Thursday, April 26, 2012

Secrets ?????

For many people unfamiliar with the fraternity, they feel that we are a secret society. Many of the candidates for Freemasonry also believe that we are a secret organization. As we all know we are an organization with very, very few secrets. Primarily those secrets are the signs, tokens, and words.

The man who petitions a lodge and seeks admission and is admitted to our ranks may have a different opinion after taking part in some of the work we do.

The current officers have been in their position for about four months now. Most of those officers have been in at least one other office before assuming their current position. Quite often the wardens, deacons, and even the Masters have a difficult time addressing the other officers by their correct title. It reminds me of trying to address one of my sons by his correct name, often a list is gone through before hitting on the correct one. Brother Senior Deacon errr Senior Warden errr Junior Warden. It's happened to all of us. I think nerves may play a small part but the real reason is a lack of familiarity with the work in its proper form.

Three of the most important things that separate us from other organizations is our signs, tokens, and words and they are our deep dark secrets.......they've become such a secret that many of us don't know what they are and their proper usage.

How impressive is it to a candidate to see our officers stumble and not be familiar with our core elements? One lecture points out that it was necessary for the candidate to meet with three obstructions to test the sincerity of the business the candidate was then engaging in......the question becomes how sincere are we in imparting these vital signs, tokens, and words to the candidate? More often than not they are bobbled....it's happened to all of us....but it just seems too consistent to be a fluke......it's just another demonstration that we are unfamiliar with our own work.

Opening and closing a lodge is supposedly done ritualistically, in other words it should be done the exact same way each and every time. We are all continually exposed to it....but if one doesn't study and review it....procedures slip, words are substituted or left out and it can very easily spiral out of control. Those things which we think we are most familiar with are usually where we make mistakes, because we don't concentrate our thoughts on them as intently as we do when doing a new part for the first time. We practice, drill and rehearse those new parts and don't go back and practice, drill, and rehearse what we think we know.

We need to use the "secrecy" thing to our advantage.....it adds some mystique and uniqueness to our fraternity. So lets unlock the secrets for ourselves and be proud of our signs, tokens, and words thereby projecting a strong familiarity of the work to our candidates so they can recognize just how serious and meaningful the work is to us and the fraternity.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Traveling Men

WB Mike Burt of Vienna #205 said it best, "Traveling is one of the hidden jewels of Masonry."

Truer words have never been spoken. This has been for me a truly great week in Masonry. Ancient District 20 has a lot to be proud of.  The week started off with a MM at Linden #132, unfortunately I was unable to attend, word has it that it was a very good evening. Then Tuesday Mt.Morris #535 brought two new brothers to light, and at the same time Flint #23 brought two new brothers to light. Although two lodges in the same district did the same work they were both supported very well by the brothers of AD #20. The impressive part was that there was a lot of communication before-hand to ensure that both degrees were covered sufficiently. The brothers of AD #20 love traveling but they do it purposefully to make sure that the candidates however many get the best degree possible.

Wednesday night's focus was on Davison #236 who raised a brother to the sublime degree of a Master Mason. Again, the same process was employed and the response was over whelming, plenty of help to portray the degree in fine fashion.

To close the week out Grand Blanc #571 brought a new brother to light by conferring the EA degree. Again, an overwhelming crowd to ensure that the degree was portrayed in very fine fashion.

This week has truly been a fantastic week in Masonry in AD #20. The networking that is done gives purpose to the traveling of the brothers. Sure there are some who travel simply because they love the craft, but this traveling has some planning behind it in order to get the amount of work done that is currently required.

I just met with WB Larry Wright of Flint #23 and it is amazing how much work there is to be done just between our two lodges. The really neat thing is that this is county-wide. We have a virtual explosion of work in our area, a great sign of things to come hopefully. These are great opportunities (in the old days they were problems) to deal with, and the ultimate outcome is the growth of the fraternity.

This week has without a doubt been a great week in Masonry !!!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Hele ????

The word hele gets used quite often in our ritual, in fact my spell check just gave it a red underline which means in this modern age that the word is not spelled correctly.

Well the word hele is now considered archaic. The meaning is: to hide, to cover, to roof.

I hele...... I conceal......means the first person is saying that he is hiding or covering something, the second person acknowledges that he is concealing as well.

If you've ever shook hands with an older Prince Hall Affiliated Mason or even some of the older brothers from mainstream Masonry they will shake hands and "cover" with the other hand to "conceal" the grip. Usually the casual observer has no clue to the actual grip being given.


con·ceal

1.
to hide; withdraw or remove from observation; cover or keep from sight: He concealed the gun under his coat.
2. to keep secret; to prevent or avoid disclosing or divulging: to c

So, essentially they are saying and doing the same thing. Perhaps the word hele is used as to not be repetitious, but I'm not really sure.

The next time you hear hele hopefully it will take on a whole new meaning.

Have fun brothers.....and listen up........you never know when a word might just jump right out at you !!!