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.

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.

The Celestial Hemisphere

Tuesday evening I had the pleasure of attending one of the best Fellowcraft Degrees I've seen in a long time. Over the years this degree has become more of a favorite of mine, mainly because the lectures are so incredibly difficult and it always amazes me at how some of the brothers have mastered the lectures and made them their own.

In the section dealing with the Seven liberal Arts and Sciences there are some peculiar lines in explaining Astronomy.....We are taught that Astronomy is that Divine art by which we are taught to read the wisdom, strength, and beauty of the Almighty Creator in those sacred pages, the Celestial hemisphere.

Upon researching this passage several things come to light. To begin with, as we know Astronomy is the science that deals with the material universe beyond the Earth's atmosphere. This section of the lecture describes Astronomy as that Divine art. By using Divine the author is indicating that Astronomy is heavenly or celestial and that Astronomy blurs the line between science and art and although it is a science it is really a form of art based in science.

The passage continues on by saying.... we are taught to read the wisdom, strength, and beauty of the Almighty Creator in those sacred pages, the Celestial hemisphere

The above passage was a tough, tough stumbling block for me when studying this lecture and still is. For some reason I have had a tough time understanding what the author(s) is trying to say. Here is my feeble attempt to make some sense out of this sentence which contains a ton of information.

We are taught or knowledge and skill have been imparted to us to read.....or we have the skills to look at carefully and understand or apprehend and interpret the wisdom, strength, and beauty of the Almighty Creator.......in those sacred pages.......pertaining to or related to religion or connected with religion and regarded with reverence......a page is a noteworthy or significant event or period.....the Celestial hemisphere......the universe beyond the Earth's atmosphere.....hemisphere being the area in which something happens.

Once again the author(s) of the ritual have packed a multitude of meaning into a very small package.
Astronomy is a scientific form of art dedicated to the study of the universe or outer space as we have come to know it. While the study of the stars, planets, and galaxies take us closer to God, we learn that it is a Divine art. As we read or recognize the wisdom, strength, and beauty of the Supreme Architect....we too recognize that the Celestial hemisphere is truly close to the Supreme Architect of the Universe......while we are now able to view the whole sphere or galaxy....during the writing of the ritual I think they were only able to discern a hemisphere or the covering directly above us...when there was an entire universe all around us.

When we speak of the universality of Masonry it is truly all around us.....some parts are quite visible...while other parts are a world away but still existent......this is a mighty powerful fraternity with endless bounds.....my brothers I feel we have only scratched the surface.....have fun while you study our great ritual.

Growing Pains

The term growing pains seems to get used to describe a variety of things. It's been a number of years since most of us were in our teens and maybe slightly less than that for our children and in some cases grandchildren. Hopefully there are a few out there that may have recently experienced the growing pains and are anticipating the growing pains of their own children.

The term, growing pains, seems to fit quite nicely in describing the current state of the fraternity in our state of Michigan. It seems that we are in that strange sort of contraction area between being too big in certain areas and not big enough in others.

As we move forward, we realize we are not poised to take on the tasks involved in growing this fraternity. When we say a lodge is growing, what does that mean exactly? .... or when we say the fraternity is growing what does that mean?

Growing is quite subjective.......a lodge can be growing in their ritualistic performance, a lodge can be growing in number of members, a lodge can be growing by their involvement in the community, a lodge can be growing in the number of members who actively attend lodge meeting and functions.

It is a very hard thing to measure and everyone has their own interpretation.

We are currently going through some realigning of the districts in the entire state of Michigan. There seems to be only one question regarding this and that is.....why?

There are several good reasons for realigning, although the current thought is divided on the new boundaries. The number one reason is that the Board of General Purposes in having 53 reps had some questionable members on the board....many of whom took the job because nobody else wanted it, they were railroaded, or they were the last man standing, etc.

So, do we really want brothers acting as representatives merely to fill a position or do we want brothers in those position who will help lead the local lodges and this great fraternity as we move forward. Years ago there were probably fewer districts than the new 28, the days when brothers like WB Bob McClellan, and WB Jerry Miller were board reps and had numerous lodges to represent.

Not that long ago GM was on the brink of extinction, they did some downsizing and belt tightening and emerged on the other side leaner, stronger, more efficient, and ready to grow. My thought is that this great fraternity will emerge leaner, stronger, more efficient and ready to grow.....not just in numbers of members but growing in community involvement, personal growth, integrity, and in quality.

Random Thoughts

It's been too long since I've posted anything. Given that business is booming, finally, it's a little tough to do much research. However, there are a couple of things that seem to be running through my head as of late.

Although in 2012 the Grand Lodge of Michigan for the first time in 50+ years had positive growth in membership, yet there is still grumblings about how the fraternity is shrinking and on the verge of becoming non existent.

My reply to that is one word which has become very popular as of late---REALLY????

In my own lodge we are normally dark during July and August...but this year we've had a regular in July and degree work on most of the subsequent lodge nights for the whole month of July.

Again, rumblings....we've always had the summer off.....we've never done it this way before....really?

So, we complain that we're not growing and when we do have an opportunity to grow we complain because we've never done work in July. This brings up the old cliche of having one's cake and eating it too.

Our latest EA is a young man in his twenties....he got interested in Freemasonry through research on the internet.....seems his grandfather was a Mason, his father is not, but he has a very strong interest....hmmmm....where have I heard this before....hmmmmmm

Another thing which is constantly on my mind lately is the discussion regarding the fabric of our nation....what our nation has evolved into, in comparison to the principles it was founded upon. We are somewhat privileged in knowing that the country was founded on the same principles that our fraternity was founded upon.

It's pretty neat to know that our nation and our fraternity started with the same core foundational principles.....of course our fraternity had the opportunity to grow for about 60 years before forming this great nation of the Unite States of America.

Again.....there are plenty of dooms-sayers that claim our country is in it's last days and that we will cease to exist......but our country being founded on the same principles as our craft can and will be tested and stretched to the limits....but....our country and our fraternity are things larger than us...both having been created on such strong foundations that they will not meet their demise, although both will be tested to the limit....I believe both will survive and become stronger than ever.

What ya got cookin'?

Stumbled across a little fact that is new to me. For the more seasoned Masons, the name Hank Williams is pretty familiar. Maybe the younger Masons are more familiar with Hank Jr. or Hank3.

Hank Williams died an early tragic death as so many young performers do. However, his legend lives on through not only his music but of his son and grandson as well.

The name Hank is one that Williams adopted in his teen years to replace his given name of Hiram King Williams, he figured it would be more suited for his musical aspirations.

Hank's dad was a Mason and his mother a member of the Order of Eastern Star. The first born of the union of Elonzo Huble "Lon" Williams and Jessie Lillybelle "Lillie" Skipper was a little girl named, Irene. Their second baby was a boy who died shortly after birth and the third child a son named Hiram King William.

As Paul Harvey always said, " and now you know the rest of the story."

Modern Day Stone Age

I had the good fortune of seeing a new brother last evening, outside of a lodge setting. As we talked I remembered him and we had a nice visit.

Some things came up in our discussion which weren't so nice, in fact they hit me like a three-pound sledge in the forehead. This brother is relatively young in Masonic years, owns and operates a business, and is eager to learn.

He made mention that had he known the relative inactivity of the lodge he joined he would have sought out a different lodge. In joining a lodge he chose the one in the town where he lives. The unfortunate thing is that particular lodge has lost it's way and is struggling to stay afloat. However, he is a fairly new member and he attended at least one degree at his lodge, which he mentioned had very poor attendance.

Education and learning about Masonry also came up in our conversation. This young man is hungry and eager to learn. He related how he has learned nothing since being raised. We all know that he surely picked up some morsel of knowledge while observing the degree. But, his point must be well taken and seriously considered by all of us.

My intention is not to point out the deficiencies of this lodge......but to point out the deficiencies of our fraternity as a whole. I hate to sound like a broken record, or keep beating a dead horse, choose your own cliche.....we have to change and become more educated ourselves to impart knowledge to the new young brothers.

I can hear the grumbling now.....well if they learned their lessons the way we did they would have knowledge..perhaps they would.....and I think that was a much more informative, learning process also....but the fact remains.....change has occurred....and we no longer do the catechisms that way.

This brief conversation hit me right between the eyes because I know we, for the most part fall very short in relating our great history and heritage and the meanings of our rites and ceremonies. Remember our fraternity is rich in symbolism and we must be able and willing to translate those symbols and allegories to our new young brothers.


 

Although our roots may be firmly

planted in the stone age....that is the building of the great edifices of stone...our fraternity has to respond to the modern day expectations of our new young brothers.