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Speaking of the blog, a Masonic magazine (called "Living Stones," based out of Colorado) wants to publish an article of mine next month. That's exciting!
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Mar 6, 2014 04:19
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| # ? May 15, 2024 21:32 |
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Sweet! What's it about?
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Mar 6, 2014 06:51
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Colton posted:Sweet! What's it about? It's the latest one I posted on my blog - the "Three Types of Knowledge".
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Mar 6, 2014 14:31
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Just over one week until I give my first degree lecture, the FC lecture. I'm pretty nervous.
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Mar 6, 2014 15:51
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welp they're coming to my place for my investigation interview in 15 minutes. This will be good.
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Mar 7, 2014 00:48
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That went pretty well I think, I guess I'll be hearing from them in a few weeks. Little nervous about what to expect next. I don't know what I was expecting exactly but two of them were my age and looked fairly goony, the third was an older guy. I was reminded of the scene in LotR when all the dwarves suddenly come marching in and you're like "dang lol" Good thing I had the fullest beard!
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Mar 7, 2014 02:22
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Angry Birds Suicide posted:That went pretty well I think, I guess I'll be hearing from them in a few weeks. Little nervous about what to expect next. I don't know what I was expecting exactly but two of them were my age and looked fairly goony, the third was an older guy. I was reminded of the scene in LotR when all the dwarves suddenly come marching in and you're like "dang lol" in about 2-3 weeks when you're out in public, be looking for a man wearing a dark coat and sunglasses who is watching you. once you notice him, he'll walk up to you and hand you a small emvelope sealed with blue sealing wax if you've been accepted, red if you've been rejected. if it is blue you will be instructed on where to go and when for your initiation. I suggest you stock up on neosporin if the goat is hungry that night. good luck, dude!
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Mar 7, 2014 02:42
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Angry Birds Suicide posted:That went pretty well I think, I guess I'll be hearing from them in a few weeks. Little nervous about what to expect next. I don't know what I was expecting exactly but two of them were my age and looked fairly goony, the third was an older guy. I was reminded of the scene in LotR when all the dwarves suddenly come marching in and you're like "dang lol" When it happens, you'll know. You should probably wear a raincoat for the foreseeable future, though.
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Mar 7, 2014 03:25
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I'm looking forward to the goats the most a man can never have too many goats imo. That said my wife generally approves as well because it will get me out of the house more since right now as a child protective services agent my day generally consists of working from 8 to 7 with constant intense stress. They seemed impressed by what I do as well so that helps too I guess
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Mar 7, 2014 03:49
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If anyone asks you what you desire tell them more goats.
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Mar 7, 2014 04:53
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WAFFLEHOUND posted:If anyone asks you what you desire tell them more goats. If this becomes my mark on the world, that's okay by me.
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Mar 7, 2014 05:01
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So guys? I think someone's leaking Masonic Secrets. Just FYI http://youtu.be/JN2QUhaKN2Q
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Mar 7, 2014 22:09
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JohnnyCanuck posted:So guys? Jesus Christ, this could end the fraternity. Brothers, one five omicron delta slash seven enable. Authorization base three four, wheatgrass. I repeat wheatgrass.
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Mar 7, 2014 22:55
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I believe they found this text, and stole secrets. http://goo.gl/QlwT5T 
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Mar 8, 2014 00:43
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JohnnyCanuck posted:So guys? He must pay the ultimate price.
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Mar 8, 2014 11:52
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The Lodge secretary announced in this month's trestleboard that I applied for the 3 degrees 
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Mar 8, 2014 17:07
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It was fun while it lasted brothers.
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Mar 8, 2014 23:15
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Angry Birds Suicide posted:The Lodge secretary announced in this month's trestleboard that I applied for the 3 degrees Perhaps he stated that you applied for all three degrees of Masonry? Of course it could be a typo. You're the chosen one.
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Mar 9, 2014 00:32
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Does this mean I get to help out in the kitchen?!
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Mar 9, 2014 01:23
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This past Saturday, I spent my birthday at Sophia Lodge watching three lectures by brothers who I respect deeply. The first (more of a question and answer period) was with WB Robert Herd, who wrote "The Initiatic Experience" (highly recommended), and is also one of the big proponents and founders of the Traditional Observance movement in America. The other two lectures were given by WB Timothy Hogan, who has more titles than I can list off the top of my head, and has written books like "The Alchemical Keys to Freemasonry" and "The 32 Secret Paths of Solomon," also highly recommended. He lectured for an hour on the Gnostic connections to Freemasonry, and then for an hour on the Hermetic connections to Freemasonry. They were both super interesting to a guy like me who is into that esoteric stuff. Also I think Tim is literally dracula (in the back). 
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Mar 10, 2014 13:58
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next month my grand lodge is putting on a whole day blue lodge training and covering everything from what to say to the media to how to settle disputes in lodge. I'm going to check it out. anyone else in Oregon going to the training in portland?
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Mar 12, 2014 20:32
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I have been interested in Masonry for quite awhile, and I even went to an open house like 4 or 5 years ago. One of the perceived barriers I have is the cost of dues. Admittedly, I have no idea what dues would be, but as a graduate student I can't afford them. The other is a question of "do the Masons get out and actually do good things in the community?" I have been involved with a fraternal organization through the Boy Scouts (Order of the Arrow) which allegedly takes some aspects from the Masons - but in my experience the only "good" they tend to do is for their own organizations and affiliates (This is in my personal experience). To recap: do the Masons get out there and help folks out, and how much would I expect to pay in dues?
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Mar 13, 2014 21:23
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Massasoit posted:To recap: do the Masons get out there and help folks out, and how much would I expect to pay in dues? I'm not a Mason but when I visited a lodge in Massachusetts during its open house this past fall I was told that membership would cost $240 for the first year: $140 to receive the degrees and $100 in annual dues. The lodge in question seemed fairly active so it may have been an outlier that could afford having lower dues.
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Mar 13, 2014 22:03
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Massasoit posted:
It really depends on the lodge, so it's best to visit a few to get an idea of the culture. My lodge is very active with charities and volunteering. Our dues are $300 or so a year, which is more than I'd like and also probably more than average. Dues vary a lot from lodge to lodge so that's also worth asking about and factoring in.
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Mar 13, 2014 22:19
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Dues vary so much lodge to lodge it is really hard to say what anything will cost. My lodge's dues were $70 a year, and some of my appendant bodies were free due to some crazy things we did with the books.
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Mar 13, 2014 23:13
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Massasoit posted:To recap: do the Masons get out there and help folks out, and how much would I expect to pay in dues? On costs, my lodge is $200 for all 3 degrees, payable at each step or all together. This also covers year one dues, and a $50 donation to the Ohio Masonic Homes. After that, dues are $50 a year. In terms of helping out, I think that's going to depend on the lodge too. As a point of comparison, for OA vs Freemasonry, it's all a matter of who is willing to do what. As OA lodge chief, I was approached by the Council to take on a project that would raise campership funds. That was in 1995, and the program is still going today. The amount raised goes up ahd down depending on the interest of the Arrowmen involved, but it's still there. In terms of Freemasonry, my Lodge has a major focus on military relief. They collect donations for care packages year round, plus this month and next month, we are collecting clothing for the VA hospital for vets who need them. So while it's not "getting out", there's a lot of help monetarily. Apparently though, US Freemasonry is seen by some as too philanthropically focused internationally. Where many countries focus on personal development and knowledge, they see the US Lodges as overly focused on helping others. Their stance seems to be to help others is noble, but the Lodge is there to help the brother. By improving him, he can go on to help others. Personally I like the balance. I'm focused on learning as much as I can in Freemasonry, but I'm willing to help on any outside projects as part of that. I work close to a Shriner's Hospital, so I see many older Shriners who serve as "road runners", driving children from all over the country to get care here for burns, and local members taking children to other cities for care there. Last night in Lodge, we were reminded of an upcoming project to benefit the Scottish Rite dislexyia programs. That's a lot to say YMMV, but the opportunity to help is there, but you may need to visit multiple lodges, or seek out which appendant body focuses where you would like to.
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Mar 14, 2014 03:19
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Just performed my first Entered Apprentice degree as RWM. I didn't anticipate the sense of pride I felt afterward in making someone a Mason. Incredible experience.
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Mar 15, 2014 00:51
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This is it! After a month of prep, tonight I will give my first lecture. Really nervous, brothers. My dad is even coming to watch.
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Mar 17, 2014 15:55
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That's incredible Anyway, I may or may not have posted here in the past but I'm a member of Columbia Lodge 91 (Grand lodge of Pennsylvania) and Madison Lodge 87 (Grand lodge of Connecticut). I'm also a tour guide at our grand lodge building in Philadelphia (come by and visit us sometime. if you're from the thread, feel free to point that out to me if I'm your guide. I'm the only young guide). I'm not sure if we post masonic news here but I just read this and it makes me unreasonably upset: http://www.wcvb.com/news/man-tackled-trying-to-start-fire-inside-grand-lodge-of-masons/25025920 Between that and a similar event at the NYC Temple, I hope nobody crazy comes around our Philly temple anytime soon. On an unrelated note, this thursday I'll be installed as the Thrice Illustrious Master of my Council of Royal & Select Master Masons (Joppa 46). This will be the first time that I've held a leadership role in any masonic body. Wish me luck.
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Mar 18, 2014 02:58
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SylvainMustach posted:On an unrelated note, this thursday I'll be installed as the Thrice Illustrious Master of my Council of Royal & Select Master Masons (Joppa 46). This will be the first time that I've held a leadership role in any masonic body. Wish me luck. Congrats  even though there are only two, the R&SM degrees are really great. I feel like they get overlooked at our YR reunions, since we do Chapter/Council/Commandery all over two days, and those two degrees are smack in the middle. I really wanted to work my way up that line, but my York Rite bodies decided to put me in the Commandery line instead. Hey, service is service.
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Mar 18, 2014 14:54
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SylvainMustach posted:That's incredible Congratulations, brother! I got to give my first lecture last night, the FC degree. It was a great experience, and went well. I'm really looking forward to doing it more often. I love how personally rewarding the fraternity can be if you put something into it.
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Mar 18, 2014 15:09
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Thanks a lot! Seeing as this is my first time in any sort of leadership role, I'm curious as to if any of you who are past masters (if any of you are) have any tips on leading a Masonic group, boosting attendance or anything like that? I realize the size of cryptic masonry is smaller than your average blue lodge (here in PA it's especially small since you can jump straight from the Royal Arch to Commandery), but any kind of leadership tips would be appreciated.
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Mar 19, 2014 04:07
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SylvainMustach posted:...but any kind of leadership tips would be appreciated. Be prepared for the possibility that you will have to miss a meeting and make sure that those down the line from you have at least a basic understanding of the ritual for the next higher chair. Also, coordinate a basic agenda for the meeting in advance with your Secretary, even if you plan on being there. Try to encourage communication between your officers, even if you know they don't like each other. Maybe especially if they don't, if you can mediate. Hmm, lots of other thoughts, but I just got out of a meeting and need a bit of time for reflection and for my temper to cool off.
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Mar 19, 2014 05:54
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Nothing quite like discovering your lodge and another have developed tension since the month you missed due to illness. Yaaay.
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Mar 19, 2014 12:59
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SylvainMustach posted:Thanks a lot! Seeing as this is my first time in any sort of leadership role, I'm curious as to if any of you who are past masters (if any of you are) have any tips on leading a Masonic group, boosting attendance or anything like that? Boosting attendance is always going to be difficult, especially in any York Rite body (Council and Commandery in particular) but the best thing you can try to do is really foster a fun environment and have good food or drinks. You can also try and have some sort of fun nights, either out in the community at a restaurant or at the lodge where you involve families. You might also want to start a call chain where your officers break down your member list and call everyone prior to a meeting and let them know what is going on and personally invite them to a meeting, this will bring in a lot of people that have been absent but the key is addressing the reasons why they haven't been there. Some of them are just too busy or uninterested in Council, but some of them just didn't like the officers for the past couple of years or what you guys were doing. Don't make every meeting all about boring business, seriously, get someone to make tasty food or buy something for every meeting. If you have any other questions about being an officer in York Rite I was Commander for 2 years and might have some other tips.
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Mar 19, 2014 18:11
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good recommendations, but our food is limited (our temple is catered and we can't use our own kitchen). calling members and the thing regarding past officers is quite doable so I may do that otherwise I have my year planned out. a lot of programs and some guest speakers so the stuffy stuff will be kept to a minimum.
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Mar 20, 2014 02:09
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God, tell me about limited foodstuffs. We aren't catered, we don't have a stove in our kitchen, and somehow I became the lodge's cook. I'm going to earn that steward nomination, at least.
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Mar 20, 2014 09:59
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SylvainMustach posted:Anyway, I may or may not have posted here in the past but I'm a member of Columbia Lodge 91 (Grand lodge of Pennsylvania) and Madison Lodge 87 (Grand lodge of Connecticut). I'm also a tour guide at our grand lodge building in Philadelphia (come by and visit us sometime. if you're from the thread, feel free to point that out to me if I'm your guide. I'm the only young guide). I've always meant to take the tour of the lodge in Philly, but haven't found the time yet. Are there any of the original furniture or other woodwork there? I have always wanted to check because according to the obit of my great great great grandfather he was one of the carpenters working on that building's construction. Other than that brief mention though, our family doesn't have much information on him. Are there records of members dating back that far or records of who worked on the original construction? At any rate, I think I will definitely try to make it in soon for a tour.
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Mar 20, 2014 15:08
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New post on my blog - "What Is Your Jewel?" http://threeknocks.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/what-is-your-jewel/ These are just some thoughts I was working through today, but may be helpful as far as working on attendance. Does your Lodge crave education? Or more fellowship events? Or maybe more opportunities to help the community? Figure out what your Lodge wants, and you'll fill the seats.
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Mar 20, 2014 21:12
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Loomer posted:God, tell me about limited foodstuffs. We aren't catered, we don't have a stove in our kitchen, and somehow I became the lodge's cook. I'm going to earn that steward nomination, at least. Pick up 2 or 3 slowcookers at a second hand shop (or craigslist o whatever) and learn some simple stuff you can set and forget. You can make some mighty tasty stuff with almost no equipment or cooking skill!
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Mar 20, 2014 23:10
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