This just in from the Port of Joppa, some members of the search party from King Solomon's Temple have discovered some interesting clues concerning the disappearance of Hiram Abif.

Members of the party encountered a seafaring man. The man stated that he had a chance encounter with three strangers. From their attire they appeared to be workmen from the temple.

They were seeking a passage to Ethiopia, the very place the seafaring man was bound for. After a brief discussion it was determined that they were not in posession of King Solomon's pass, upon which they were denied passage.

When asked further about the three, the seafaring man said that the three seemed suspicous to him, and they flead into the countryside after being denied a passage with him.

 

 Twelve Fellowcrafts clothed in white gloves and aprons were seen entering King Solomon's court. Apparently they outlined a conspiracy of 15 Fellowcrafts who had plans to extort from Hiram Abif the secrets of a Master Mason.

The twelve stated that they had recanted from the original plans and humbly implored the King's pardon. King Solomon then instucted the twelve to go in seaarch of Grand Master Hiram Abif. We will continue to follow this story very closely. It is hoped that Abif will be found with a positive outcome.

Still no sign of Grand Master Hiram Abif. King Solomon ordered that a strict search be made in and around the yet completed Temple. According to labor sources there appears to have been some sort of rebellion among the workmen regarding the pace at which they were being advanced. 

Also it should be noted that attendance reports of the workman has been completed with some notable absences. According to our sources a delegation of some of the Fellowcrafts are scheduled to meet with King Solomon sometime this afternoon.

Special Report

 

Reports keep pouring in from Jerusalem's Mount Moriah concerning the work stoppage at King Solomon's Temple.

Sources close to the king are saying tht Grand Master Hiram Abif has not been seen since high noon yesterday. The sources who remain unnamed also say that King Solomon and the King of Tyre have entered into private discussions.

Highly placed members of the King's administration say that King Solomon has not ruled out assembling a large number of men to go in search of the Grand Master.

Breaking News

 

This just in from the Middle East, apparently work has stopped on the building of King Solomon's Temple. According to officials, when the workmen reported for work this morning there was no plans laid out on their trestleboard. Hiram Abif was not available for comment.

A Spin on Quantity vs. Quality

 Traditionally here in lower Michigan lodges tend to go "dark" during the summer months of July and August. Some lodges in northern Michigan go "dark" in the winter months of January and February. Just a little background which has little to do with my thoughts for this entry. As I often tell my girlfriend I am full of useless information.

So as the lodges are now wrapping up for the upcoming summer months, it's refreshing to see many of the lodges scurrying to tie up some of their loose ends concerning degree work. After a couple years of uncertainty and not being able to meet and conduct degrees, we are now somewhat back to normal with lots of "work" to do.

There is absolutely no doubt that the pandemic had a detrimental effect on the fraternity and it's current members. What is odd is that it seemed to have an almost opposite affect on the aspirant, not in all lodges but it seems to be the case in the majority of lodges.

By now I think everyone who reads this blog has a pretty good idea of my philosophy concerning quality vs. quantity when it comes to candidates for the fraternity. Now I feel the need to point out how degree work can become so enjoyable when the number of brothers seems to be a little light, stretched, and even could be referred to as a skelton crew.

The basis for these thoughts has evolved over a few visits to a couple of the smaller lodges in the area. One being Millington Lodge and the other Otisville Lodge. It seems that both of these lodges have existed and continued to work, but for what ever reason don't put a large number of candidates through.

Admittedly Millington is a little busier than Otisville but both are smalltown lodges with very loyal members and some of the Past Masters have a number of notches on their aprons for years in the East.

Back when the snow was blowing and temperatures were dropping, Millington made it known that they had a father and son duo who had petitioned the lodge and were being initiated in the Craft. I ventured out after work to find a warm meal, warm fellowship, and two eager candidates.

The EA degree was well attended in spite of the weather and was conferred in fine fashion as well as the Fellowcraft degree a few weeks later. Again the FC degree was nicely attended and conferred in fine fashion.

Now it's time for the father and son duo to undergo one of the most trying scenes that human nature has ever endured......that's right, it's time for the Master Mason degree. The weather was much nicer and warmer, the meal was great but the attendance was shall we say a little slim.

We ventured up to the blue room for the degree. I was even able to do second base for the second time in my short 39 years. Most of us doubled up on different parts and just a handful gave the lectures....the surprising thing was it was without a doubt one of the most enjoyable MM degrees I have ever been involved in or witnessed. It was just a great amount of fun and truly an enjoyable evening.

I'm not advocating that degree workers should be stretched so thin...but in the above case even with very few in attendance and all the multi-tasking, the brothers received a mighty fine Master Mason degree and those of us who were there got to take part in an almost magical degree.

My hat is off to WB Gary Watt and the leadership of Millington Lodge for really knowing these two brothers before they received any degree. In fact I learned that they had been working with the brothers at the lodge before, during, and after their degrees. The Grand Lodge of Michigan's six-step program in action.....brothers it pays huge dividends to the lodges that embrace it.

Another great night was last night at Otisville #401. Their candidate had been patiently waiting for at least 6 months if not longer to join, the hangup was his residence in the state, he finally got his 12 months in residing in the state of Michigan.

Again my hat is off to WB Joe Norton and WB Dale Thomas for keeping this young man interested while he put in his time to get to 12 months of residence. The young man was at their Installation of Officers and would come out and socialize with the brothers before they had their regular stated meetings.

The turnout was mighty slim for an Entered Apprentice degree, in fact we had a grand total of 8, including myself. As the night proceeded there was nuch doubling up and multi-tasking and again the brother received an awesome degree.

Too often we take for granted 30-40 brothers showing up for a degree. While that is great there is something different about an intimate setting , everyone is involved out of necessity and they tend to really step up to accomplish the degree.

Let me be perfectly clear, I am NOT advocating light attendance. To have the sidelines full, and a full compliment of officers is a clear demonstrable sign of honor and respect to the candidate and the fraternity as a whole.

Sometimes a more intimate setting can also be very powerful, whether it be a small number of committed brothers, or a Fellowcraft degree by candle-light, when the chips are down and the brothers are determined to get the degree accomplished despite the challenges, special things happen.

How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together as Masons.

What's the Rush

 It appears that we are getting back to doing Masonry again. There also seems to be a little bit of a backup in degree work, a good problem to have. Some lodges are managing this new influx quite well, others have reverted back to the old "rush 'em through" method.

I've been asking for years, "What is the big rush?" Are we in a big rush to get the candidates through their work, so they can stop coming back to lodge, sooner?

I really have to give kudos to WB Scott Wogen and Linden Lodge #132 for managing their candidates in a responsible and productive manner. They have spaced out the work, they have involved the newly made brothers in visiting other degrees and have also supplied candidates for a King Solomon's Club event. In my opinion this is doing Masonry correctly and responsibly.

One lodge attempted to schedule 3 candidates for an Entered Apprentice degree. In my opinion the EA degree and the MM degree are designed to have individual candidates for a reason. The candidate's first experience with Masonic degrees and his last experience with the Blue Lodge degrees should be deeply personalized and geared toward one individual brother.

That did not sit well with the brothers in the area who travel to help with the degree work. The lodge was advised by many including myself that this was not a good idea, the lodge would not aquiesce and scheduled for 3 candidates, only 1 showed, which leads to another dilemma......the absentee candidate.

The absentee candidate is becoming quite the popular character, one which only a few years ago was nearly extinct. Today the elusive absentee candidate can be seen in a variety of lodges and situations. In the case of the 3 scheduled EAs the lodge had 2 absentee candidates.....why is that?

My feeling is that when candidates don't show for their degrees, it illustrates that there has been a breakdown in the 6 steps and a breakdown in the lodge really getting to know the candidate and building a relationship with him before he takes any work.

Especially for the EA degree, it makes one wonder just how committed the man is to joining us and the fraternity. In the words of PGM Lemons, we need to remember that the candidate is joining us we are not joining him. In other words if this is truly important to the man, he will be there or at least make a courtesy call with some sort of excuse.

This all leads to the age old question....are we looking for quantity or quality?  As we move forward, we need to concentrate on preparing our candidates before they receive their degree work. Another important factor is not allowing the candidates to languish between degrees, but get them involved all along the way. Encourage them to travel with the other brothers in the lodge, visit other lodges, get them ivolved, but all of this requires leadership.

One thing that always strikes me is when a lodge has a candidate and none of the officers from the Tyler to the Junior Deacon, to the Senior Deacon, to the Wardens and right down to the Master knows the candidates name....and when it gets really embarassing is when the candidate has a difficult name to pronounce, the man's name gets absolutely butchered.....if the lodge truly knows the candidate then they are familiar with his name and if it's difficult to pronounce then the officers of the lodge should have spent enough time with him to learn how to pronounce his name correctly.....so often these actions produce some embarassing times for the lodge and the candidate and demonstrates disrespect and disregard for the man's most prized posession, his name.

One can say what they want about we old grumpy Past Masters....but some things should never go out of style. Showing up for meetings on time, on the right date, properly attired,etc. Joining a Masonic Lodge is a privilege not a right. Men who are truly ready and willing to join the fraternity will demonstrate their desire to be accepted and clearly demonstrate that they are ready to join us and as the EA charge says conform to our tnents and rules that the honor, glory, and reputation of the institution may be firmly established, and the world at large convinced of its good effects.