tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40852616784777460762024-03-13T10:16:09.356-05:00The BeehiveThe Direction of 21st Century FreemasonryFrederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-53567951514869668192018-12-18T17:31:00.000-06:002018-12-18T17:31:19.137-06:00Two Trajectories For American Freemasonry: Consolidation Or Implosion<h1 class="entry-title" itemprop="headline" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 36px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 16px;">
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Brother Kennedy has been taking some undue flack lately for posting that Freemasonry is dying without posting much in the way of solutions. Masonic author of this site, Tim Bryce, writes, “You cannot treat a patient unless he knows he is sick.” So Kennedy’s first step was to let you know how bad the situation is. Now he follows that up with answers to what can we do?</div>
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Bro. Lance Kennedy</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Two Trajectories For American Freemasonry: Consolidation Or Implosion</span></h2>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">By</span></div>
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<span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"> </span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Brother Lance Kennedy</span></div>
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Once upon a time, there were two cities. One city was called Detroit and the other Pittsburgh. Both cities experienced untold prosperity during the first half of the twentieth century. Detroit became the nation’s automotive manufacturing hub while Pittsburgh was “Steel City,” America’s forge. For decades the two cities prospered, but in the late-1960s the global economy changed, and the cities and their region, the Steel Belt, began a rapid decline.</div>
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The Steel Belt became the Rust Belt as its population dwindled and economy dried up. Detroit lost over 56 percent of its population between 1970 and 2016 while Pittsburgh lost 42 percent during the same period. The two cities were dying, that is declining at a rapid pace that left unabated would result in total ruin. Their citizenries wondered what could be done to reverse the trend. One city chose one path, while the other chose another, and the results tell the tale of their respective implosion and redemption.</div>
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I promise to return to this tale, but in the meantime, I ask your leave to venture back into our ongoing discussion regarding the decline of Freemasonry.</div>
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.<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">..any organization that is struggling with its identity, losing members, and bleeding revenue must immediately focus on excelling at its most basic function</span></h2>
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I am writing this article on the heels of my recent piece entitled “<a href="http://freemasoninformation.com/2018/11/freemasonry-is-dying/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #27a3d1; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">Freemasonry is Dying</a>.” In the first week after being released the article received over 20,000 individual views and hundreds of shares across Facebook and other social media platforms. I am humbled by the numerous messages sent to me from like-minded brothers from around the world. I wish to thank every brother who read the article and helped begin a conversation about what must be done to reverse our downward trajectory.</div>
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More than a few brothers replied to my analysis one way or another, many writing articles of their own, which I applaud. Some agreed with my contention that “Freemasonry is dying,” while others argued that the Craft will hit an equilibrium and level off in terms of absolute membership, so there is really no need to fret. Still others claim that I am incorrect in my assertion that the Craft may be on a terminal decline and in fact, we have already hit our nadir.</div>
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I find it hard to argue that an institution that has lost 75 percent of its membership in fifty-nine years is not dying, but others may disagree. In 2044 there might be a handful of Masons left, but I would not consider the Fraternity to be really <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">living</em>, but rather <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">walking dead</em>. After all, there are numerous historic examples of mystery traditions that thrived for a period then disappeared without a trace, two examples being the Eleusinian Mysteries and the cult of Mithras. Why think Freemasonry is immune from their fate?</div>
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Now that the dust is settled, voices have calmed, and passion subsided, I wish to clarify what I wish to achieve by writing my last article as well as address the two trajectories before us as a Fraternity, one of intentional consolidation and another of haphazard implosion.</div>
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My clarion call that “Freemasonry is dying” was intended to shake the reader to his core with the raw data gleaned from the Masonic Service Association of North America’s (MSANA) database. The MSANA’s data, comprised of roughly three-thousand data points, show a steep decline in our membership since our numerical apogee in 1959. Not only has the absolute number of Mason’s declined, but the percentage of the population claiming Masonic membership has declined as well.</div>
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While I warn of the dangers of our shrinking membership, I have also been blunt about my aspirations for a smaller, more elite Craft that has shed itself of the excesses of the post-World War I and World War II eras (see “<a href="https://www.phoenixmasonry.org/10_PROPOSITIONS_FOR_TEXAS_FREEMASONRY.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #27a3d1; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">10 Propositions for Texas Freemasonry</a>”). This seeming contradiction is not one in the slightest. I am not concerned that there are fewer Masons today than in 1959 or any time for that matter. My concern lies with the fact that we are attempting to hold together an aging infrastructure with fewer and fewer men, and wasting our time and treasure in the process.</div>
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As our numbers decline, which <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">will</em> continue to do so for the next decade or more, we must come to terms with the fact that an organization built to function with over four million Masons cannot do so with less than one million men. Not only an organization that requires many men to operate, but one that has largely refused to recalculate its pricing and overhead since the mid-twentieth century.</div>
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We cannot maintain the infrastructure of 1959 in 2018 let alone in 2030. We certainly cannot do so with dues based on incomes from the 1960s (e.g. $120 per year) and endowments (i.e. lifetime memberships) priced in the $500 to $1000 range.</div>
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Now that I have smashed my data-encrusted sledgehammer over your head, and the heads of tens of thousands of other readers, I want to impart my honest conviction that the way to Masonic deliverance is by rapid and intentional consolidation.</div>
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As promised at the onset of this article, and since I am a man of my word, I will return to the tale of the two cities called Detroit and Pittsburgh, which holds important lessons for our fair institution.</div>
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In 2013 New York Times columnist Paul Krugman asked the following question in an article titled “<a href="https://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/a-tale-of-two-rust-belt-cities/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #27a3d1; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">A Tale of Two Rust-Belt Cities</a>”: “[I]s the crisis in Detroit simply a function of the industrial decline of the U.S. heartland, or is it about internal developments within the metro area that have produced a uniquely bad outcome?”</div>
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The author states that both Detroit and Pittsburgh possessed “iconic monolithic” economies and both cities’ metropolitan areas experienced comparable declines in their labor markets from 1970 to 1990. From 1990 to as late as 2006, “the eve of the Great Recession — you could argue that there wasn’t a whole lot of difference in aggregate performance between greater Pittsburgh and greater Detroit.” However, after 2006, Detroit’s economy plummeted while Pittsburgh weathered the storm.</div>
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<a class="single-image-gallery" href="http://freemasoninformation.com/2018/12/two-trajectories-for-american-freemasonry-consolidation-or-implosion/detroit-pittsburg-comparison/" rel="attachment wp-att-1450020" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #27a3d1; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1450020" data-attachment-id="1450020" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Detroit-Pittsburg comparison" data-large-file="https://i1.wp.com/freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Detroit-Pittsburg-comparison.png?fit=480%2C378" data-medium-file="https://i1.wp.com/freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Detroit-Pittsburg-comparison.png?fit=300%2C236" data-orig-file="https://i1.wp.com/freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Detroit-Pittsburg-comparison.png?fit=480%2C378" data-orig-size="480,378" data-permalink="http://freemasoninformation.com/2018/12/two-trajectories-for-american-freemasonry-consolidation-or-implosion/detroit-pittsburg-comparison/" height="378" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" src="https://i1.wp.com/freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Detroit-Pittsburg-comparison.png?resize=480%2C378" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Detroit-Pittsburg-comparison.png?w=480 480w, https://i1.wp.com/freemasoninformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Detroit-Pittsburg-comparison.png?resize=300%2C236 300w" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 20px; max-width: 100%;" width="480" /></a></div>
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Krugman concludes his column with the following statement, “It’s hard to avoid the sense that greater Pittsburgh, by taking better care of its core, also improved its ability to adapt to changing circumstances… If you like, sprawl killed Detroit, by depriving it of the kind of environment that could incubate new sources of prosperity.”</div>
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A <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Srvy_JobSprawl.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #27a3d1; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">study</a> released by the Brookings Institute in 2013 substantiates Krugman’s thesis. Greater Detroit topped the list of metro areas with the most decentralized, that is sprawling, labor forces. In 2013, only 7.3 percent of greater Detroit’s non-farm workers were within 3 miles of its central business district (CBD), while 77.4 percent of its workers were over 10 miles from its core. In comparison, 25.2 percent of Pittsburgh’s workers were within 3 miles of its CBD while 45.2 percent were over 10 miles away.</div>
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“Now, Lance,” you may ask, “what about other sprawling cities like Dallas or Los Angeles? They haven’t seen the same decline as Detroit.” You are correct, however, unlike Dallas or Los Angeles, Detroit was hemorrhaging people as it sprawled. To quote one <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2013/07/22/how-sprawl-got-detroit-into-this-mess/" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #27a3d1; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.1s ease-in-out 0s;">writer,</a> “[Detroit] was drawing existing residents from the center to the periphery. Homes in the central city were abandoned — and the tax revenues that came from those households evaporated. Detroit, unlike some of its wealthy suburbs in Oakland County, only saw one side of this migration — the losing side. And it was poorly equipped to deal with the fallout.”</div>
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What I glean from these articles is that after a period of long-term decline sets in, or rather the beginning stages of death, which we call <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">dying</em>, a city or an organization is left with the paths of Detroit or Pittsburgh. We can choose to be like Detroit and attempt to maintain a sprawling edifice, figurative or literal, while simultaneously experiencing a shortage of revenue. The alternative is to follow the path of Pittsburgh and take care of our core at the expense of the periphery. In short, any organization that is struggling with its identity, losing members, and bleeding revenue must immediately focus on excelling at its most basic function. In Masonic terms, the initiatic process, or rather, making Masons.</div>
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What I will now prescribe is the bitter pills of truth that so many refuse to swallow:</div>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: decimal;">We must accept the fact that Freemasonry is in extremely unhealthy condition, losing membership at a rapid pace, and attempting to maintain an infrastructure designed for a much larger membership base. In other words, accept that we are <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">dying</em>, though we are not yet dead. Any attempt to soften this conclusion is a practice in euphemism.</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: decimal;">We must make the difficult decision to cut off and remove recognition from any and all organizations that do not make Masons or support the initiatic experience, namely the Order of the Eastern Star, DeMolay, Rainbow Girls, and the like. These institutions must stand or fall on their own merit. Other appendant bodies must be evaluated on an individual basis.</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: decimal;">We must consolidate lodges in areas experiencing rapid decline. Such consolidation must occur in urban as well as rural counties. Most counties need only one lodge. In most areas multiple adjacent lodges saturate the market and create negative competition for fewer and fewer initiates.</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: decimal;">We must sell off buildings requiring millions of dollars to repair, especially those that are used once or twice a year, and when used are filled at half-capacity. For example, if a Grand Lodge’s building is in disrepair and requires $18,000,000 to restore, the Grand Lodge should make the determination that the building is a liability on its balance sheet and cut its losses. The Grand Lodge could purchase a smaller structure for its administrative uses and rent a hotel and conference center for its communications.</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: decimal;">We must demand that our constituent lodges meet certain minimum standards of dress, ritual, and general decorum. Our populations are increasingly professional and urban. They demand a certain level of formality and rigor. For example, Texas’ population is roughly 85 percent urban and 15 percent rural. It is essential that we meet the needs of the areas where we can see the greatest potential growth.</li>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; list-style-type: decimal;">Finally, we must understand the needs of the men of Generation Z. So much focus has been placed on what Millennials want, and rightly so, since they are the largest generation in the United States. However, the oldest members of Generation Z are now eighteen years old and are now eligible for membership in our Fraternity. After hundreds of conversations with young Masons, my guess is that the next crop of initiates will want similar things out of the Fraternity as Millennial men, namely the mysteries delivered in a formal, mystical, and demanding manner.</li>
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Our Fraternity may be dying because of external factors, but our condition was clearly exacerbated by internal ones. While we may be dying, we are not yet dead, and there is a way out of our present malaise. The way is to follow the example of the City of Pittsburgh by acknowledging our decline, consolidating down to our most basic core, and doing our most simple functions extremely well. The alternative is to be the fraternal version of Detroit, sprawling, mismanaged, constantly experiencing budget shortfalls, and failing to deliver the most basic services.</div>
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We have two paths before us. Which shall be choose? I echo what Dickens wrote in his <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">A Tale of Two Cities</em>, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”</div>
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Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-60027726868469589892012-04-18T23:03:00.002-05:002012-04-18T23:11:22.591-05:00Happy Patriots Day<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Once again it is time for The Beehive’s annual Patriot’s Day message. Patriots Day is an obscure holiday celebrated in just one county – Middlesex – in Massachusetts. In the early years of our nation it was a National holiday but gradually July 4<sup>th</sup> supplanted a similar celebration.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Patriot’s Day commemorates the first battles of the American Revolution in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts on April 19, 1775 where the shot was fired heard round the world. Having been born and raised in Lexington, the history of these battles was ingrained in me from an early age and later in life would mix with my Freemasonry.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Listen my children and you shall hear<br />Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,<br />On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;<br />Hardly a man is now alive<br />Who remembers that famous day and year.<br /><br />He said to his friend, "If the British march<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">By land or sea from the town to-night,<br />Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Of the North Church tower as a signal light,<br />--One if by land, and two if by sea;<br />And I on the opposite shore will be,<br />Ready to ride and spread the alarm<br />Through every Middlesex village and farm,<br />For the country folk to be up and to arm."<br /><br />You know the rest. In the books you have read<br />How the British Regulars fired and fled,---<br />How the farmers gave them ball for ball,<br />From behind each fence and farmyard wall,<br />Chasing the redcoats down the lane,<br />Then crossing the fields to emerge again<br />Under the trees at the turn of the road,<br />And only pausing to fire and load.<br /><br />So through the night rode Paul Revere;<br />And so through the night went his cry of alarm<br />To every Middlesex village and farm,---<br />A cry of defiance, and not of fear,<br />A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,<br />And a word that shall echo for evermore!<br />For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,<br />Through all our history, to the last,<br />In the hour of darkness and peril and need,<br />The people will waken and listen to hear<br />The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,<br />And the midnight message of Paul Revere<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333">Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:10.5pt; font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Freemasons were prominent that day. While Paul Revere is the most notable Freemason involved, my favorite was Brother William Munroe an orderly Sergeant in the Lexington Minutemen. Brother Munroe was proprietor of the Munroe Tavern, one of two taverns in Lexington at that time, the other being the Buckman Tavern at the Lexington Green where the Minute Men assembled awaiting the arrival of the British. He was stationed on an all night watch on the Lexington Green through the night of April 18,1775 into the morning of the April 19th. It was Munroe who received Paul Revere riding into Lexington with the news that, “The British are coming, the British are coming” (although historians are apt to point out that he probably said The Regulars or The Redcoats). Revere stopped at the Reverend Jonas Clark’s house to wake up and warn Brother John Hancock and patriot Sam Adams.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Meanwhile Munroe got the word out to Captain John Parker and other Minutemen. They were able to muster some 77 patriots on the Lexington Green to face about 700 British soldiers. Of those 77 some 20+ were Freemasons even though there was no Masonic Lodge in Lexington at that time. When Percy came in with British reinforcements later in the day he took over Munroe Tavern and used it as a command post and hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">William Munroe was later to petition the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for a charter for Lexington’s first Masonic Lodge. When he took his request to the Grand East he was there met by Grand Master Paul Revere. Hiram Lodge became Lexington’s first Masonic Lodge and Munroe its first Master. The Lodge met for some 40 years at the Munroe Tavern.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">In 1992 when I joined the Paul Revere Colonial Degree Team that exemplified the Third Degree in colonial costume accompanied by a patriotic message, I searched for a Revolutionary War Freemason to represent as all the team members did. I chose William Munroe. As Master of Paul Revere Lodge in 1999 I took the Paul Revere Colonial Degree Team to Simon W. Robinson Lodge bordering the Lexington Green where once again we exemplified the Third Degree remembering those who fought dearly for the freedoms we enjoy today. Afterward three Lodges that had come together for this special occasion held a Tri Table Lodge.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"">Today Munroe Tavern stands as a historical building just a stone’s throw from the Scottish Rite National Heritage Museum where you can visit their exhibit of “Sowing The Seeds of Liberty: Lexington & The American Revolution.” You can also see the ‘Lexington Alarm Letter” sent out on April 19,1775.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""> <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">If you visit Lexington visit these two places as well as the Lexington Green and the Buckman Tavern. A great day to go is April 19</span><sup style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; ">th</sup><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; ">, Patriot’s Day.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <div class="zemanta-pixie" style="margin-top:10px;height:15px"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://www.zemanta.com/" title="Enhanced by Zemanta"><img class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=2dfb3ca0-03b8-4f67-b21b-7abbdd75c18a" alt="Enhanced by Zemanta" style="border:none;float:right" /></a></div>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-21259341496969336912009-03-01T19:32:00.001-06:002009-03-01T19:33:33.105-06:00MOVEDTHE BEEHIVE HAS MOVED TO: http://freemasoninformation.com/Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-45252417430158113052009-02-25T23:47:00.003-06:002009-02-26T00:17:22.066-06:00A New Vision<blockquote>Don't fall in love with a dreamer<br />'Cause he'll always take you in<br />Just when you think you've really change him<br />He'll leave you again<br />Don't you fall in love with a dreamer<br />'Cause he'll break you every time<br />Put out the light and just hold on<br />Before we say goodbye<br /><br />Now it's morning and the phone rings<br />And you say you've gotta get your things together<br />You just gotta leave before you change your mind<br />And if you knew what I was thinking girl<br />I'd turn around if you'd just ask me one more time<br /><br />Don't fall in love with a dreamer<br />'Cause he'll always take you in<br />Just when you think you've really change him<br />He'll leave you again<br />Don't you fall in love with a dreamer<br />'Cause he'll break you every time<br />Put out the light and just hold on<br />Before we say goodbye</blockquote><br /><br />I love those with a vision. I always fall in love with a dreamer! Those who dream and those who contemplate and meditate and get a vision and see a mission, well they are my kind of people.<br /><br />So when Greg Stewart came to me with his vision, right away I was impressed. Sometimes it's just something that you have got to do. You follow your instincts and the nudges that the angels send you. And when I was asked to participate in Greg's vision - well how could I say NO. <br /><br />Time to move on. For every door that closes another one opens. To be a part of something that is bigger and better and pools the resources of many great minds! Don't you see - I JUST HAD TO!<br /><br />SO THE BEEHIVE IS MOVING. IT WON'T BE HERE ANYMORE. IT WILL BE INCORPORATED INTO A DREAM, A VISION. <br /><br />But this is not goodbye but hopefully hello again! Particulars are to follow but this is the last posting on this site except for one more to follow to tell you where to go to see the dream, the vision made real.<br /><br />So as we opened with a song we shall close with one. And may you all have your own dream, your own vision and work for it to become reality!<br /><br /><blockquote>Adieu! a heart-warm fond adieu,<br />Dear brothers of the Mystic Tie!<br />Ye favored, ye enlightened few,<br />Companions of my social joy!<br />Tho' I to foreign lands must hie,<br />Pursuing fortune's sliddry ba',<br />With melting heart, and brimful eye,<br />I'll mind you still, tho' far awa'. <br /></blockquote>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-49072433267571426012009-02-08T10:00:00.003-06:002009-02-08T10:14:40.797-06:00Interviewed on Journey In The EastBrother Due East asked to interview me and his questions and my answers can be seen on his blog, Journey In The East: <a href="http://journeyintheeast.blogspot.com/2009/02/q-with-bro-frederic-l-milliken_06.html">http://journeyintheeast.blogspot.com/2009/02/q-with-bro-frederic-l-milliken_06.html<br /></a><br />Please take an opportunity to peruse this wonderful Masonic blog and information site. It does credit to the Fraternity and is a well thought out effort of two Brothers putting their heads together to enlighten us all!Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-22748033115012741522009-02-05T10:31:00.002-06:002009-02-05T13:39:00.994-06:00The Old Past MasterThe Old Past Master got to Lodge unusually early that evening. He had a hunch that there was going to be some feedback to the heated exchange that had occurred at their last meeting. As always he tried to make himself available for counsel without ever offering an opinion unless asked for. That had not been the policy of Past Master Sinclair who got up at the business meeting two weeks ago and lambasted the Lodge members for non-participation in Lodge events and programs. For fifteen minutes PM Sinclair harangued the Brothers on the past glory of the Lodge and how they were not living up to the standards of the good old days. After the meeting you could see that some of the Brothers were tight lipped while others left early rather than staying for fellowship as they usually did.<br /><br />This was definitely not the Old Past Master’s style. He never offered an opinion unless he was asked. But he had to admit that Past Master Sinclair was right. Lodge participation was way down. The Brethren seemed almost lethargic and disinterested. And the new Master was young and so full of grandiose plans and programs. It definitely was an open sore that was festering. He had been giving the whole matter some serious thought himself.<br /><br />As he came into the parking lot the Old Past Master could see that the Master’s car was already parked in its usual spot but all alone. Nobody else had arrived yet. When he entered the Lodge Worshipful McKinney was deep in contemplative thought starring at a blank wall.<br /><br />The Old Past Master said nary a word but sat down and opened his briefcase and pored over some papers he had pulled out. Five long minutes went by with not a word spoken.<br /><br />“Why”, exclaimed Worshipful McKinney. “ Why me Lord? What have I got myself into”?<br /><br />The Old Past Master just continued to shuffle his papers.<br /><br />“Well aren’t you going to say anything”, Worshipful McKinney broke the silence with.<br /><br />“Only if you want me to.”<br /><br />“Of course I want you to. I have been waiting for you to say something for weeks now.”<br /><br />“And I have been waiting to be asked.”<br /><br />“Well Past Master Pelham has not been shy about giving me advice. When I told him that I was going to telephone all the Brothers and remind them of the next Lodge meeting and the programs we were working on, he told me that was absolutely the wrong strategy. He said that a Mason is obligated to come to Lodge and to participate and he shouldn’t have to be reminded of his duty. Once you start that you will never get anything done unless you do it all the time. Besides it is not fair to the next Master to saddle him with such a laborious task every month.”<br /><br />“Yes I have heard Past Master Pelham pontificate on the proper way to run a Lodge.”<br /><br />“So what do you think of what he said”?<br /><br />“It’s not my business to critique everybody else’s view. You have to be your own man, Worshipful.”<br /><br />“Now you are the first person to tell me that. Does that mean you will not offer up any advice”?<br /><br />“Of course I will if you want me to and you ask me for help. I would not be a Mason if I were unwilling to help a Brother in need.”<br /><br />“Well what would you do about this listlessness in the Lodge and the non participation by the Brothers”?<br /><br />“Well if you are asking me I would listen to everybody and then take a course of action that I thought would be most successful. It might not fit exactly what I wanted or be part of my vision but it would be what most of the Brethren desired and would sign onto.”<br /><br />“Then you would let the Brethren rule the Lodge.”<br /><br />“Absolutely not. But what I would do is incorporate my vision into their vision at the same time realizing the limits of what can be accomplished and the reality of the complexity of life.”<br /><br />“You are saying I am too ambitious. What are the Brethren not signing onto and what will they embrace”?<br /><br />“Well, Worshipful, I don’t mean to be unkind, but you show signs of <span style="font-style:italic;">‘I’m the brand new Master and I’m going to conquer the world syndrome.’</span> You have initiated a whole plethora of projects and programs for the Lodge to do. It’s not that I don’t like what you are doing but Lodge should not be a burden it should be a joy. Remember that Lodge is not a job. We are all volunteers, here to celebrate life.”<br /><br />“I like the way you say that. So I should not have any special projects or programs? Are you saying I should eliminate them all”?<br /><br />‘Not at all. What I am saying is that quality counts more than quantity. Sometimes it is better to do one thing up proud, extra special, then to do three things rather ordinarily.”<br /><br />“What would you do with the rest of the time”?<br /><br />“Well let me leave you with this thought because I see others are now arriving. It’s not what you do it’s who you are. Sometimes it’s all about just being not just doing. We are human beings not human doings.”<br /><br />The Brethren arrived and got Lodge ready to open. The Master can be seen on his cell phone after which Lodge opens in the usual manner. Before Master McKinney can get to the usual business Past Master Pelham rises and says, “I would like to add some further thought to the debate we had at the last Lodge meeting.”<br /><br />“Not tonight”, replies the Worshipful<br /><br />“But I think we need to……………”<br /><br />RAP!<br /><br />“I don’t think continuing such a discussion is in the best interests of the Lodge”, Worshipful McKinney states a little more forcibly.<br /><br />“Worshipful are you telling me I can’t speak”?<br /><br />“Precisely Brother Pelham. Please sit down.”<br /><br />“Now for the next five minutes”, continues Master McKinney I would like you to sit in total silence and think of everybody in this room and remember what you admire about them the most. Then after five minutes of silence I would like to hear from each one of you.”<br /><br />After what seemed more like twenty minutes Worshipful McKinney broke the silence with, “ OK the East will entertain some thoughts from the Brethren. Who will go first”?<br /><br />The Old Past Master got up and said how much he admired Brother Sinclair and his passion for the Craft. “It is very rewarding and heartwarming”, he said, “To know that we have one in our midst who cares so much.”<br /><br />Another Brother rose to speak, and right on his heels another, then another and another and……………well before you know it almost two hours had flown by.<br /><br />Worshipful McKinney then said, “I will entertain a motion to have the Master and Wardens pay all bills, that the reading of the minutes be postponed until next meeting and that all correspondence be tabled”<br /><br />“I so move”, came from the Craft<br /><br />“Second”, replied another<br /><br />“After we close Brethren I have placed an order of pizzas at the Star Bar and Grille and I respectfully request your presence there for fellowship”, The Master announced.<br /><br />“Now is there any other business to come before this Lodge before I proceed to close”?Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-90841656856488631842009-01-17T16:00:00.008-06:002009-02-08T19:54:27.873-06:00William H. Upton<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SY-MzQ4RMRI/AAAAAAAAAXk/YgNKO_nNQrI/s1600-h/WHUPTON.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SY-MzQ4RMRI/AAAAAAAAAXk/YgNKO_nNQrI/s400/WHUPTON.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300610098770555154" /></a><br /><br /><br />My Grand Lodge Sessions are usually just the most inspiring moments of my year. They are well run, move right along and have many interspersed social times, like an awards luncheon and a Family Banquet with a special guest speaker. It makes it seem much more clanish as the Heroines of Jericho and Eastern Star have their Grand Sessions at the same time and in the same building and/or hotel that we all use. So when we get together the whole Masonic family gathers and on the last day of Summer Session installations for the three are done together all in one place.<br /><br />And my Grand Master Wilbert M. Curtis is the kindest, most soft spoken man I have met that has ever sat in any Grand East I have been associated with. And he is always very accessible to everyone. At summer session I happened in conversation with Grand Master Curtis to mention that I was doing some research on William H. Upton and his eyes instantly lit up. "I have something for you," he said but as if it was a Christmas present that I couldn't open until that special day had arrived, he said no more.<br /><br />I had forgotten all about that brief conversation but Grand Master Curtis had not. We had just adjourned winter session when I heard my name called. "Brother Milliken" echoed in the hall but I couldn't fathom where the voice was coming from. Finally the Brother next to me nudged me and pointed to the Grand Master. And when I went up to the East to see what he wanted he handed me a DVD and said, "Here is that information on William Upton". I stammered, "But when am I going to be able to get this back to you?" "Don't worry about that, whenever we next meet", he replied.<br /><br />Now this was really something quite special. It was a DVD of the joint Prince Hall/Mainstream Masonic Memorial Ceremony and monument dedication of June 8, 1991 in Walla Walla, Washington.<br /><br />By now perhaps you are asking who was William H. Upton and why was a monument being dedicated to him? This remarkable man was the Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Washinton State Mainstream Masonry in 1898 who first recognized Prince Hall Masonry. Yes I said 1898! To let you know how long ago that was, William McKinley was President and we had declared war on Spain. Teddy Roosevelt led the charge up San Juan Hill and the Buffalo Soldiers were in the thick of the battle.<br /><br />But tremendous pressure was brought on the Grand Lodge of Washington including losing Mainstream recognition in many other states. So the recognition of Prince Hall was rescinded. But William Upton never ceased working to try to reinstitue the recognition. When he died his will stated that there was not to be any marker on his grave until such time as Black Masonry and White Masonry had joined in mutual recognition in Washington state.<br /><br />It took almost a hundrd years but in 1990 the two Grand Lodges were joined in mutual recognition. And on June 8, 1991 Both Grand Lodges gathered to now lay a marker on William Upton's grave.<br /><br />The DVD which the Grand Master gave me showed the full ceremony that day. Both Grand Lodges marching down the road to the cemetary in full Masonic dress, Prince Hall members on one side of the road and Mainstream on the other. Side by side they marched in this huge long line.<br /><br />And when they got to the cemetary there were speeches and prayers and hugs and recognition of William Upton's surviving family that were there that day.<br /><br />And above all there was the ceremony of the tombstone dedication where members of both Grand Lodges using the working tools of a Master Mason declared the work of engraved stone square, level and plumb. And as the veil was lifted from the stone all could read these words inscribed on it.<br /><br /><blockquote><strong><br /><em>"This memorial commerates the fruition of the last will and testament of William H. Upton MW Past Grand Master Wash. F & AM who desired that all Masons regardless of color, should dwell together as recognized Masonic Brethren. This was accomplished in 1990 by actions of both Grand Lodges MW GL F&AM of Wash. and MW Prince Hall GL F&AM of Wash. Dedicated June 8, 1991 AL 5991"</em></strong></blockquote><br /><br />If you go to the Internet you will find very little information about William H. Upton even though he authored the work <strong>"Light On A Dark Subject"</strong>. Neither the Grand Lodge of Washington Mainstream or The Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Washington show any material to this man on their websites. One of the few places that has anything solid on the man is Phoenix Masonry, that well run repository of so much fraternal history and objects. See: <a href="http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/light_on_a_dark_subject.htm">http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/light_on_a_dark_subject.htm</a><br /><br />That's a crime. This Mason that should be revered and talked about and written about so that his story is within easy reach of any casual observer. As I sit here burning this DVD into copies, I know that this will be one of my Masonic treasures and I thank a thoughtful, kind Grand Master who follows in the footsteps of such a great man as William H. Upton. Thank you Grand Master Curtis!Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-1427563241643130652009-01-13T13:37:00.004-06:002009-01-13T14:00:24.105-06:00Document Discovery Sheds Light On First American Grand Lodge<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWzxhqh1bLI/AAAAAAAAAW4/zVE8C_q9-wI/s1600-h/01-13-2009+01%3B47%3B34PM.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWzxhqh1bLI/AAAAAAAAAW4/zVE8C_q9-wI/s320/01-13-2009+01%3B47%3B34PM.bmp" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290869222907669682" /></a><br /><br /><br />Most of us remember that the first Grand Lodge in the world, the Premier Grand Lodge, is the Grand Lodge of England, now The United Grand Lodge of England, formed in 1717. Many of us remember that the second Grand Lodge in the world was the Irish Grand Lodge formed in 1725. I used to think this quite strange as one hears much more about how pervasive Freemasonry is in Scotland and not so much about Irish Masonry. But one must remember that it was common in these early years for Catholics to be Masons. The first Papal Bull written to condemn Freemasonry wasn’t published until 1738.<br /><br />But that’s neither here or there. The $64 thousand dollar question (gosh bringing that phrase up to modern times it must be the million dollar question by now) is, what is the 3rd oldest Grand Lodge in the world? That depends on whom you are listening to. One thing for sure is that it is an American Grand Lodge. <br /><br />Both Pennsylvania and Massachusetts claim that they are the 3rd oldest Grand Lodge in the world. Now it is obvious both can’t be right. Yet that hasn’t stopped a hotly contested argument that has been simmering for more than a century.<br /><br />We know from records that are on file from the 1720s that both states had Masonic Lodges that met prior to any Grand Lodges being formed. And we also know that the Grand Lodge of England appointed two men to form Provincial Grand Lodges in “The Colonies”. It is on record that Daniel Coxe was deputized in 1730 for Pennsylvania and Henry Price was deputized in 1733 for Massachusetts.<br /><br />Now best I can tell from the dispute is that Massachusetts claims that since Coxe did nothing and Price right away formed a Grand Lodge that it is entitled to the claim of 3rd oldest Grand Lodge. But Pennsylvania claims that the mere act of deputizing is sufficient evidence that a Grand Lodge was granted to Pennsylvania first. Massachusetts has always seemed to have a leg up in the dispute because of a letter written by Grand Master of Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin in 1734 to Massachusetts Grand Master Henry Price requesting that a charter be approved for his Grand Lodge under the authority of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts.<br /><br />Wikipedia states:<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><em>Daniel Coxe<br />“However, it does not appear that Daniel Coxe ever organized a Provincial Grand Lodge, nor to have erected any lodges, nor ever exercised his authority in any way as Provincial Grand Master prior to his death on 25 April 1739. In fact, his death which was reported in the Pennsylvania Gazette by Benjamin Franklin, a member of the Tun Tavern Lodge in Philadelphia, does not even mention that Coxe was a Freemason, indicating that Franklin and the other members of the Craft in Philadelphia were unaware of his affiliation.”</em></blockquote><br /><br /><br />Now further supporting the Massachusetts position is a recently discovered document in the archives of the Samuel Crocker Lawrence Grand Lodge library. It shows a Warrant for the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania in the year 1764. But this whole situation is clouded by the quarrel between the Antients and the Moderns.<br /><br />In Massachusetts the Antients and the Moderns went on fighting it out until 1792 when they merged, the Moderns winning out on most of the disputed positions. One of the stipulations to the merger was that there would be no numbers on any Massachusetts Lodges, thus neither an Antient Lodge nor a Modern Lodge could be #1. <br /><br />In Pennsylvania the Antient/Modern split took on a different tack. The Moderns were the first Grand Lodge with the unknown date of charter the basis for this dispute. In 1757 the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania (Moderns) chartered Lodge #4. Lodge #4, however, insisted on practicing the Antient ways. Six months later their warrant had been recalled because of their actions. Lodge #4 then petitioned the Antient Grand Lodge in England for a charter to form a Provincial Grand Lodge for Pennsylvania. The Antient Warrant was issued in 1758 but lost in transit in 1761, reissued in 1763 and lost again and finally issued for the last time in 1764, which was retained. <br /><br />Meanwhile the Modern Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania folded in the early 1760s. So the Grand Lodge that exists today is a descendent from the Antient Provincial Grand Lodge of 1764. And the document uncovered in the Massachusetts archive is that 1764 Warrant. Hopefully this settles the argument. But I doubt it.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-16590815187112463972009-01-10T11:23:00.004-06:002009-01-10T13:28:29.580-06:00Joint Wrap-Up to “Preventing Lodge Foreclosures”<em>Part of a Cooperative Effort between The Beehive and The Masonic Line</em><br /><br />The original article on The Beehive is <a href="http://beehive135.blogspot.com/2009/01/preventing-lodge-foreclosures.html">here</a>.<br />The 1st response on The Masonic Line is <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br />The 2nd response on The Beehive is <a href="http://beehive135.blogspot.com/2009/01/2nd-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br />The 3rd response on The Masonic Line is <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/3rd-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br />The 4th response on The Beehive is <a href="http://beehive135.blogspot.com/2009/01/4th-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br />The 5th response on The Masonic Line is <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/5th-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><strong>STOP. This is a series that builds on each new post. Make sure you have read past posts before proceeding.</strong><br /><br />And now the <strong>JOINT WRAP UP </strong>is before you on both blogs.<br /><br /><strong>From Squire Bentley:</strong><br /><br />Well it’s time to wrap this issue up. Hopefully it has been a lesson, a learning experience. Both of us are going to add our ending comments and then let you the reader think over the give and take that has led to two Brothers with different styles and different concepts of Freemasonry come together to try to raise awareness to a looming disaster.<br /><br />You see we both agree that the ever declining economy is going to adversely affect American Freemasonry. And we both agree that now is the time to take steps to meet the challenges that we all will face in the coming months.<br /><br />The fictional Lodge was only a means to an end. What they did or did not do is not the issue. What the choices available are and what could be done was what the lesson was. For in that it will be what others CAN do. To answer a question on the by-laws change to a tax exempt organization is that the by-laws change is referred to the Grand Lodge by-laws committee who rules on the matter. The recommendations of the committee are voted on by the Grand Lodge which is in most cases a formality since very few know the particulars.<br /><br />It is true that this fictional Lodge let things go too long without calling the Lodge and any Masonic family tenants together to hold a congregational meeting on the problems. But that was the old guard. That’s the way they operated. The new guard came in and forced the issue. Now I wrote it this way because that is what is happening to many Lodges. We are going from 75 year olds in control to 25 and 30 year olds in control across our nation. We skipped a whole generation of Masons.<br /><br />The plot was designed to see what the reaction would be to the clash between the old and the new both in the Lodge and between the Lodge and Grand Lodge where the 75 year olds are also entrenched. The Oldsters are entrenched in their ways and are very inflexible. The new Young Turks are hot headed and rash and know it alls. This is a scenario lived out in many other areas of organization in many different times.<br /><br />The questions that need to be faced are can Grand Lodges across our nation in a time of crisis respond by allowing some departures from the norm? Can they meet the Young Turks halfway? Will they negotiate? Will they get out of the way and let local Masonry manage its own affairs? Do they have to enforce the letter of the law?<br /><br />And will the Young Turks listen and respect the age old advice of their elders who have had much more experience than they have? Can they try to stay inside the rules and come up with Masonic solutions? Are they willing to work for solutions in combination with others instead of trying to go it alone? Will they avoid confrontation and seek accommodation?<br /><br />I don’t have a lot of answers, just a bunch of questions. It’s up to you the reader to decide and hopefully carry the message and discussion into your Grand Lodge. Both of us hope that we have been some help to you.<br /><strong><br /><br />From Palmetto Bug:</strong><br /><br />As Fred has already stated, the downturn in the economy is going to have a negative effect on lodges and Grand Lodges. Since these entities require money to operate, there is no way around it. The trick is figuring out now how to deal with the situation. Time may be running out for those lodges that were already hanging on by a shoestring.<br /><br />Lodges that have developed schisms within their ranks – an example of which would be what Fred described when he mentioned the Oldsters and the Young Turks – will have an especially difficult time when it comes to meeting the economic challenges head on. I submit that existing schisms must be met addressed before any hope of positively dealing with economic matters can be realized.<br /><br />It really all boils down to communication, openness, and being proactive rather than reactive. The players, which are ultimately all of the members of Freemasonry, also have to understand that there are rules and limitations that must be considered and adhered to while developing possible courses of action. This is no different that what we, as individuals, have to consider and deal with when faced with our own economic challenges. Example: Though robbing a bank is a possible solution to the problem of not having enough money to pay your mortgage and other bills, it is a solution that falls outside of the established rules and limitations.<br /><br />Should the Grand Lodges be trying to help? Of course they should – though they also have economic issues to deal with while staying within certain limitations. The leadership of Grand Lodges should be facilitating discussion, calling together the financial experts of the Fraternity, and helping struggling lodges to make contact with the successful ones. I think that financial workshops may be a useful tool in assisting the lodges and the Grand Lodge to develop solutions – or at least to allow for brainstorming about the issues.<br /><br />If a lodge is unable to find a solution to its financial problems, it is still not the end of the world. Lodges have come and gone since the earliest recordings of the existence of Masonic lodges and the merging of lodges is certainly not a new idea. Schisms are also not always the worst of things. Looking back over the years, we can find evidence that shows schisms sometimes led to the birth of new lodges. Either way, though the edifices of brink and mortar may fall, Freemasonry will survive.<br /> <br />Like Fred, I do not have the answers. I do know that a failure to be proactive will probably lead a lodge into a reactive mode. This leads to desperate and – sometimes – drastic actions, which are rarely a good thing. The real losers in a bad economy will be those Freemasons that choose a desperate and drastic solution that falls outside of the known rules and, by doing so, remove themselves from the Fraternity – kind of like the bank robber. It should never have to end that way.<br /><br />I’ll end by quoting and agreeing with the Squire. “Both of us hope that we have been some help to you.”Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-29781135556900159142009-01-06T21:32:00.003-06:002009-01-06T21:54:29.509-06:004th Response To Preventing Lodge ClosuresRead the original post on The Beehive <a href="http://beehive135.blogspot.com/2009/01/preventing-lodge-foreclosures.html">here</a>.<br />Read the 1st Response <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br />Read the 2nd Response <a href="http://beehive135.blogspot.com/2009/01/2nd-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br />Read the 3rd Response <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/3rd-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><strong>STOP. This is a series that builds on each new post. Make sure you have read past posts before proceeding.</strong><br /><br />As usual you can see in this back and forth debate the schism that divides Palmetto Bug and Squire Bentley. The former sees everything Grand Lodge does as the law, the final say and the righteous course. This view fails to take into consideration Masonic politics. The utopian picture painted by Palmetto Bug is just that, a scenario where majority rules and everything has been democratically decided. It is a rosy picture that has no relation to reality. I will remind you that Hitler was elected also.<br /><br />The same reasoning has led many others to constantly say to me as I criticize Grand Lodge, “Fred if you don’t like the way things are being operated, run for office, work the system.” And my reply is as soon as those in power see that you are a reformer they will slam all doors in your face. You will never get appointed District Deputy or on any Grand Lodge Committee, necessary stepping stones to climb the Grand Lodge ladder.<br /><br />Besides I shouldn’t have to become Grand Master to see my Grand Lodge do the right thing. If you look at Grand Lodges today with glasses on that show what is real not that which is theory, you will see that most Grand Lodges are ruled by a tight knit Oligarchy.<br /><br />How is all this helping this poor Lodge that is in financial distress? Well the first thing you have to do is get by the premise that Grand Lodge can do no wrong. Gosh, I don’t even think the US government can do no wrong. You have to look at a problem and explore all possibilities. You have to lay all the cards on the table and say nothing is impossible.<br /><br />My problem with the “Traditionalist” point of view as represented by Palmetto Bug is that it comes to the table with preconceived notions of how things must be done. Traditionalists are only willing to discuss solutions to a problem that match their view of how Freemasonry should operate. They come to a problem solving meeting with the “law” in their hands and foremost in their minds. They view every proposal to see if it fits into how Freemasonry has traditionally operated, thus they get the tag “Traditionalists.” Their approach to Masonic problem solving is always governed by what the by-laws, rules and regulations of their Grand Lodge say, which they carry with them as their Bible. They are the modern version of the Sadducees and Pharisees of Christ’s time.<br /><br />This way of thinking automatically rules out any other course of action than narrowly prescribed in the “Book of C’ants”, which is what Grand Lodge by-laws, rules and regulations really are. But what about the can dos? In reality what is being said by the Traditionalists is that we can’t think outside the box (they have us boxed in). And if we do Traditionalists will tell us that we are heretical and unmasonic. But I maintain that we can’t solve problems this way. If we can’t consider all possibilities as possible then we are doomed before we start.<br /><br />When we come together to try to fix what is broken we often are immersed in Conflict Resolution. If the Grand Master in question here was willing to sit down at the table and <strong>negotiate</strong> in good faith then perhaps all might come to some sort solution. But the problem is Grand Masters don’t <strong>negotiate</strong> and thereby lies the problem. There is no give and take, only the ax. Grand Masters refuse to make concessions. We wouldn’t allow such behavior in a labor-management dispute. And a ballplayer’s contract would never get signed if there was no true negotiation.<br /><br />So what support are Grand Lodges offering to their chartered Lodges who are in serious trouble? Let me think. Now what Grand Lodge has had the vision in these tough economic times to see the need to plan ahead for a depression, a total economic meltdown? Besides marketing Masonry and trying to make Masons as fast as they can, what have USA Grand Lodges done to prepare for a disaster? Personally, if you were faced with the report of an oncoming hurricane would you not be making some preparations? I can’t think of one thing that any American Grand Lodge has publicized as guidelines, helping tools or a disaster preparation plan.<br /><br />And this is one area Palmetto Bug and I see eye to eye on. We are in an economic recession. Personally I see us headed for a depression. I think that the stock market decline is only 50% of what it will end up bottoming out as. I see unemployment doubling and perhaps rising to 10%. I see American auto manufacturers either filing for bankruptcy or reducing their production and workforce by 2/3. I see many Masons not paying their dues or demiting.<br /><br />Masonic Traveler has provided some interesting insight into Masonic membership during the last depression in 1929. Click <a href="http://masonictraveler.blogspot.com/2007/03/so-what.html ">here</a>. What he has done is chart Masonic membership decline from 1959 to the present noting that for each decade there was an average of a 20% decline in membership. He also has shown an unusually large decline before this period in the 1929-1939 decade where membership dropped by 24%. I would think that decline might be attributed to America’s biggest and worse depression ever. So if terrible economic times does have an effect on membership then will we not experience the same today? If you couple a 24% economic depression effect with a 20% regular decline as evidenced in the last four decades, we could be looking at the Obama decade with a 44% loss of Masonic membership. Is not this possibility worth some planning ahead? Or are we just going to sit and wait for the tsunami to hit, because you see this is exactly what this fictional Lodge did. It just did nothing in the face of disaster. And if there is anything Palmetto Bug and I would like to do is to raise awareness of the seriousness of this issue.<br /><br />So let’s get down to what can be done and what could have been done in our fictional Lodge’s case. Both Palmetto Bug and I along with Masonic Traveler would really like to see some sort of preparation and planning being made no matter what your point of view is or where you lie on the conservative/liberal Masonic spectrum.<br /><br />I maintain that the fictional Lodge in question was backed into a corner with a lose/lose choice of action. No matter what they did at this point it was going to be a no win scenario. Palmetto Bug says the Lodge waited too long. And I say that that this is what Grand Lodges and Lodges across the USA are all doing right now. Freemasonry today should be in an emergency preparedness mode. Anybody see that anywhere? It’s human nature to be lazy and very easy to sit around and do nothing. And yes I agree a building is not a Lodge and a house of worship is not a church, but if you have a beautifully crafted building with much historical tradition who would want to practice their Masonry or worship elsewhere? In time a building becomes Holy ground and a historically protect treasure.<br /><br />There is no reason that Masons across the country have to roll over and play dead. There is time to act and to pull our horns in as many businesses are doing also. There is time to hunker down and watch every penny and cut expenses as many, many families are doing right now. Why should Freemasonry be different? Here are some suggestions.<br /><br />LODGES<br /><br />1) Get together at your business meeting with this topic as your primary focus. Publicize the urgency and the necessity of having everybody on board in your Lodge Bulletin, Newsletter or Summons.<br />2) Pare down the budget. Eliminate luxurious expenditures immediately, especially Lodge supported social functions. Ask your membership for some special contributions now while they still have some money.<br />3) Consider a temporary District plan whereby only one Lodge in the District is used and all others are closed with heat/AC and all utilities shut off.<br />4) Cut out all charitable and community action programs immediately<br />5) Ask your Grand Lodge to forgive any Grand Lodge fees and payments until normalcy returns.<br />6) If you must stay open look for tenants who could pay you rent.<br />7) If your building is mortgage free consider taking out a loan via a short term mortgage. If you have a mortgage talk to the Bank or mortgage company about renegotiating your terms of payment.<br />8) Ask your city or town to relax any standards of outside upkeep so you can stop landscaping and snow removal services.<br />9) Renegotiate the insurance policy on your building, especially if it is temporarily closed.<br />10) If your Lodge is not on a tax exempt basis do what is necessary to institute that ASAP.<br /><br />GRAND LODGES<br /><br />1) Stop restricting local Lodges on who they can rent their building to. There is no harm in renting space to women’s Masonry, Co-Masonry, Prince Hall, GOUSA, Knights of Columbus, Sons of Italy, Franco-Americans, Knights of Pythias, churches, Temples, mosques, or most commercial enterprises.<br />2) Allow alcohol in the Masonic building to be a decision of each local Lodge as it sees fit. This Masonic Prohibition is really a corruption of Masonry whereby men’s personal religious belief has been codified by Masonry. The rest of the Masonic world has no problem with cocktails at the festive board.<br />3) Arrange for your whole jurisdiction to operate as a tax exempt organization<br />4) Negotiate a jurisdiction wide group insurance rate for all chartered Lodges.<br />5) Consider direct financial aid to those in most serious trouble and/or long term loans with Grand Lodge as the banker.<br />6) Instruct and send out your District Deputies with information and aid packets to all Districts. Call for District meetings to meet the problem head on.<br />7) Stop all Grand Lodge charities immediately. From now on your biggest charity is your chartered Lodges.<br />8) Limit Grand Lodge travel.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-68828674224731877912009-01-05T13:22:00.002-06:002009-01-05T13:28:04.934-06:002nd Response To Preventing Lodge ForeclosuresBefore you read this post make sure you have read the Original post here on the Beehive and then the 1st response <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Hannity…………er Palmetto Bug presents a cogent and well reasoned rebuttal and at first it might seem difficult to disagree with the points he has made.<br /><br />Let’s talk specifically first and then we can get to general comments. In this fictional Lodge’s case the Old Guard or retired Past Masters ruled the Lodge. They pretty much let the Lodge run down hill constrained by the mindset of doing things as they had always done them. New younger leadership came in gradually to the point where the Old Guard lost their iron grip on the Lodge. I would maintain that this is a scenario often times repeated over and over again in Lodges across the USA. This newer younger leadership wasn’t used to doing things a certain way. <br /><br />At first they tried to stay in the system and work within the rules. They petitioned the Grand Master for financial help, which was denied. They asked for an end to Masonic Prohibition (alcohol in the Masonic building) so they could attract paying functions. Request denied. They asked the Grand Master to allow them to rent their facilities to a Boxing Club who would put a gym in the building. The Grand Master said he didn’t think that a Boxing Club matched the image he wanted the Lodges in his jurisdiction to portray. Request denied. The new leadership of the Lodge was trying to find paying tenants who could use the building when it was idle to boost revenue and allow them to pay the operational costs and repair and restore what had been neglected.<br /><br />The Masonic building had other Masonic tenants, an Eastern Star Chapter and York Rite – Chapter, Council and Commandery. The rent these other Bodies were paying had not been increased in 50 years. The new leadership of the Lodge raised the rent on these Bodies and rather than pay it they all moved out to another Masonic building whose leadership accepted them at their old cheap rate. The Master of the Lodge asked the Grand Master to prohibit that transfer. The Grand Master declined.<br /><br />The Lodge asked the Grand Master to allow them to rent space to a Prince Hall Lodge. The Grand Master said no. The Lodge asked the Grand Master to allow them to rent space to the Knights of Columbus. The Grand Master said no.<br /><br />The Lodge asked the Grand Lodge to allow the Lodge a by-laws change whereby the Lodge would reorganize itself into a charitable corporation and thereby apply for 501©3 tax relief. The Grand Lodge failed to approve the by-law change.<br /><br />The Lodge approved a by-laws change that would increase their dues from $50 per year to $150; the last dues increase having been 1962. It was rumored that a Past Master with clout called the Grand Master to ask him to refuse to approve that by-law change. The Grand Lodge denied the dues increase. When asked why they said it was too drastic. Amore realistic increase would have been to $75.<br /><br />Now generally speaking what we have here is the modern concept of Masonic management whereby the seat of power rests solely with Grand Lodge. But it wasn’t always that way which is why the chicken and the egg question is pertinent. If you look back at the 1800s you will find a good percentage of power rested with the local Lodge and Grand Lodge was not able to dictate every little thing to its charted Lodges. Grand Lodge then was more of a helper, an enabler. Modern Masonry has seen the rise of total Grand Lodge control where in many jurisdictions Grand Lodges micro manage the Craft. A local Lodge today cannot breathe without the Grand Master’s approval. And what has followed is that Grand Lodges are all about rules and regs. Many of them govern today using the US Army as a role model.<br /><br />The first comment on the original post was made by the esteemed Robert Davis who reminds us that all Masonry is local. He said this:<br /><blockquote>"But your larger point is that all Masonry should be local. Grand Lodges should rarely enforce rules which threaten the closure of a local lodge; nor should they impede creative ideas which are otherwise legal under civil law and aimed at solving local problems. Every lodge should be sovereign enough to endow its membership and its phsyical plant, and otherwise employ all legal means to secure its financial future."</blockquote><br /><br /><br />If we keep concentrating on an overly strict adherence to rules and regulations then we have a Society that truly reveres its Institution above everything else. But Grand Lodges are pushing people away with their top down authoritative rules orientated government. The forces of necessary change and local creativity are being held back by an Old Guard who would rather see Freemasonry wither and die then do things differently. And by gosh they may just get their death wish.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-85612197790653854422009-01-04T21:53:00.004-06:002009-01-05T04:00:42.459-06:00Hannity's Response1st Response to “Preventing Lodge Foreclosures”<br /> <br />Part of a Cooperative Effort between The Beehive and The Masonic Line<br /><br />The challenge is in. The debate is on. Click <a href="http://masonicline.blogspot.com/2009/01/first-response-to-preventing-lodge.html">here</a> for the response<br /><br />This debate is brought to you by Palmetto Bug & Squire Bentley the Hannity & Colmes of Masonic Blogisphere.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-29709288719884234462009-01-04T15:21:00.003-06:002009-01-04T16:17:08.469-06:00Preventing Lodge Foreclosures<strong>WHO IS BAILING OUT FAILING LODGES?</strong><br /><br />A FICTIONAL STORY THAT COULD BE TRUE<br /><br />This is a story that could have happened but in reality is pure fiction. It’s really a sophisticated guess. It seems that there was this Lodge that had a once beautiful building that was falling into disrepair. With a dwindling membership and no other tenants it found it increasingly difficult to maintain and pay for the costs of this grand old piece of architecture. It was an albatross hanging around the Lodge’s neck. Try as they could by raising dues and holding fundraisers they just could not meet the operating costs of the building never mind keep ahead of its deterioration. Part of the problem was the hefty tax bill on the property. The solution that the Lodge came up with did not meet with the approval of the Grand Master. Let’s listen in on what might have been said.<br /><br />GM = Grand Master M = Master of the Lodge<br /><br />GM: <em>I have come to meet with you to make it plain in no uncertain terms to you that your course of action in selling this Lodge building which belongs to Grand Lodge is a violation of the by-laws, rules and regulations of Grand Lodge and is cause for expulsion and loss of your Charter.</em><br /><br />M: <em>It is sad that it has come to this. Our building – or your building as you call it – was in a state of disrepair and we were not generating enough money to take proper care of it or really afford to own it unless we took drastic action to see that funds were available to save and restore it.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>But why did you sell it knowingly in violation of your Grand Lodge? Why did you not to seek to raise money through fundraisers and other legal means?</em><br /><br />M: <em>We never were able to obtain anywhere near the money we needed by raising dues and holding fundraisers. The amount we were able to raise fell far, far short of what was needed to save this grand old building. We put off the inevitable as long as we could but finally the day of reckoning came.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>Then you needed to give up the building and meet somewhere else, perhaps renting reasonable space or paying rent in another Lodge building</em><br /><br />M: <em>That was one course of action that had some following in our discussion and debate on the matter. Where it is a beautiful old building and your building as you say, why would you not provide the funds to save it? Why would you want one of your buildings to be condemned and face the wrecking ball?</em><br /><br />GM: <em> The Grand Lodge is not a bank or a charitable trust and I am not here to offer you money gathered from everybody else for your exclusive use to save your building. I am here to enforce the rules.</em><br /><br />M: <em>Now it is our building is it? It is ours when it comes time to pay for its upkeep, maintenance and operation. It’s yours when we decide to convert it into a moneymaker that will continue Freemasonry in a style that will attract new members and allow our Lodge to grow.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>If you don’t like Grand Lodge rules you have an opportunity to vote to change them at every Grand Lodge Session. Your action in selling Grand Lodge property is a direct violation of these rules and I must insist that you negate the sale or suffer the consequences. And if you cannot or refuse to do that then I command you to turn over to me and the Grand Lodge the proceeds of this illegal sale.</em><br /><br />M: <em>Here you are Grand Master. Here is what we got for the building.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>WHAT! YOU SOLD OUR BUILDING FOR ONE DOLLAR?</em><br /><br />M: <em>Well Grand Master you refused to help us. You refused to provide any funds so we could get out from under. You have refused to allow us to rent to paying tenants you do not approve of. You have refused to allow alcohol to be served in the building so that we could use the building when it sits idle as a banquet hall for weddings and functions. You have refused to put all YOUR Masonic Buildings in a tax-exempt status or allow us to do so. You have refused to negotiate group insurance rates for our buildings, contents and property. You have refused to use the power of economies to scale to financially aid your chartered Lodges in a time of declining membership and a depressed economy. You have refused to be of any assistance in our time of need. Lord knows that we have asked for your help many times over and informed you of our dire circumstances. Yet you sat on your hands and did nothing. You fiddled while Rome burned.<br /><br />Now we have sold for next to nothing the Masonic building to a community charitable organization in which the Lodge and Lodge members have significant control. They have registered the building and all its activities and expenses as a 501©3 tax exempt operation. The new owners have rented out parts of the building to four well-heeled tenants among them a citywide boxing club. The charitable organization has been able to attain the finances needed to repair and maintain this beautiful building while we as a Lodge can continue to meet here and now totally rent free. We gave the building to charity and charity pays for and runs the building and returns our favor by charging us nothing as a tenant.<br /><br />You have left us alone to solve our problems without any help from you or the Grand Lodge. We have come up with the only means we could to save the building and to be able to stay here and meet here as we have done for over a hundred years. At the same time we have seen to it that our involvement as Freemasons with charitable pursuits for the entire community has markedly increased.<br /><br />Grand Master you could try to come to some kind of compromise with us.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>There is no compromise. It’s all there in black and white. You have violated your Grand Lodge and thereby have violated your obligations.</em><br /><br />M: <em>Grand Master, could we not come to some sort of middle ground here? The new owners are prepared to offer the Grand Lodge the right of first refusal if the building is ever put up for sale again. You would have the right to meet any offer made for this building and buy it back for the Grand Lodge. In the meantime our membership will increase with the building restoration and the increased activity within. This will mean more per capita money the Lodge will be sending into Grand Lodge.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>The Grand Lodge is never going to pay for what it already owns. Reverse the sale or be expelled and lose your charter.</em><br /><br />M: <em>What worth is there in owning a building that no longer can meet building and fire codes and will be abandoned only to be razed? There will be no building your way and you refuse to supply any assistance to repair the problems and restore the building, nor allow us to rent to the tenants we want to. Your rules and regulations are strangling us leaving us no other course of action then the one we have taken.</em><br /><br />GM: <em>And you fail to see that this is not about you but about the sanctity of the institution. First and foremost we must protect Freemasonry in this jurisdiction by enforcing the Grand Lodge by-laws, rules and regulations which have been put there for the survival of the many, not the interests of a few.</em><br /><br /><em>I see that you are committed to your course of action. Therefore your charter is now officially pulled and you are all expelled. And we shall see you all in court where maybe a judge will honor the Grand Lodge’s claim to its building.</em><br /><br />M: <em>We shall see you in court, Grand Master. Maybe a judge will see that in reality you have abandoned the building by not supplying the means or allowing the necessary steps to be taken to keep it alive.</em><br /><br />And herein lies a problem that will become more and more prevalent as our economy sinks deeper and deeper into depression. Many Lodges across our nation have been struggling in good times to meet the expenses of owning a Masonic building. Now with hard times upon us look for Lodge “foreclosures” to rapidly increase.<br /><br />The Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is known to have in excess of $300 million in its coffers. It spends all kinds of money on its pet projects and charitable projects yet it rarely will bail out any of its chartered Lodges in financial trouble. In fact because Grand Lodge donations were down it launched a $10 million Grand Lodge fund raising program in order that it did not have to tap into its $300+ million principle.<br /><br />The very well respected Masonic blogger <strong>Masonic Traveler </strong>wrote a column asking whether American Masonry had become institutionalized. Do we revere and worship the institution rather than the philosophy? For you see if we worship the institution first then all other forms of Masonry are bogus even if they say the exact same thing which is a point that the blog <strong>The Middle Chamber </strong>has so deftly made.<br /><br />The result is that we create artificial laws like the Right of Exclusive Territorial Jurisdiction so we can create a Masonic monopoly, then we write rules of recognition, of irregular Masonry and clandestine Masonry. Now we are the one and only true Masonry. We have created an institution that has a life of its own. It is then that the institution and its preservation uncorrupted comes first and the well being of people and the practice of the dogma or philosophy take a back seat. Ask Ed King. He will tell you all about it.<br /><br />This is the exact position that the Catholic Church has taken and since it’s my church I feel I have a right to sound off about it (which I would not do to your house of worship). When the pedophile Priest scandal was first exposed what was the course of action the Catholic Church chose? They elected to cover it up, deny it and hide it, transferring sick Priests to another parish or non-parish duties. They did so because for them the first priority before anything else was the preservation of the Church, that is the institution. People and their suffering unfortunately have to endure in silence, they will tell you, because without the Church all would be lost. And while they are at it the Church will also tell you all about bogus and clandestine Christianity (see heresies and Protestantism).<br /><br />Rome, which has billions in its coffers, takes the same attitude towards its local church’s financial woes as some Grand Lodges take to their failing local Lodges.<br /><br />Once in awhile I contemplate which came first the chicken or the egg. I haven’t answered that query satisfactorily yet but I can answer which came first local Lodges or Grand Lodges? We all know the answer to that question. The problem is that while Grand Lodges used to sit at the will and pleasure of local Lodges, today local Lodges sit at the will and pleasure of Grand Lodges. And more and more Grand Lodges are cracking the whip. As they do so they purge themselves of any recalcitrants who would seek to deinstitutionalize Masonry and make it a more open society. They must keep the Institution pure, they will tell you, that’s the only way it will survive. What they are really doing is causing more fissures, splits and breakaways.<br /><br />Meanwhile local Lodges like the one in our fictional story are begging for a bailout. Maybe these Lodges, these foreclosures, should turn to President Obama. After all the federal government is bailing out anybody and everybody!<br /><br />Are we ready as we go deeper and deeper into economic collapse in the United States, as everybody pulls back and spends little and suspends all luxuries, to watch Masonic building after Masonic building across the USA be abandoned, foreclosed or sold? Are we ready to sit back following the same failed policies and hang tied by rules and regulations we fail to modify? Or are we going to think outside the box, get creative and meet this economic depression head on in order to survive in buildings in many cases that have thousands and thousands of dollars or irreplaceable artwork, wood work and specialized building construction? Are we going to just walk away from these hand crafted works of art to go meet at someone’s house or a church or the back room of a tavern?<br /><br />Are we men enough and secure enough in our ability to keep our private affairs private to hire professionals to help us manage our finances and our assets? Can we run our Lodges like a business and make a profit? Are we willing to procure the most advantageous tax structure for our Lodges? Are we willing to modify overly strict rules and regulations to enable us to maximize the use of our buildings? Can we make our Lodge property pay for itself? Are we as a Lodge willing to put ourselves into the hands of an outside professional business manager who can run the financial/business side of our Lodges so that we can stay afloat? Or are we going to continue to muddle through until we are left with no choice but to walk away from it all?<br /><br />Are not many Lodges now spending every penny they can raise on just keeping their building open? Doesn’t that severely limit what a Lodge can do in the way of providing good Masonic programs? And isn’t the lack of good Masonic programs hurting our ability to attract new members? Aren’t most Lodge mergers the result of one Lodge’s economic collapse? <br /><br />Isn’t this really a vicious cycle? We are so crippled by the expense of our buildings that we have no money for anything else. We can’t go anywhere as a Lodge, have grand dinners, put on a family BBQ or a Ladies night of dinner and dancing or pay for an outside featured speaker for our Lodge because we have no money. Every cent we raise goes into keeping our buildings open. Doesn’t then what we can do as a Lodge become very limited? Doesn’t that limitation severely hamper our ability to attract new members? Because we get no new members doesn’t that limit the amount of money coming into our bank account? No money means no programs which means no new members which means less and less money. We are going around and around in a vicious circle.<br /><br />What would you do about it? Was the fictional Lodge in this story justified in its actions?Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-32360989267638449372009-01-04T15:14:00.012-06:002009-01-04T15:21:12.412-06:00Before<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEoQsf2VYI/AAAAAAAAAVg/wbUqxXO7k7Q/s1600-h/Halcyon+4.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEoQsf2VYI/AAAAAAAAAVg/wbUqxXO7k7Q/s320/Halcyon+4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551704797435266" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEoJ7qp-mI/AAAAAAAAAVY/BLQublUDNJE/s1600-h/Halcyon+5.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEoJ7qp-mI/AAAAAAAAAVY/BLQublUDNJE/s320/Halcyon+5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551588610210402" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEoDNWZXSI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/N7tshfeAjHw/s1600-h/Halcyon+6.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEoDNWZXSI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/N7tshfeAjHw/s320/Halcyon+6.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551473097989410" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEn9TB4UbI/AAAAAAAAAVI/sWx13fhXkYE/s1600-h/Halcyon+7.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEn9TB4UbI/AAAAAAAAAVI/sWx13fhXkYE/s320/Halcyon+7.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551371543335346" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEn4xYK3QI/AAAAAAAAAVA/N_I2hzYZ6A4/s1600-h/Halcyon+8.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEn4xYK3QI/AAAAAAAAAVA/N_I2hzYZ6A4/s320/Halcyon+8.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551293790543106" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEn0GOeKMI/AAAAAAAAAU4/XMqpFP_CO6Y/s1600-h/Halcyon+9.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEn0GOeKMI/AAAAAAAAAU4/XMqpFP_CO6Y/s320/Halcyon+9.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551213487663298" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnt6ok6_I/AAAAAAAAAUw/ThFfYCNsyfs/s1600-h/Halcyon+10.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnt6ok6_I/AAAAAAAAAUw/ThFfYCNsyfs/s320/Halcyon+10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287551107296717810" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnmBbxBWI/AAAAAAAAAUo/5larIt033nc/s1600-h/Halcyon+11.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnmBbxBWI/AAAAAAAAAUo/5larIt033nc/s320/Halcyon+11.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287550971683079522" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnc7kV88I/AAAAAAAAAUg/dHlUbW2pIh0/s1600-h/Halcyon+12.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnc7kV88I/AAAAAAAAAUg/dHlUbW2pIh0/s320/Halcyon+12.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287550815489618882" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnSYDQNxI/AAAAAAAAAUY/d_ImTgYsuVE/s1600-h/Halcyon+13.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnSYDQNxI/AAAAAAAAAUY/d_ImTgYsuVE/s320/Halcyon+13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287550634156898066" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnMXrYmwI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/MxkIqx1DQK4/s1600-h/Halcyon2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEnMXrYmwI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/MxkIqx1DQK4/s320/Halcyon2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287550530977569538" /></a>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-87426276157783462162009-01-04T15:06:00.014-06:002009-01-04T15:13:23.951-06:00After<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmbPbya-I/AAAAAAAAAUI/-RA1F9pPkxQ/s1600-h/Halcyon+15.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmbPbya-I/AAAAAAAAAUI/-RA1F9pPkxQ/s320/Halcyon+15.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549686951078882" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmV_lQgnI/AAAAAAAAAUA/B_F3Tt2NC3Y/s1600-h/Halcyon+14.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmV_lQgnI/AAAAAAAAAUA/B_F3Tt2NC3Y/s320/Halcyon+14.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549596796486258" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmQOgSSjI/AAAAAAAAAT4/3Hc0-mXqxdk/s1600-h/Halcyon+16.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmQOgSSjI/AAAAAAAAAT4/3Hc0-mXqxdk/s320/Halcyon+16.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549497722948146" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmH2uz8tI/AAAAAAAAATw/yMB6uXd6phY/s1600-h/Halcyon+17.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmH2uz8tI/AAAAAAAAATw/yMB6uXd6phY/s320/Halcyon+17.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549353902469842" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmCnCLcPI/AAAAAAAAATo/lvOA2QptDxw/s1600-h/Halcyon+18.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEmCnCLcPI/AAAAAAAAATo/lvOA2QptDxw/s320/Halcyon+18.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549263789388018" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEl7q6vHhI/AAAAAAAAATg/qpog3yP_c6A/s1600-h/Halcyon+19.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEl7q6vHhI/AAAAAAAAATg/qpog3yP_c6A/s320/Halcyon+19.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549144572829202" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEl2Y96iLI/AAAAAAAAATY/hqbLi0SovaM/s1600-h/Halcyon+20.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEl2Y96iLI/AAAAAAAAATY/hqbLi0SovaM/s320/Halcyon+20.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287549053854976178" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEluz1rpXI/AAAAAAAAATQ/b7zgSNGbwhA/s1600-h/Halcyon+22.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEluz1rpXI/AAAAAAAAATQ/b7zgSNGbwhA/s320/Halcyon+22.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287548923629249906" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWElpZYGprI/AAAAAAAAATI/bug8HPYOC2A/s1600-h/Halcyon+21.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWElpZYGprI/AAAAAAAAATI/bug8HPYOC2A/s320/Halcyon+21.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287548830626522802" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWElf55WCfI/AAAAAAAAATA/rLoovf3o1h8/s1600-h/Halcyon+13.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWElf55WCfI/AAAAAAAAATA/rLoovf3o1h8/s320/Halcyon+13.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287548667557186034" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWElA-QUBKI/AAAAAAAAASw/A11Jiu9TMl0/s1600-h/Halcyon+23.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWElA-QUBKI/AAAAAAAAASw/A11Jiu9TMl0/s320/Halcyon+23.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287548136151319714" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEk7rOvCwI/AAAAAAAAASo/6SkfkeQpO9E/s1600-h/BoxingGym+Halcyon.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SWEk7rOvCwI/AAAAAAAAASo/6SkfkeQpO9E/s320/BoxingGym+Halcyon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5287548045145082626" /></a>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-44498476469287060772009-01-02T22:40:00.000-06:002009-01-02T22:41:25.718-06:00Edinburg Register House MSI received in the mail recently from the Scottish Rite Research Society, the book titled “Light on Masonry” written by Arturo de Hoyos. He is quite a researcher. The book is a reprint of the famous expose by that name written by David Bernard in 1829 in the Morgan Affair period of anti Masonry. Along with Bernard’s expose de Hoyos adds a history of Masonic exposes and his own analysis.<br /><br />He briefly describes a list of other exposes with the earliest being not an expose but a memory aide for Brethren. The Edinburgh Register House MS was written in 1696 and predates the formation of the Premier Grand Lodge by 21 years. It is the earliest complete description of Masonic ceremony known. We are just given a brief taste of that work.<br /><br />Naturally Masonic ritual was quite different then from today with also there being only two degrees. But what is so fascinating is that which is the same. The first degree penalty is exactly as it is today over 300 years later. The five points are exactly the same. The answer to the question, “How shall I know you to be a Mason”, is the same. The grips and words are not revealed in this writing. But it does say that the Lodge faces east and west as is the temple at Jerusalem.<br /><br />Some of the other points that are different but interesting are the three jewels which are said to be Perpend Esler, a square pavement and a broad oval. The key to the Lodge is found three foot and a half from the Lodge door under a perpend esler, and a green divot. But under the lap of my liver where all my secrets of my heart lie.<br /><br />Life is about change and surely Freemasonry has evolved from its early history to be rewritten and then rewritten again. But I just had a glimpse into the Craft before Anderson’s Constitutions and Preston/Webb ritual. And what I see has connected me to those who have gone before me and that makes me very proud and infused with a spirit or reverential awe.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-72119854960263116312009-01-01T07:43:00.003-06:002009-01-01T08:30:23.773-06:00Listening To Wise CounselToday is the first day of a New Year and the first day of the rest of my life. <br /><br />Some wise counsel has been passed onto me and seeing the merit in what has been said I pass it onto y'all.<br /><br /><blockquote>New Year's Resolutions: The Two Lists<br />From Daily OM at http://www.dailyom.com/ <br /><br /> <br /><br />I was fortunate to spend time with an enigmatic man named Robert during a very special period of my life. Robert taught me many things during our days together, and this time of year reminds me of one particular interaction we had. <br /><br />"Now that you are becoming more aware," Robert said, "you need to begin to set goals for yourself so you don't lose the momentum you have built." <br /><br />"Like New Year's resolutions?" I asked. <br /><br />"That's an interesting idea," he smirked. "Let's do that." <br /><br />By then I was used to his cryptic responses, so I knew something was up because of the way his eyes sparkled as he let out an impish laugh. <br /><br />"Tonight's assignment is to make two lists," Robert continued. "The first is a list of all the New Year's resolutions you WANT to keep, and the second is a list of all the New Year's resolutions you WILL keep. Write the WANT List first, and when you have exhausted all of your ideas, then write the second list on another sheet of paper." <br /><br />That night I went home and spent several hours working on the two lists. The WANT List felt overwhelming at first, but after a while I got into writing all the things I had always wanted to do if the burdens of life hadn't gotten in the way. After nearly an hour, the list swelled to fill the entire page and contained nearly all of my ideas of an ideal life. The second list was much easier, and I was able to quickly commit ten practical resolutions that I felt would be both realistic and helpful. <br /><br />The next day, I met Robert in front of the local food Co-op, where we seemed to have most of our enlightening conversations. "Tell me about your two lists," Robert said as the familiar smirk crept onto his face. <br /><br />"The first list contains all the things I SHOULD do if I completely changed my life to be the person I always wanted to be. And the second list contains all the things I COULD do by accepting my current life, and taking realistic steps towards the life I want to lead." <br /><br />"Let me see the second list," he said. <br /><br />I handed him the second list, and without even looking at it, he ripped the paper into tiny pieces and threw it in the nearby garbage can. His disregard for the effort I had put into the list annoyed me at first, but after I calmed down I began to think about the first list in a different light. In my heart, I knew the second list was a cop out, and the first list was the only one that really mattered. <br /><br />"And now, the first list." Robert bowed his head and held out both of his hands. <br /><br />I purposefully handed him the first list and held his gaze for several seconds, waiting for him to begin reading the page. After an unusually long silence, he began to crumple the paper into a ball and once again tossed it into the can without looking at it. <br /><br />"What did you do that for?!" I couldn't hide my anger any longer. <br /><br />Robert began to speak in a quiet and assured voice. "What you SHOULD or COULD do with your life no longer matters. The only thing that matters, from this day forward, is what you MUST do." <br /><br />He then drew a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it to me. <br /><br />I opened it carefully, and found a single word floating in the middle of the white page: <br /><br />"Love." </blockquote><br /><br />Remember we are human beings. Yes, you say. Human beings not human doings. So let's look inside ourselves more often this year and boast less about what we have accomplished on the outside. <br /><br />We are human beings not human doings and our soul development is the most important thing in our life. What we are as a person is much more important than what we have done.<br /><br />Spend some private time in contemplative study with the philosophy of Freemasonry. Remember Masonry is a way of life!<br /><br />We are human beings not human doings.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-88540769244405623392008-12-31T21:12:00.003-06:002008-12-31T21:30:04.506-06:00A Lodge of the Holy Saints John of JerusalemThe last broadcast of <em>Masonic Central </em>was a Table Lodge and all had a fun time. As I had to rise at 3:30 AM for work the next day I confined my toasts to some good English hot tea. Along the way in performing the seven toasts we came to the one for The Holy Saints John. After the toast we had a pretty good discussion going between the hosts Greg Stewart and Dean Kennedy, and Stephen Dafoe and myself about “From the Lodge of the Holy Saints John of Jerusalem.”<br /><br />Why do we as Masons say we are from a Lodge of the Holy Saint Johns or John? I did some investigating and found that Ed Halpaus had written an essay on the subject that was most fascinating, so I will bring you his words on the subject. If you aren’t familiar with Ed Halpaus, he hails from the Grand Lodge of Minnesota, Mainstream where he has served as Grand Lodge Education Officer. He publishes two Masonic subject essay mailings that one can subscribe to. One is Mehr Licht (More Light) and the other T.F.S. (Three, Five and Seven). You can request to be put on his mailing list by E-Mailing him at ed@halpaus.net and mentioning the titles of the mailings in your request. I am a regular subscriber and always find Brother Halpaus spreads mucho light!<br /><br />Brother Halpaus says that in answering the question who was the Holy St. John that is referred to in the phrase “the Lodge of the Holy Saint John”, a French Mason by the name of Bazot claims that it was St. John the Almoner. His father was King of Cyprus but he gave up his title to the throne to go to Jerusalem to assist the Knights and pilgrims of the Crusades. There he did much in charitable relief and acts of benevolence. St. John the Almoner was canonized by both the Greek and Roman Catholic churches and there were two feast days in his honor on November 11th and January 23rd.<br /><br />But Brother Halpaus goes on to point out that is false that it was St. John the Baptist as the day the Grand Lodge of England was formed in 1717 was held on June 24th, Saint John the Baptist day. Later St. John the Evangelist was added to the mix.<br /><br />But there is a Masonic connection here, says Brother Halpaus. St. John the Almoner is the patron Saint of the Masonic Order of the Templars on account of his charity to the poor and his building of hospitals in Jerusalem.<br /><br />But what was most interesting that Brother Halpus had to say was before the year 1440 the Masonic Fraternity was known by the name of John’s Brothers and subsequently Freemasonry as practiced in the USA, Ireland and Scotland was called Johannite Masonry. Here you will find the Masonic symbol of “The Point Within The Circle” <em> “So the first three degrees conferred by the Symbolic Lodges in these countries”, </em>Hapaus goes on to say, <em>“is sometimes , although rarely now, called Johannite Masonry, because those Lodges are dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist.”</em><br /><br />In England the terms St. John Lodges and St. John Masons were applied to those who were Freemasons before the Premier Lodge of England was formed and who in 1717 did not join the new Grand Lodge. They became old unrecognized Lodges and remained Trinitarian Christian while the new Grand Lodge of England was non sectarian. Right about now I am thinking about the difference in focus between American Prince Hall Masonry and American Mainstream Masonry and the interview on Masonic Central of Texas Prince Hall Deputy Grand Master Michael Anderson. There is much that can be said about the biblical roots of Freemasonry.<br /><br />A question I asked on the radio show was why Jerusalem? A Lodge of the Holy Saints John yes, but why Jerusalem? And of course the obvious answer was that this is the area where King Solomon’s Temple was located. But I was searching for a still deeper symbolism here. And I found it when I read Brother Halpaus’ article.<br /><br /><em>“Jerusalem”, </em>says Halpaus, <em>“has a symbolic meaning of peace, rest and contentment. The name Jerusalem means City of Peace”. </em>I have long held that world peace and Freemasonry have a direct correlation, and that every Lodge room is a sanctuary of peace and harmony and accord.<br /><br />Brother Halpaus starts his article with a quote from the Book of Common Prayer. I will end with it.<br /><br /><em>“O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls; and plenteous within thy palaces. For my brethren and companion’s sakes; I will wish thee prosperity. Yea, because of the house of the Lord our god; I will seek to do thee good.”</em>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-74762486606121459782008-12-30T20:03:00.003-06:002008-12-31T21:10:47.143-06:00Prince Hall Masonry On The Radio<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SVrTgNIVXWI/AAAAAAAAAPg/SfuOHq12o-A/s1600-h/2680743050049997722HUHTsY_ph.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 213px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SVrTgNIVXWI/AAAAAAAAAPg/SfuOHq12o-A/s320/2680743050049997722HUHTsY_ph.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285769662906588514" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SVrTU2oIFPI/AAAAAAAAAPY/_hCYhifupiQ/s1600-h/IMG_2163.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/SVrTU2oIFPI/AAAAAAAAAPY/_hCYhifupiQ/s400/IMG_2163.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285769467887359218" /></a><br /><br /><br />On December 7, 2008 R.W. Michael T. Anderson, Deputy Grand Master of The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas appeared on the radio podcast Masonic Central. This podcast is nationally and internationally known and has recently interviewed such Mainstream notables as Brothers Chris Hodapp, S. Brent Morris, Robert Davis, Tom Jackson, Stephen Dafoe and Nelson King to name a few. So Brother Anderson followed some heavy hitters on a radio show that is doubling its listeners every two months.<br /><br />Assisting the Co-owners Brothers Greg Stewart of California and Dean Kennedy of Nova Scotia, Canada interview Brother Anderson was Texas Prince Hall’s own Brother Frederic L. Milliken of Pride of Mt. Pisgah #135, Dallas, Texas.<br />Brother Anderson was able to paint for his audience a good picture of Prince Hall Masonry. He emphasized his belief that Masonry is not about outward appearance but rather inward character. He spoke lovingly about his Masonic mentor Lawrence “Pap” Anderson who instilled in him the importance of getting a good Masonic education and having a solid foundation of knowledge about the Craft.<br /><br />Talking about how Masonry affects the individual, Brother Anderson said that you ought to be able to identify a Mason by his actions. “My actions should speak louder than anything else”, he emphasized. “Even if someone doesn’t know you are a Mason, they should be thinking that there is something different about that man”, he added.<br /><br />He answered questions on the numbers of Texas Prince Hall Masons by saying it is not the quantity of men that we should be concerned about but the quality. Another question was asked about the emphasis upon Christianity within Prince Hall Masonry and Brother Anderson answered that Masonry should always point a Brother to the church. And then he said something about the Bible on our altars that everybody listened intently to. “The more words you put in you, the more words come out of you”, he said.<br /><br />A question was asked about the longevity of service of Prince Hall Grand Masters and Brother Anderson replied that he thought it was a good thing and allowed Grand Masters to implement some long range visions. He said that he was very, very appreciative of Grand Master Wilbert M. Curtis and all he has done to being a new attitude to Prince Hall Texas and how growth even in mid winter Grand Lodge attendance has increased, reflecting the Brothers love for the continued leadership of their Grand Master. He spoke about Grand Master Curtis’s hard work in getting a compact signed with the Grand Lodge of Texas for Prince Hall recognition and the subsequent recognition by UGLE.<br /><br />And still another question was about the Masonic Family and the cooperation and closeness of the rapidly growing Bodies of The Eastern Star and Heroines of Jericho. Brother Anderson spoke about the importance placed on the fraternalism of the entire Prince Hall Family.<br /><br />Many people across the USA and Canada were exposed to a better understanding on just what Prince Hall Masonry is like and we can thank Brother Anderson for that. If you were there live on December7, 2008 you not only got a good show but an unrecorded after show. For those that were not there the show can be accessed on podcast on the Masonic Central website http://masoniccentral.blogspot.com/. Knowledge begets understanding and understanding begets pride in your fraternity. You can tell that when you listen to Brother Anderson. So could the rest of North America.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-66019635745766638972008-12-22T22:02:00.000-06:002008-12-22T22:04:39.126-06:00Fremasonry and ChristmasCompliments of Brother Neil Neddermeyer who writes Cinosam.<br /><br />FREEMASONRY AND CHRISTMAS <br /><br /><br />The observance of Christmas doesn't seem to bring satisfaction to some people. On one hand, many say it's too religious, and thus don't want Christmas trees in public buildings and nativity scenes within a shepherd's-crook length of government lawns. On the other hand, many say it's not religious enough; it's too commercial. They've been saying it for years-it's the central theme behind the charming animated cartoon A Charlie Brown Christmas which was made some 40 years ago.<br /><br />Setting that aside, what does Christmas mean to the Freemason?<br /><br />Certainly Freemasonry is not a religion, Christian or otherwise. It leaves the determination on spiritual matters to each individual Mason, so long as he believes in the Almighty Creator. But there are certain messages from the story of Christmas that are applicable to all Masons, not just those who celebrate a certain birth on December 25th.<br /><br />Many Christians feel God gave his greatest gift to mankind, and that Gift's birth is marked on Christmas Day. And the spirit of giving is also outlined in our Masonic ceremonies. The new Entered Apprentice is reminded in the northeast corner of charity, and to practice it whenever possible. There's the monetary charity of that portion of our ceremony. And there's another kind. The one referred to in the Charge in the same degree which admonishes "to relieve his necessities, soothe his afflictions, and do to him as you would that he, under similar circumstances, should do until you." In other words, the Golden Rule, from the Sermon on the Mount.<br /><br />Christmas is a time of faith for our Christian brethren. But all Masons are reminded in the different degrees of the principle of faith. In the explanation of the First Degree Tracing Board, we hear "How ready and willing ought we to be to adore the Almighty Creator." Therefore, let this time of year serve as a reminder to all Masons to practice their faith, whatever it may be.<br /><br />Faith and Charity are names of principal staves or rounds on the Ladder you see every meeting on that Tracing Board. But there is another round, and that is Hope in Salvation. While Salvation has a particular connotation to those who believe in the story of the virgin birth, the concept of some kind of reward for following Masonic principles during our lives winds its way through the various degrees, as those of you familiar with the working tools explanations of the Second and Third Degrees well know.<br /><br />So let this season of the year remind all Masons, no matter what their religious beliefs, to follow those universal tenets of the Craft-faith, hope and charity. Doing so should bring satisfaction to you at Christmas-time. <br /><br />Jim Bennie, PDDGM <br />Southern Cross No. 44, Vancouver B.C.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-63441682234250647712008-12-14T20:20:00.003-06:002008-12-14T20:32:18.347-06:00What Would You Do As Grand Master #9Here is a young Texas Mason soon to be shipped out to Afghanistan. He writes a very interesting personalized Blog, <a href="http://fromdarknesstolight-somoteitbe.blogspot.com/">From Darkness To Light</a>. This is our future. Long after I am sitting in The Celestial Lodge Above, this thoughtful Mason will still be here and my bet is as a big leader.<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />To begin this I would say that I have been from one side of this country to the other and have visited Masonic Lodges in between, and what works in Santa Fe, New Mexico might not work in Alexandria, Virginia and for that I give your rule number one, if it isn’t broke, then don’t fix it. Bottom line if a lodge is bringing in new members, having a positive impact in the community, teaching esoteric work, or whatever than there isn’t a justification or a reason to mess with the way that lodge is doing business. That being written, there would be some changes that I think could help jump start Freemasonry in the 21st century.<br /><br />Offer up a choice of blue lodge types: I think that anyone that has been a Master Mason for six months knows that there are vast difference between lodges, even within a Masonic District, I would like each Masonic District to have at least three types of lodges available, Traditional Observance “like” Lodges, 20th Century Traditional Lodges, and Community Outreach Lodges. Traditional Observance “like” Lodges would have a heavy emphasis on ritual and esoteric work, would meet in dark suits or tux have table lodge once a month, and require papers written by it’s members. 20th Century Traditional Lodges, are the lodges that most people think of today, with an emphasis on fellowship (fish fry’s, pancake breakfasts, etc) is proficient at the ritual, and does small charity events. Community Outreach Lodges while meet all of the tenants of a Masonic lodge do extensive work in the local community and other Masonic charitable organizations.<br /><br />I believe a key in to attracting quality candidates is giving them an option to choose which lodge meets their needs, all potential candidates who are serious about joining Freemasonry would be briefed on each lodge and encouraged to visit each type to find which Masonic journey route they would like to go. Some candidates want to join the same lodge that Father or Grandfather joined, and that’s fine, but we want to give everyone a choice in the type of lodge they would join. Far be it for me to say that only one kind of lodge is the only way to save Freemasonry.<br /><br />Now living in a state like Texas and realizing that there are large rural areas that can hardly support one lodge let alone three, I refer you to rule number one, and would allow the members of that lodge to decide their best route given their membership (again, it’s about choice and the choices the brothers want to make).<br /><br />Celebration of your Lodge’s Heritage: In the race to cure “Masonic World Hunger” (MWH) most have forgotten the little things that build pride and attract membership, that’s the foundation and the beginnings of your lodge. I don’t care if a lodge was founded in 1797 or 1997 it has a unique story of brotherhood and leadership that needs to be celebrated both within the walls of our temples and in the local community. That is why I would dedicate October as a month that all lodges celebrate their founding and telling the story of how they came to be, both within a tyled meeting and the community at large.<br /><br />Encouragement of Younger Brothers Involvement @ Grand Lodge: A common theme that we get in our fraternity is why we aren’t attracting good men anymore, one of the factors in my mind is that Freemasonry in America has become an aging institution that isn’t putting it’s best and brightest and younger members forward, instead we rely on retired lawyers, judges, and doctors to be our face. While that brings a sense of stability, it isn’t doing much to attract men in their 20’s and 30’s. We need to celebrate our younger members, their professional achievements and have them be actively involved @ the Grand Lodge level. I am not saying that after a guy is raised slap a DDGM badge on him, but there are plenty of ways to encourage involvement at all levels, without being a Past Master, this can encourage something other than the old grey hairs we see in our local newspaper.<br /><br />Community Work with Other Masonic Organizations: To help build relationships and ease tension I would work with The Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas in a joint Community Outreach program to positively impact a community hit by disaster (hurricane, draught, etc). This would be a partnership between two non-profit organizations with one common goal, the relief of our common man. This would hopefully lead to both sides of the aging organizations to realize that they are not in competition with each other for membership and start to heal scars that were brought by the past. We have already recognized each other; why not work together in the areas that we have commonality.<br /><br />These are the initiatives that I would feel would help our Fraternity, would it solve “Masonic World Hunger”? No, but giving brothers and candidates a choice in their Masonic experience is a key component, along with showcasing younger brothers and having a positive impact on the community beyond raising small amounts of money, but giving time and labor can have a lasting impression.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-14620304812122572402008-12-10T21:26:00.003-06:002008-12-10T22:14:54.974-06:00Understanding Prince Hall FreemasonryOn December 8, 2008 the Deputy Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas, Michael T. Anderson, appeared on the radio podcast <strong>Masonic Central </strong>and I had the honor of helping to interview him. This was an exposure of Prince Hall right from the horse’s mouth to an audience of mainly Mainstream Masonry from all over.<br /><br />This show has a blog or chat board that allows those logged on not only to listen to the interview but also to post questions or carry on a conversation with others logged in. There were questions but what got my attention were some of the comments. “We are farther apart than I thought we were”, said one. “He’s preaching”, another blurted out. It’s not that these comments were disrespectful because they were not. It was the chasm of understanding that still needed to be overcome that sunk in.<br /><br />Most Mainstreamers do not understand the closeness of Prince Hall to Christianity and why prayers to Jesus are allowed in Lodge. They have “sanitized” their Freemasonry and put up a wall of separation between spirituality and Masonry. To understand why Prince Hall operates as it does you need to go back into Black history.<br /><br />Black people whether slave or free were not allowed to go down to the park and hang around or sit around and talk at the General Store, or attend the town BBQ and Fair or meet at the Grange or have a picnic together. Blacks were not allowed to congregate on their own lest they be a threat to White society and later during segregation Blacks were only allowed to assemble in non White areas which unless you owned property amounted to nowhere - nowhere but the one place where Blacks were permitted to assemble in large numbers, the Black Church.<br /><br />So if you were a Black man and you wanted to meet a woman, you met her at the church. If you wanted men friends you met them there also. If you were looking for a tutor or some knowledge in an area you went to the church. If you wanted to inquire about Freemasonry you did so at the church. And in later years you most often met the Black politician running for office in your area at the church.<br /><br />From the Black church flowed everything, not because that is the way Blacks chose it but because that is the way it was forced upon them. Consequently 99% of all Black Masons came from the church. The church was the one area where you got to know strangers. 150 to 200 years ago all Blacks were Christians and mainly churched in just a few different denominations. So every Mason coming from the same religion and the same few churches made the Lodge a gathering of church men expressing their spirituality and their Masonry together.<br /><br />In the Black community everything became intertwined. Areas of life living were not segregated into little boxes of isolation. Freemasons were very active in the community in Black politics, community action and charity. Politicians and community activists were active in the church and often came to disseminate their message from the church pulpit. Many male church members were Freemasons and brought their religion with them into the Lodge since everyone else there was of the same persuasion. The Black community has never accepted the “Separation of Church and State” Doctrine. Prince Hall Freemasonry is not secular but religious. The Black political world, the religious world and the Masonic world were some of the same people with different hats on, the same people who went around and around in an interconnected circle. There was no wall of separation. Since many Black Lodges were not well heeled most met at the church. The Black church on certain nights became the Black Lodge building.<br /><br />Now times have changed. You see many Blacks in denominations previously unheard of such as Roman Catholicism. You see some Black people in different religions other than Christianity, such as Islam. Prince Hall isn’t exclusively Christian. It admits men of all religions and will obligate them on the Sacred Volume of Law that pertains to their religion. And today you will find a small mix of others in the Prince Hall system who do not feel uncomfortable at all because Prince Hall only allows the expression of one’s faith not the proselytizing or conformity to any religious dogma.<br /><br />But we are talking about association not the practice of Freemasonry. We are talking how men act and behave as they gather in the Lodge feeling close to each other. They act out their traditions, they way they were raised, especially when all present feel exactly the same. But that is not the same as practicing and teaching what Freemasonry is all about.<br /><br /><br />It is the failure of Mainstream Masonry to take any responsibility for the traditions of the Black community and the way Black Freemasonry developed that is the problem today. It is the failure of Mainstream Masonry to take any responsibility for a duly chartered branch of Masonry that always practiced regular Freemasonry and observed the Landmarks to be declared Clandestine for over 200 years. It is the failure of Mainstream Masonry to take any responsibility for creating a monopoly in each state by the American Doctrine of Exclusive Territorial Jurisdiction thereby deliberately blocking Black Freemasonry and then today to say that Prince Hall would be recognized only if it wasn’t a separate Grand Lodge. It is the failure of Mainstream Masonry to take any responsibility because today it says that only solution is a merger whereby Mainstream would dominate and change Prince Hall when for 200 years Prince Hall has sought inclusion within Mainstream Masonry.<br /><br />All these considerations and issues aside Prince Hall Freemasonry vehemently denies that it is injecting Christianity into the practice of its Freemasonry. What it is saying is that Masonry is scripture based and that the building of King Solomon’s Temple and the playing out of the legend of Hiram Abiff are all Biblically based and therefore to study and connect those scriptures to the knowledge a Freemason needs to learn adds understanding and meaning to the whole process. <br /><br />There is no proselytizing of Christianity or any particular Christian denomination in the Prince Hall Lodge room. Nor are other religions prohibited from joining and being raised on their Volume of The Sacred Law. <br /><br />What a Prince Hall Mason would say is that connecting scripture from which the story of Freemasonry originates is putting into context the whole story, the whole meaning of the teachings and virtues of the fraternity. It is not injecting religion into the Lodge room it is making the philosophy of Freemasonry complete.<br /><br />In many Mainstream Lodges upon being raised the Lodge presents a “Masonic Bible” to a new Master Mason. Some Mainstream jurisdictions even have ritual that goes with the presentation. This “Masonic Bible” is merely the King James Version with scriptural references to the ritual of Freemasonry or a Masonic concordance. All that Prince Hall is doing is alluding to these scriptural references (that Mainstream agrees are there) and pulling out the full Biblical story. From King Solomon’s Temple to Jeptha Judge of Israel to Hiram King of Tyre and Hiram Abiff these stories are all in the Bible. By knowing the full story and all that preceded and followed it within a Masonic scriptural reference a Mason is provided a rounding out of knowledge so that the whole story of King Solomon’s Temple can be seen in its full context.<br /><br />When I do Bible readings for my church my Pastor asks me to read beforehand for my own edification the whole chapter from whence the reading comes so that I will understand the whole context of the story and the point being made.<br /><br />If you have had a chance to listen to the podcast on Masonic Central with Brother Anderson you will notice that I asked Brother Anderson to explain what and why The Book of Ruth is taught to every Prince Hall Mason. Not only do we learn that a testimony in Israel was when a man plucked off his shoe and gave it to his neighbor but also it is there we meet Boaz. The full story of Boaz has a very definite moral teaching and every Prince Hall Mason knows the connection of Boaz to Jesus. Boaz was from the house of Jesse and this lineage produced David that went on to give us Jesus.<br /><br />What we are talking about here is Faith not religion:<br /><br /><em>“The covering of a Lodge is the clouded canopy or starry decked heaven, where all good Masons hope at last to arrive by the aid of a ladder, called Jacob’s Ladder, having three principal rounds denominated Faith, Hope and Charity;”</em><br /><br />IT’S FAITH NOT RELIGION that permeates the Lodge.<br /><br />Prince Hall Masons would say that the story of the Building of King Solomon’s Temple is taken out of context unless the scriptural references are pursued and tied in to allow the full meaning to blossom. Most of these scriptural references in the Blue Lodge are Old Testament, which is not a direct tie to Christianity.<br /><br />So Prince Hall Masons looking at Mainstream Masonry would say it is practicing Masonry out of context and without the scriptural story it is secular Masonry, neutered so as not to offend and so bland so to be politically correct. Prince Hall Masons would point out that there is no Constitutional right not to be offended and that they will maintain their position of wishing any and all a Merry Christmas along with continuing to teach Freemasonry as a scripturally based philosophy.<br /><br />Perhaps this is too harsh an assessment or you might think an exaggeration. But the constant criticism of Mainstream Masonry leveled at Prince Hall without researching the facts of the situation and the history behind traditions which is available to anyone who would take the time to search and investigate, only spreads disharmony, discord and disunity.Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-1319361014836209432008-12-08T21:35:00.005-06:002008-12-09T04:02:18.315-06:00On The Radio, RW Michael T. Anderson<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/ST3oH0IWtSI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/XWZis3uDTVY/s1600-h/IMG_2163.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/ST3oH0IWtSI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/XWZis3uDTVY/s400/IMG_2163.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5277629559298503970" /></a><br /><br />Deputy Grand Master, Michael T. Anderson of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Texas appeared on the Masonic radio show <em>Masonic Central</em> Sunday 12/07/08. It was an opportunity for Prince Hall Masonry to become more well known and hopefully better understood.<br /><br /><em>"Masonry is moving towards what its true meaning is - you don't judge a Mason by his outward appearance but by his inward character", </em>said Brother Anderson.<br /><br />He went on to explain how he got involved with Freemasonnry and the influence his mentor "Pap" Anderson had on his Masonic development. The great emphasis that he places on knowledge was something that Pap instilled in him. One of the fine examples he used was the application of the 24 inch guage to daily life.<br /><br />Brother Anderson also spoke about what the Masonic Order really stands for, the importance of community, Prince Hall's close identity with Christianity, and the greatness of the sitting Grand Master Wilbert M. Curtis and the signing of the compact of recognition with Mainstream Masonry in Texas.<br /><br />All this and more are available for you to listen to, preserved in podcast form, merely by logging onto <br /><br /><em><a href="http://masoniccentral.blogspot.com/">Masonic Central</a></em>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-18173021144224095642008-12-05T23:23:00.000-06:002008-12-05T23:24:57.208-06:00A 26/11 Survivor Story From the Front Lines of Mumbai/Bombay IndiaMy friend in India is a Freemason and when he came to Massachusetts we went to Lodge together. I sent him an E-Mail inquiring of his well being after the terrorist violence and killings broke out and this is what he sent me back (ALL NAMES WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY).<br /><br /><br />Yes by God's grace we are OK. I live in South Bombay, at Churchgate, and all of the action was within 2 kilometers from my house. The Taj, Trident (Oberoi) and Nariman house is south of me. The CST (Victoria Terminus) and Cama hospital is east of me. And the Metro Cinema and Bombay Hospital are bang on the street behind my house to my north. All within walking distances. <br /><br />The Freemason's hall is just 2 blocks away from the CST terminus where the first shots were fired at about 10.30 pm. Many of the brethren living in the suburbs commute by train to CST and then walk to the Hall. There was a Provincial Grand Lodge of Ireland in India meeting going on, and they were at the banquet table when the commotion occurred just outside. At first they thought it must be some fire-crackers, but there were people running about on the road outside. So, they sent one of our Hall orderlies out to see what was happening, and he came back to report that there was some gang war and shooting going on outside - which was an impossible thing in south Bombay. And within minutes, all mobile phones started ringing with people calling from home to let those who were inside know of what was going on, as it started coming on all the TV channels. Meanwhile, many pedestrians, escaping from the shooting at CST got into the foyer of the Freemason's hall for shelter. And then, the dinner was ended fast and the brethren started dispersing very cautiously. Later, I am told, every one reached home safely. This was on the very first day, (Wednesday) when no one yet knew what was happening. Returning by train was impossible. But many of the brethren got lifts or shared taxis to reach home.<br /><br />Then on Friday we had our Scottish District Grand Lodge installation which was postponed as the "War" was in full swing. On Saturday, we had our District Grand Conclave (Order of the Secret Monitor) installation meeting which was also postponed. By Saturday, the action at all fronts was over, but yet Bombay had a deserted look, and nobody would have come for the meeting anyway. Besides, till about noon, mo one knew when this carnage would be over. Let's see - tomorrow (Monday) all will be back to normal - hopefully. Except that everyone would be going home early after Office. No late-nights for a long time, I presume. Otherwise, Bombay is alive and awake till well past midnight. <br /><br />And Brother Fred, thank you for your concern. <br /><br />With Fraternal regards,<br />XXX<br /><br /><br />He followed that up today with a message he received from one of his friends. This is bone chilling.<br /><br /><br />Dear friends, <br />First, I wanted to thank you all for the incredible concern and support that you'll have given me over the past few days which have been among the most emotionally and psychologically draining of my life.<br /><br />By the grace of God my father was rescued from the Oberoi on Friday with two (minor) bullet wounds and is now speedily recovering. He did however lose the two best friends he was dining with that fateful night (who are like godfathers to me). We also lost a lot of other friends and colleagues and have watched our beloved city reduced to a war zone and brought to its knees.<br /><br />On Wednesday night, my father and his two friends arrived at the Indian restaurant on the first floor of the Oberoi Hotel for dinner at about 10pm. They had barely sat down when they heard gun shots in the lobby of the hotel. The terrorists, armed with AK-47s, grenades and plastic explosives, had entered the hotel and were executing everybody sitting in the ground floor restaurant. Realizing the situation, the staff of the restaurant my father was in asked them to quickly exit through the kitchen.<br /><br />As the guests tried to rush into the kitchen, one terrorist burst into the restaurant and began to shoot anyone that remained in the restaurant. At this point my father was in the kitchen and along with his two friends rushed to the fire exit. They had barely descended a few steps when they were trapped from both ends by terrorists.<br /><br />The terrorists then rounded up anyone alive (about 20 people) and made them climb the service staircase to the 18th floor. On reaching the 18th floor landing they made the people line up against a wall. One terrorist then positioned himself on the staircase going up from the landing and the other on the staircase going down from the landing. Then, in a scene right out of the Holocaust, they simultaneously opened fire on the people. My father was towards the center of the line with his two friends on either side. Out of reflex, or presence of mind, he ducked as soon as the firing began. One bullet grazed his neck, and he fell to the floor as his two friends and several other bodies piled on top of him. The terrorists then pumped another series of bullets into the heap of bodies to finish the job. This time a bullet hit my father in the back hip.<br /><br />Bent almost in double, crushed by the weight of the bodies above him, and suffocating in the torrent of blood rushing down on him from the various bodies my father held on for ten minutes while the terrorists left the area. When he finally had the courage to wiggle his arms he found that there were four other survivors in the room. They communicated to each other by touch as they were too afraid to make a sound.<br /><br />My father moved just enough to allow himself room to breathe and then lay still. The survivors passed over twelve hours lying still in the heap of bodies too afraid to move. They constantly heard gunfire and hand grenades going off in the other parts of the hotel. They feared that any noise would bring the terrorists back.<br /><br />After approximately twelve hours, the terrorists returned with a camera and flashlight and joked and laughed as they filmed what they thought was a pile of dead bodies. They then moved to the landing below where they set up explosives. On their departing, my father decided that it was too risky to remain where they were due to the explosives. Along with the other three survivors he climbed the rest of the stairwell, where they discovered a large HVAC plant room in which they decided to take shelter. They passed the rest of the siege hiding in this room trying to get the attention of the outside world by waving a makeshift flag out of the window. They drank sips of dirty water from the Air Conditioning unit to survive.<br /><br />Finally on Friday morning they were spotted by a commando rescue team that was storming the building and were evacuated to safety and taken to the hospital. <br /><br />This is just one of the countless horror stories that unfolded in those two days. There are many stories of entire families being wiped out while eating their dinner, or young kids losing both parents, or pregnant women being shot while pleading for their lives, or hostages being beaten to death with the butt of a rifle so that their faces were unrecognizable. The terrorists attacked on every level.<br /><br />They killed middle class workers when they shot up the railway station, they killed the elite in the hotels, they killed tourists and kids as they ate in a café, and they killed the sick and dying when they stormed three hospitals. They shot people in the roads, in stations, in hotels, and even entered an apartment building. They killed Indians, Americans, Britons, Israelis, and several other nationalities. They killed men, women, children, policemen, firemen, doctors, patients. This was systematic, cold-blooded, slaughter. <br /><br />We have lost a lot of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Every person who lives in South Mumbai has a story about how either they or someone they love either died or had a narrow escape. The true extent of the horror will only make itself clear over the next few days. <br /><br />Mumbai is a proud city and we pride ourselves on bouncing back from any adversity. We survive and prosper despite all the difficulties placed on us. We are no strangers to terror and have had to pick up the pieces and move on after several attacks. This time however, the sheer scale and audacity brought the city to its knees. The openness of our society, the bustling hoards in our train stations, the vibrancy of our news media, and the thousands of tourists, diplomats, and business leaders packing our hotels was used against us to devastating effect. <br /><br />In the end one tries to make sense of all this. Barack Obama said about the killers of 9/11: "My powers of empathy, my ability to reach into another's heart, cannot penetrate the blank stares of those who would murder innocents with such serene satisfaction." <br /><br />Unfortunately, this is becoming an all familiar scene in today's world. While I cannot understand, I recognize again and again the hatred, anger, and desperation of the terrorists and the cold blooded, targeted, ruthlessness of those that dispatch them. They respect nothing but their own twisted beliefs and to achieve them have declared war on an entire way of life. India now finds itself as a major front of this global war.<br /><br />How do we fight such hate? How do we inject humanity into such monstrosity? How do we convince those who think they kill in god's name that no God would condone such barbarity? How do we maintain our own values and humanity when faced with such hate and provocation?<br /><br />Over the next week as we say goodbye to those we lost and help those that survive, Mumbai and India will ask themselves these questions. I hope the rest of the world does too. <br /><br />Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers. <br />XXX<br />-- <br /><br />"Just as certain world religions say that people who do not believe in a personal God outside themselves are atheists, we say that a person who does not believe in himself is an atheist. Not believing in the splendor of one's own soul is what we call atheism." <br />- Swami VivekanandaFrederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4085261678477746076.post-65205632529240745732008-12-01T20:02:00.004-06:002008-12-01T20:10:15.044-06:00Masonic Traveler's Tracing Boards<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/STSYLwVYopI/AAAAAAAAAPI/eVm-8QMCL_c/s1600-h/%231+Tracing+Board.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/STSYLwVYopI/AAAAAAAAAPI/eVm-8QMCL_c/s400/%231+Tracing+Board.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275008391278273170" /></a><br />Tracing Board #1<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/STSX-xwpjJI/AAAAAAAAAPA/OHz9h7HIK1A/s1600-h/%232+Tracing+Board.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/STSX-xwpjJI/AAAAAAAAAPA/OHz9h7HIK1A/s400/%232+Tracing+Board.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275008168322763922" /></a><br />Tracing Board #2<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/STSXyZQJvTI/AAAAAAAAAO4/FU_rrPzyU_E/s1600-h/%233+Tracing+Board.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 183px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_U-2ZAA2Lr2k/STSXyZQJvTI/AAAAAAAAAO4/FU_rrPzyU_E/s400/%233+Tracing+Board.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5275007955585580338" /></a><br />#3 Tracing Board<br /><br /><strong>Now I hope you will read Masonic Traveler's essay below on what he would do as Grand Master. A gifted person's work should be appreciated!</strong>Frederic L. Millikenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00375574953455842623noreply@blogger.com0