Friday, October 25, 2013

Are We Concerned about our Future??

While attending a district election on Tuesday evening, a thought kept going through my mind; are we really concerned about the future of the craft?

As most of you know the state of Michigan is going from 53 districts down to 28 at the direction of the Most Worshipful Grand Master. The elections are being held all around the state and several districts are being combined into one in most cases.

This election involved nine lodges. The current WM and Wardens and Past Masters of those effected lodges all had a vote in the election. If memory serves there were 33 brothers present who were eligible to vote.

Adding to the frustration of low voter turn out, at least one lodge was not represented at all. Much like elections in our local towns, states, and even federal elections.....the turn out of eligible voters was to say the least disappointing.

However, we all know that in the future brothers will gripe and complain about there respective BGP and DDI representatives.

So......are we as a group really that concerned about our fraternity when so little participation takes place in the selection of the leadership within our districts. How many times do we hear brothers talking about the future of this great fraternity, how often do we hear brothers talking about the leadership of the craft or the lack thereof?

I find it quite disturbing that a lodge doesn't respect the fraternity enough to have at least one brother show up at an election to represent the lodge and cast his vote. There were also lodges present that the WM was not in attendance. I understand that things come up in this busy life of ours, but there seemed to be a pattern of brothers just plainly not giving a darn one way or the other.

So the next time one of our beloved brothers are whining and complaining about the fraternity, particularly if they carry the title of WB....ask them what they have done recently to help.....it's easy to question why and criticize those who do get involved.....but it's not quite as easy to make a difference.

If you are concerned about our future.....that's excellent......do something if nothing else than show up to vote......it's a matter of respect for the craft.....sorry to get on my soapbox.....I'm done....I feel better






Saturday, October 19, 2013

Cable-tow

Apparently the recently posted photo of the new Fellowcrafts prompted a little discussion among the brothers.....which is exactly what it was supposed to do.

Someone mentioned that the photo had been flipped because the aprons were not correct.....the photo wasn't flipped because the letter G is oriented correctly.......the aprons are wrong. There has been some speculation on brother Hodapp's blog and facebook page that the photo was staged.....perhaps it was..........perhaps it was staged to get us thinking.......hmmmmm

Also, another argument was that we are taught in the Entered Apprentice degree that it is the inner part of man and not the outer that Masonry considers...

Now on to something a little different. We hear the term cable-tow used quite often in Masonry.....I would say that it is an idiom of Masonic language.....or Masonic jargon.

So, what is meant by cable-tow. In the EA degree it is meant literally....a cable-tow is a strong rope for towing something, or in this case for leading the candidate out if necessary. In my 30 years I've yet to see that done.

As we move through the degrees the cable-tow takes on a more metaphorical meaning. In the FC we used to learn ( that is before the proficiency requirements were loosened to the point of not existing) that we had a cable-tow twice around the naked right arm to signify that we were under a double tie to the fraternity. Then in the MM we learn that the cable-tow around our body three times was to signify that our ties to the fraternity became more extensive as we advanced in Masonry.

The cable-tow has several symbolic meanings. First, it could have been used to withdraw an unwilling or unworthy candidate from the degree ceremony. Secondly, it becomes more of a symbol of our ties to the fraternity and our limitations.

In our obligations we are told to do certain things communicated to us by the lodge or brother if within the length of our cable-tow. Now in modern times our cable-tow may in fact be "wireless" through the courtesy of the internet. One brother may communicate to another brother by wireless means. Contrary to that if we publish a newsletter and a brother in Florida receives communication that the lodge will be holding a meeting concerning fund raising, more than likely that brother will not attend because his cable-tow is too long, or the distance is to great to travel for such a meeting.

The FC and the MM gives a pretty good description of our "ties" to the fraternity. As we advance in Masonry we all know that our ties to the fraternity become more and more extensive, in some cases quite extensive.

At our Regional School of Instruction we learned that there are no "small parts" when it comes to the ritual. To take that a step further there are no "small parts" in the fraternity period. If you have ever done a jigsaw puzzle you know that if one or two small pieces are missing you cannot finish the picture, it looks incomplete. The fact is that if you are missing one or two small pieces, it is glaringly obvious that the picture is not complete or not whole. Those missing pieces while small look enormously big when you look at the big picture, but when all the pieces are there and they unite into one beautiful picture it is sometimes difficult to decipher that the big picture is made up of many small pieces.

Again, such a small term, cable-tow, takes on enormous meaning. My brothers that is just one term made up of two small words with gigantic symbolic meaning. The framers of our ritual were exceedingly wise.....delve into the ritual and discover for yourself the meaning behind the words. So the next time you are asked to do just one small job or big job......remember you may be that last piece of the puzzle that makes this wonderful fraternity paint a big beautiful picture to it's members whether they are new or a seasoned veteran.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013







I borrowed this image from one of my favorite blogs, Freemasons for Dummies by Christopher Hodapp. He also posted it on his Facebook page. The comments were very interesting. For starters the only comment that appears on the blog is from a member of the lodge which these brothers belong to. His comment was that the important thing was that the number of new brothers, the fact that they are there and that the lodge has a great time with fellowship and is very active.

The few comments on the Facebook post were more negative of the attire of these brothers. Some commented that their lodge is blue collar and most of their members come directly from work. Others commented that some of the rural lodges in farming communities usually have members there in jeans and work clothes. While others commented that it doesn't cost that much to buy a nice shirt and a decent pair of slacks. Others made the statement that while in some farming communities jeans may be the dress pants but the farmers always wore a nice shirt and usually a tie.

I think this photo illustrates several things. Number one, the dress requirements were never explained to the candidate. Number two they probably looked like this for their EA and it was not corrected at that time.

Back in the stone ages when I joined the fraternity it was spelled out very clearly, that at a minimum a dress shirt, tie, and slacks were the expected dress, a suit if I had it. One commenter stated that it is no longer the sixties and that accepted dress has changed. True it is not the sixties, and dress standards have changed but respect is timeless. Respect can be demonstrated several ways and dress is one of them.

We see this lack of respect in places where dress to respect was always to be expected. At church, weddings, job interviews, and even funeral homes and funerals. It boils down to respect. First and foremost respect for oneself, respect for others, and respect for the ceremony or gathering.

I would not be surprised to see these brothers visit a funeral home in the same clothes or clothes like the ones in the photo. I've been appalled several times at funeral homes and funerals when even the adult children of the deceased show up in attire fitting for a day of yard work.

Yes the standards of dress have loosened over the years and unfortunately so has the respect shown toward others. Dress is a demonstration of respect.

We ask ourselves why new members lose interest so quickly. My answer to that is that they have little invested so they have little to lose. If we don't communicate the standards clearly then they don't know what is expected of them. If the new brother shows up looking like the photo and everyone else is properly dressed then they feel awkward and out of place. If they show up looking like the photo and everyone else looks like them, then they feel hey this is not that big of a deal after all.

We must communicate to our new soon to be brothers. I admit, I don't particularly like wearing a sport coat or suit, but I always have a shirt and tie and slacks. I'm working on the sport coat and suit thing for my own personal reasons. What is overlooked becomes accepted. If we overlook or fail to mention our standards then everyone loses, including the fraternity.

Our fraternity is an institution hundreds of years old, it deserves our utmost respect. Our newly made brothers are joining based on tradition, longevity, and higher standards. It is our job, our responsibility to demonstrate the respect our beloved fraternity is entitled to.