Might just be my favorite

We had the pleasure of conferring the Entered Apprentice degree last evening at Mt.Morris Lodge #535.

Given the fact that there were other activities going on in the county we had a very nice showing of brothers from various lodges. Without the help of all the traveling brothers it would be extremely difficult to confer any degree.

Our candidate was a slightly mature gentleman, who made everyone a little nervous because of his arriving about 15 minutes before opening lodge. In talking with him he indicated that he had been helping a friend of his who happens to be partially disabled. She is a single woman who cleans an office building and he goes along to help with the heavy lifting and more physically challenging work. He does this voluntarily to help her earn extra money.

The above little scenario set the tone of the evening for me. I knew in my heart and mind that he was already a Mason without the degrees.

My job prohibits me from arriving on time for dinner.....but it gives me the opportunity to walk into the dining hall and see and experience the fellowship that is taking place. Plenty of conversation, laughter, and hand-shakes are taking place and you can sense the energy of brotherhood. Try it sometime....show up about 15 minutes late and witness it for yourself....it's truly the spirit of our fraternity at work.

The Entered Apprentice Degree might very well be my favorite degree. It is so rich with symbolism and heritage. If you have an attentive candidate you can see him taking it all in. The apron presentation is without a doubt the most beautiful part of any of the three degrees....that's just my opinion of course.

As you can probably tell it was an excellent night in Masonry.....the lectures were flawlessly given and the whole degree went very smooth....with perhaps the exception of the Master(me) who had a couple of senior moments and inter-mingling of degrees.....the key is the JEA method of ritual delivery just keep going, go back and include if possible....if not press on and make it fit.....in the Scottish Rite we do some ad-libbing because we just don't get the practice like blue lodge....but hey we are all human and provided the proper intent is there and we are getting about 90% right we are doing a good job.

In conclusion brothers....get out and travel.....experience the spirit of the fraternity !!!!