Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Legends of Freemasonry

Last evening I had the honor of attending a Masonic Memorial Service for a Worshipful Brother that I consider to be one of the Legends of Freemasonry in our area.

My journey in the Blue Lodge began back in 1983, at the ripe old age of 22. What a blessing to have known and worked in the craft with many older Masons whom I consider to be Legends of Freemasonry. Coming in to the fraternity in the early eighties allowed me the opportunity to meet some of the many  brothers who were instrumental in laying the foundation upon which the fraternity of today rests.

It seems as my age increases so does my respect for those brothers who went before me. As a young Mason the impression that these brothers made on me has been long lasting. Those brothers not only left an impression but a legacy to be followed. To use a modern cliche, back in the day if one would have asked those brothers if they believed that they were leaving a legacy behind, their response would have been....No, I'm just doing my job because of my love of the craft.

Now at this stage in my life I am often reminded of those older brothers who went before me. Is it possible to live up to their expectations and is it possible to keep the torch lit before passing it on to the next generation. In thinking back to those Legends in action they were an active, vital part of Masonry in our area and inspired a whole new generation of the craft.....they set the bar high.......but isn't that what makes them great????

Thursday, February 9, 2012

one of my pet peeves

Last night I had the pleasure of attending Davison #236 for an Entered Apprentice degree. My hat is off to the Junior Deacon who got it right  ..............cowans or eavesdroppers......more often than not you hear cowans and eavesdroppers.

The word is definitely or not and.....but my question is why.........and just what exactly is a cowan? The eavesdropper is pretty easy to figure out.....maybe.

By definition a cowan is one who works as a mason without having served a regular apprenticeship....the origin of the word can be traced back to coward.....interesting.....and cowan has Scottish roots. There is a note which indicates among Freemasons that cowan is a cant term for pretender, interloper. A cant term is a word or phraseology used by a particular profession, institution, etc. Looking further an interloper is one who interferes or meddles in the affairs of others...one who intrudes into a region, field, or trade without a proper license.

Eavesdropper is one who listens secretly to a private conversation....an archaic term....to eavesdrop on.

In conclusion my pet peeve is that 95% of the time the word and is used and it should be or....the second part of my pet peeve is why are we looking out for one or the other.....and I think I just answered my own question while we want to keep away both cowans and eavesdroppers the instructions are to watch for cowans or eavesdroppers....so one may be posing as the other or the same person could be both a cowan and an eavesdropper.....but we are to guard against cowans or eavesdroppers........as you can tell even the most simple phrase we've heard a thousand times over has a very deep meaning......wow.....I need a coffee now. Have fun traveling my brothers !!!!!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Fruition

Brothers the greatest thing about this blog is educating myself and sharing my findings. My Masonic career started at the ripe old age of 13 in the Order of DeMolay and then progressed on to the Blue Lodge in 1983. Whenever I hear faith, hope and charity, I always think back to my EA degree. Fellowship Lodge used props while doing the second section of the lecture to bring to life what was being lectured about.

Jacob's ladder was a small scale model of a ladder with three Styrofoam letters...F-H-C...representing faith, hope and charity........for faith may be lost in sight, hope may end in fruition, but charity extends beyond the grave.........For all these years fruition has been one of those words which is peculiar to the lectures and is not commonly used in today's language; all of these years I thought it meant the exact opposite of what it really means.

Fruition; attainment of anything desired; realization; accomplishment:

So for something to end in fruition actually means that the project or aim has been achieved or accomplished. 
Of course faith is believing in something which can't be seen but through our sight and our minds sometimes we lose faith. Charity is to provide something to someone in need and we know that through foundations, trusts, etc that our charity can live on after our death, i.e. The Masonic Charitable Foundation.

May your search for light end in fruition !!!!!!