Reflecting

Reflecting upon our recent visit with our good brothers of Eureka Lodge #16 PHA, several things can be learned from their traditions and ways of conducting themselves and their business. I am hesitant to write this, but surely our brothers and leaders have mad similar observations which are outlined below.

The first and most prominent thing that stands out to me is their manner of dress. Black suit, white shirt, black tie, and white gloves. This was true when Eureka visited Fellowship as well as on our visit to Eureka. I remember when I visited the other Prince Hall Lodge, John W. Stevenson the brothers there were also in black suit, etc.

It's not just the officers, it's every brother in attendance is in a black suit. Too often when attending lodge I don't see suits or even sport-coats, I see casual wear. I sat by the Marshal of Eureka Lodge and his job is to ensure the proper dress of all the brothers, right down to pointing out if a brothers apron is out of adjustment or the flap is turned up.

The next thing I found intriguing is the respect of the officers toward their Past Masters. The Past Master with the earliest term of service is referred to as the "Senior Past Master", a way to honor that Past Master and his dedication to the lodge. He is the last of the Past Masters to speak, again a way of honoring his wisdom.

Now the biggie......full form proficiency. We witnessed an excellent examination of their candidate, the young man did an absolute fantastic job. Later in the evening he thanked his teacher for all of his help in learning the lesson. We stopped the full form proficiency probably close to 30 years ago. This provided an opportunity for men to become brothers without the difficulty of the lesson. But our candidates have lost that relationship with the teacher and actually learning about the fraternity and it's teachings.

Another lesson to be learned is that these brothers truly are brothers, they actually know and support one another, not just by name and lodge, they truly know about each other and each other's lives. It really shows through as they interact with one another.....something we need to be much better at.

In certain ways I think we've become too relaxed in our traditions, our dress, and in our respect of the leaders who have gone before us. Then the matter of the proficiency, we will never see our Grand Lodge going back to the "old way" of proficiency I'm afraid, but there is definitely something to be said for the experience, I think the new brother has a much better knowledge of the craft. To me the whole evening was like going back in time to an era that was much more formal and respectful of the fraternity and it's meaning to the lives of it's members. So mote it be.

Brotherly Love

Last night completed the first of many visits between Fellowhip Lodge F&AM and Eureka Lodge PHA. Both of these lodges are in the city of Flint and have functioned independently of one another for many years.

A few weeks ago I visited Fellowship Lodge for a Master Mason degree, upon arriving I realized that our brothers from Eureka Lodge were visiting to witness the degree. If memory serves there were 11 brothers from Eureka Lodge visiting that evening, including the Worshipful Master and most of his line officers. It was a joyous evening and a great night in Masonry. It provided the opportunity for the brothers from Eureka to visit the Flint Masonic Temple and witness the degree how we portray it.

Last evening we had the opportunity to return the visit by attending a Master Mason Degree put on by Eureka Lodge. The degree was well attended by Prince Hall brothers and many brothers from Fellowship Lodge and other lodges throughout the county.

One thing that particularly caught my attention when Eureka visited Fellowship and during our visit to Eureka was the manner of dress by the Prince Hall brothers. They all wore black suits with white shirts and black ties, and every brother wore white gloves. One of the brothers did not have on a tie and apologized for not having on a tie because of recent carotid artery surgery. I'm afraid that we have become very lax about our dress standards for our meetings.

After getting their lodge opened on the Fellowcraft Degree, the candidate stood his proficiency in that degree.....in long form as we used to do. up until the mid to late eighties. The young brother did an outstanding job on delivering his proficiency. This certainly touched the hearts of many of our older brothers who remember the good old days.

Eureka then changed degrees and voted on the young brother's proficiency and proceeded on with the Master Mason degree in fine form. The obligation was given by a Past Master of Eureka Lodge and was perhaps the finest I've ever heard. The emotion and feeling portrayed by this Past Master added to the meaning of the obligation not only for the candidate but for every brother in attendance.

Obviously the rest of the degree was equally well performed. A variety of Past Masters delivered the lectures and were introduced before delivering their portion of the lectures. Everything went extremely smooth and the knowledge displayed was fantastic.

The secretary of Eureka Lodge and I worked together back in the mid 80's through the early 90's. His dad was a Past Master of Eureka Lodge, so it was only natural that Greg join the same lodge. He was so excited when he joined, and we worked on his lessons on the down-low at work. This was at a time when the Grand Lodge of Michigan F&AM and the PHA Grand Lodge of Michigan did not recognize each other. However, Greg and I acknowledged that we were brothers even if our Grand Lodges did not acknowledge it.

Thankfully a number of years ago the two Grand Lodges agreed to recognize one another, unfortunately it's taken a while to get to this stage of our relationship....but we are now there. For these two lodges to coexist in the same city for so many years and only now are coming together is a shame, because of the number of years that have elapsed. But the future is bright and I am sure that our relationship will only improve and strengthen in the future.

If we look to our early teachings in the very first degree, the Entered Apprentice degree, we learn that; by the exercise of brotherly love we are taught to regard the whole human species as one family, the high and low the rich and poor, who being created by one Almighty Parent and inhabiting the same planet are to aid, support and protect one another. On this principle Masonry unites men of every country, sect and opinion and conciliates true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance.

There are differences in how we portray the work but there are far more similarities. By these visitations we find that we are united in the same purposes, Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. We discover that we have similar values. similar visions, and similar goals. We both have a love of the fraternity and the active brothers realize that this fraternity is a life long endeavor.

Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethern to dwell together in unity.