You say Good-bye, I say Hello!

Let me cut right to the chase, I have way to many blogs, whether it is Freemasonry, Mormonism, Root Beer, Politics, Dutch Ovens, or life in general - I am spending way too much time on Blogs. Now, I enjoy blogging, but trying to spread myself too thin just isn't getting things done. Therefore I am saying good-bye to this blog as well as all of my blogs.

With that it in mind, please check out my new blog, Col. Chubbs. This si going to be the quintessential blog, I will discuss everything that I find interesting. Just as I am a combination of all of my hobbies, so too is this new blog.

Long Time!

Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted here. I have said it before and I will say it again, but there are so many things that come up that finding the time to blog about Masonry is damn near impossible. Generally, a lot of those things come from Masonry itself, so I don't feel so bad. But I will give an update on a few things.

1) School is over for the semester and I am most definately not taking any classes during the summer. This last semester my wife and I both took Math 1050, it's been 5 years since I have taken a math class, and it was all that I could do to pass the class with a C. All of my other classes I received A's in.

2) I work at a center for Children with Autism in Salt Lake City and I just received a promotion and will be a Lead Teacher in one of the new classrooms that they are opening up for the next school year!

3) As Junior Warden I took the initiative and organized a Table Lodge back in April. It was a lot of fun and had quite a turnout. I will discuss this a lot more in a future post.

4) This past month we lost a very great brother of our lodge. He did not pass away but rather demitted from the lodge. The reason that he demitted was to participate in a co-masonic lodge (I have no worries about discussing this here as he laid open his case on Facebook). I have taken time to think about this and will discuss it in a future post as well. (I will only be discussing co-masonry and the idea of women Freemasons and not this experience with this gentleman who I still consider a good friend).

5) I received "Exploring the Connection Between Mormons and Masons" by Matthew B. Brown for Christmas last year and have finally gotten around to reading it and will post a review in the next few posts.

Sincerely, Fraternally, and Faithfully,

Was the Word Lost?

According to the Lecture of the 3rd degree (Utah Ritual) "The master's word was forever lost for it had been agreed upon between Solomon, King of Israel, Hiram, King of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff that it should not be given except in the presence of all three, and now one of their number was gone....And he [King Solomon] then ordained... that the first word spoken after raising the body should be the substitute for the lost Master's Word until future generations discover the right."

According to Masonic Tradition the Master's word was lost. It was not lost due to the fact that a knowledge of it had vanished at once, in the death of all three Grand Masters, but because the ordained practice of revealing it to a new Master had been broken. It is plausible that King Solomon and Hiram, King of Tyre could have revealed the Master's Word but it would not have had efficacy of performing its true purpose had they done so.

One of the sticking points of ritual, though, during the formation years of Masonic Ritual was the fact that some thought that the Master's Word should not be lost forever, but should be discovered by those who dedicate the time and initiative to find it. Hence the Royal Arch Degree, the discovery of the Lost Word, the true name of God, by those who dig and search through the many levels of half-truths and philosophies to finally discover the Light of Masonry.

I write this to announce my petitioning of the York Rite and my feelings of doing so. I have always been fascinated by medieval europe, knighthood, and more specifically the Knights Templar (this was way before the Templars were Dan Browned). I am proud to be able to say that I will be a Knight of the Temple of Solomon, a soldier of Christ. Why is this so important?

The Christian Mason should inherently believe that the Master's Word was revealed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Gospel of John, Chapter 1, Verse 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

This is how the apostle John, one of the Patron Saints of Masonry, introduced the mission of Christ. He restored the Word that had been lost due to the breaking of the ordained processes that had been established since the beginning. Christ is our way to Eternal Life, to that Celestial Grand Lodge Above. He, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, raises us through the resurrection to be heirs of the Kingdom of God.

It is my honor to take part in the Masonic Degrees that emphasize that the Master's Word is no longer lost, but can be found. And it is my duty to be that Soldier of Christ and defend his message and purpose.

For those who say that the York Rite, especially the Chivalric Orders, have no place in Masonry due to their overt Christian Themes do not understand the light that is communicated through those degrees and orders.

Sincerely, Fraternally, and Faithfully,

The Secrets of FreeMasonry

Every now and again, I get individuals who will ask me how I feel regarding the secrets of FreeMasonry. To this must come the customary reply, "What secrets?" Answers come back, from Christ says that man should not have secrets (what happens in the darkness and all that stuff) to the Gadianton Robbers (see post here). Generally I ignore such comments as argument fodder, but thought I would address the topic here.

Masonry has two types of secrets; 1)traditional, and 2) philosophical.

The traditional secrets are no longer secrets. Since Speculative Masonry became public in 1717 there have been exposes of its secrets. When I had questions regarding the relationship between Masonry and Mormonism a gentleman, who would later become a Grand Master, directed me to Duncan's Ritual as a reference to my concerns. I still own that book and my wife at any time could open it and find out the traditonal "secrets." The secrets, the rituals, modes of recognition, etc., are nothing more than holdovers from a day when it was necessary that there be secrets. Don't get me wrong, I believe that these secrets are part of Masonry and are as integral, if not moreso, than anything else we physically do in a lodge room.

Masonry, or more appropriately, Masons have another secret, this secret cannot be read, wrote, or even discussed about as a whole. This is the philosophical secret of Masonry. Every single man who is initiated an Entered Apprentice leaves the Lodge Room with a philosophy regarding the instructions he just received. That philosophy is grown from the Mason's experiences coupled to the ritual of Masonry. For example, the lecture of the three great lights "The Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses," might be represented differently for the man whose Volume of Sacred Law is the Torah rather than the KJV of the Holy Bible. By being accessible to all, Masonry truly is that "peculiar system of morality, veiled in Allegory, and illustrated by Symbols."

This philosophy is individual, it can be discussed, wrote, or read about, but never on a level deeper than the individual, always maintaining its secrecy. Perhaps if previous generations had understood the difference between these two secrets perhaps we wouldn't have seen the missing generation that is not in the Lodge Room.

Ritual

The other night, Canyon Lodge initiated a brother into our solemn mysteries. It was another run of the mill initiations, everyone knew their parts and executed superbly. We had the pleasure though of having the Worshipful Grand Lecturer of the grand Lodge of utah present adn he presented the Entered Apprentice Lecture to our new brother.

There was a moment during that lecture when Worshipful Brother Allen fell inot his rythm and everything but he and the lecture faded away. Now, I must pre-empt my statements with the fact that I fancy myself a ritualist of some caliber; I have presented both the Fellow-Craft and Master Mason lectures numerous times, I am memorizing the Entered Apprentice lecture currently, I have read and re-read lectures, monitorial passages and degree work countless times. Last night though was if I had heard the lecture anew. True teaching was taking place that evening and our newly obligated brother was not the only student.

Friends, I truly love the ritual work of Freemasonry. The lessons of morality and rectitude of conduct that Masonry inculcates are taught through the edium of the ritual and nothing compares to ritual that is presented by a Master Ritualist. I also belong to another fraternal organization which, due to diminishing numbers, resorted to presenting recorded ritual to the new candidates. The lessons that could have been taught during these rituals were greand, exemplifying morality at its most basic and simple. yet, someting was lost in translation.

If ritual is so important, what makes a Master Ritualist? Memorization is basic, ritual should be presented from memory as accurately as possible. There is nothing more distracting for a candidate than brethren stumbling over their words because they hadn't take the time to study the ritual. But anyone can learn and memorize the ritual if they take the time, or show it on video for that matter.

No, there is something more to ritual. When the ritualist understands the ritual, begins to understand the lessons taught through it, and feels that he is imparting basic truths not only to the candidate but to the whole lodge, he no longer presents the ritual but faciliates it. When presented by the Master Rituatlist it becomes an entity separate from the presenter, the lodge, and the jurisdiction. It is this ritual that has lasted for near 300 years, spread across a whole globe, and has encouraged millions of men of various classes and creeds to knock upon Freemasonry's doors.

I firmly believe that the ritual is one of the most important parts of Freemasonry!

Sincerely, Fraternally, and Faithfully,

Holidays and Freemasonry

I love the holdiay season; people tend to be in happier modds, we try to think of our fellowmen, and I love the winter season in the Wasatch Mountains. In the space of two weeks we have four celebrations to encourage true Masonic living: 1) The Winter Solstice, 2) Christmas, 3) St. John the Evangelist Day, and 4) New Years. Each of these celebrations encourage us to remember that Day will lengthen over Night, that Light will overcome Darkness, Knowledge will rise above Ignorance, and that Life will vanquish Death. I thake the holiday season to evaluate my current road, recommit or make changes as necessary, hence the post!

First, I have been quite neglectful of this blog. That is going to change! I will also be changing the focus of it, before my goal was to discuss the relationship, in my mind at least, between Mormonism and Masonry. I have maintained another blog as well which has not delved into this topic, I do not hide the fact that I am L.D.S., but I have tried to keep the two separate. I realized though, that even if I can't have my religion in Lodge, I can have Lodge in my religion, and I should. Just as I can't separate my experience in Lodge from my L.D.S. perspective, I shouldn't try to separate the two in my diatribes. Hence, now my focus will be on MY relationship to Mormonism and Masonry and how both inter-relate in my life experience. Hopefully, my goal is to poast at least once a week.

Second, elections and installation in Canyon Lodge #13 have taken place. I have been humbled by the Brethren in their vote of confidence in electing me to the South. There a lot of exciting activites planned for the ensuing year and discussions and reports will be posted as these events occur.

Third, I believe that Masonry has made my life more positive than it was before I joined the Lodge. I don't believe Masonry is for everybody, I have met plenty of men who have been initiated and after seeing what Masonry really is - have said, this isn't for me. That attitude is okay. But Masonry has edified my life experience, both temporal and spiritual, and I should share those experiences. I ask for all brothers to share any common experience, question, or anecdote that relates to any blog, we all have much to learn, especially from someone who has already travelled the path before.

May we all reflect on the true message of the holiday season,

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Masonry, Religion, and Faith

As has already been stated on this blog, I am an avid motorcyclist. That is actually one of the reasons that I have not posted on this blog for a couple of weeks, I tend to write the post during my spare time throughout the week and then post on Sunday. Lately, however, I have been on a numerous amount of motorcycle trips and have not had the time to dedicate to the blog lately. Also, and the point of this post, due to the fact that it is not much fun to ride a motorcycle during Utah winters, I store my bike in my father's mechanic shop during the winter. This last winter my father had a family friend at the shop working on his motorcycle and he noticed the brake light decal of the square and compasses that I had on my brake light. In disbelief he asked, "Jason left the Church?" to which my father responded and dispelled that culturally engrained myth.

But, the idea that Masonry is a religion is a myth that is probably believed more today than it has in any other generation in the past. A great primer for this discussion is The Masonic Service Association of North America's Statement on Religion which can be found here.

Now, I would like to define a few terms for this discussion, Religion is the means of practicing one's Faith; the ceremonies, linguistic profile, culture, routine, etc. A person's Faith is the core set of beliefs pertaining to their ideas of salvation, the purpose of life, the hereafter, morality, virtue, etc. (Notice, I defined Faith, not faith) Most of the time, a person's Faith is concurrent with their Religion. In fact, I believe, if they are not that person has sold-out their Faith. I personally believe in the Faith that was restored to the Prophet Joseph Smith during the early to mid 1800's and I practice the Latter Day Saint Religion that embraces and expands on that revealed Faith.


But, there are definately religious-esce motifs and philosophy within the Masonic Rituals. In the Utah Jurisdiction, before a candidate is prepared to be initiated a few words of counsel are given to him. Throughout this lecture is the sentence,

"It [Freemasonry] is builded upon the abiding foundation of an unfeigned belief
in the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, and the Immortality of the
Soul."

This might sound very dogmatic, but look at many of the Faith groups throughout the world, and the different Religions throughout those Faith groups. Most of them share this common element, in fact most people throughout time have shared these three common beliefs. Freemasonry is builded upon a foundation known as The Perennial Philosophy. In short, The Perennial Philosophy, is the notion that eternal truths are innately known to man and that these truths have become present in most Faith groups throughout time.


These three specific truths are evident in all Faiths. Hence, the rituals, emblems, and symbols of Freemasonry are overtly Faith-based. This, though, does not make Freemasonry a Faith, let alone a Religion. But, Masonry is supportive of Faith and Religion. A man who does not have Faith will find no happiness in the mysteries of Freemasonry! Its very nature is to be subservient to the Faith of its members, no matter what Faith that might be, and hence, subservient to his Religion. For myself, Masonry has supported me in my Faith and my Religious practices, but it in no way dictates my Faith or my Religion.
Sincerely, Fraternally, and Faithfully,