Freemasons.  Of course that is a challenge, but what of value has ever been accomplished without effort and sacrifice.

Friendship

“Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them our just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”                                   George Eliot 1819/1880.

Twins in Soul

“There can be no friendship where there is no freedom.

Friendship loves a free air, and will not be penned up in straight and narrow enclosures.

It will speak freely, and act so too;  And take nothing ill where no ill is meant;

nay, where it is, t’will easily forgive, and forget too, upon small acknowledgements.

Friends are true twins in soul, they sympathize in everything.

One is not happy without the other, nor can either of them be miserable alone.

As if they could change bodies, they take their turns in pain as well as in pleasure,

relieving one another in their most adverse conditions”                     William Penn  (1644-1718)

Laughter & Happiness

“Nine requisites for contented living:

Health enough to make work a pleasure

Wealth enough to support your needs

Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them

Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them

Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished

Charity enough to see some good in your neighbour

Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others

Faith enough to make real the things of God

Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

 

Have a wonderful day & God Bless You and Yours

Norm

0 comment
0 FacebookLinkedinWhatsappEmail

When is a Man a Mason

by MasterMason

Fraternal Greetings Brethren.

WHEN IS A MAN A MASON

When he can look out over the rivers, the hills and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope and courage – which is the root of every virtue.

When he knows that, down in his heart, every man is as noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic and as lonely as himself, and seeks to know, to forgive and to love his fellow man.

When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins-knowing that each man fights a hard fight against many odds.

When he has learned how to make friends and to keep them and above all to keep friends with himself.

When he loves flowers, can hunt the birds without a gun, and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy and when he hears the laugh of a little child.

When he can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life.

When star-crowned trees and the glint of sunlight on flowing waters subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead; when no voice of distress reaches his ears in vain and no hand seeks his aid without response.

When he finds good in every faith that helps any man to lay hold of divine things and see majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be.

When he can look into a wayside puddle and see something beyond mud and into the face of the most forlorn mortal and see something beyond sin.

When he knows how to pray, how to love, how to hope.

When he has kept faith with himself, with his fellow man, with his God ; in his hand a sword for evil, in his heart a bit of a song—glad to live, but not afraid to die!

Such a man has found the only real secret of Masonry and the one which it is trying to give to all the World.

Taken from the Fall Issue of The Grand Lodge of Washington  Fall 2003 Masonic Tribune===and authored by David A. McCuistion  Newport Tennessee.

CLOSING THOUGHT

Anyone can become angry

That is easy.

But to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose, and in the right way

That is not easy

Have a Wonderful Day & God Bless

Norm

0 comment
0 FacebookLinkedinWhatsappEmail