Betrayal

You know that scene in Braveheart when the big battle is lost and he charges after the helmeted knight and is knocked off his horse and plays dead to entice his enemy off his horse then springs up on him pulling off his helmet ready to slice his throat only to find his "friend" Robert the Bruce behind the mask. I thought Mel Gibson's interpretation of betrayal was so powerful and true. Bewildered, sad, confused, defeated he stumbles back trying to make sense of his world gone upside down and lays down in surrender. The Bruce then finds his moral compass and helps him escape but it is too late for the cause.

 Trust is a mighty thing. It is something you give selflessly. When broken it can often never be returned.

Connecticut's most infamous son could have been one of its greatest heroes. Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich Connecticut to a long line of Benedict Arnold's including a former Governor of Rhode Island. His father B.A. after some unfortunate business dealings sought the solace of the local tavern, so young Benny was sent off at an early age to apprentice at his cousins large and successful apothecary. His early life was adventurous and successful and eventually he ended up in New Haven Connecticut with his own apothecary and became a merchant trader in Canada and the West Indies where it is believed he became a Freemason. He soon affiliated with Hiram Lodge No. 1 in New Haven, Connecticut's oldest lodge. When he heard of the Battle's of Lexington and Concord Arnold marched off to battle. His heroics and exploits are many and as the Revolutionary War progressed he quickly rose up the ranks of the Continental Army. If his story ended here he would be spoken amongst the founding fathers with reverence due but alas, greed or vanity and or a combination of insults drove him to his path of infamy and his betrayal of his country he fought and was wounded for.

What causes a man to betray a trust given to him? It is said that his fellow Freemason Brother George Washington, who had given Benedict the post at West Point where he was to be caught trying to sell its secrets to the Redcoats, was calm upon learning of the betrayal of his friend and Brother, I wonder what his face looked like. 

Washington did perform a thorough investigation into his betrayal and tried to make a trade with the British in order to bring him to justice and even tried to have him kidnapped but Benedict escaped and eventually fought as gallantly for the Red Coats as he did the Patriots, but died virtually unknown in London where he is buried due to clerical errors in an unmarked mass grave.

It is kind of sad when someone you have put faith and trust in betrays you because you know that person well and you almost want to figure out how to justify their action in order to save that was lost but it will never be the same. 

Subterfuge regardless of the reason is subterfuge.

 

The Lodge Night I Dreamed Of

There we were, four Traveling Men on a train bound for the greatest city in the world dressed in dark suits. We had no idea what to expect and were excited like school kids on their first field trip. We spoke of our lodge and how it was now and what we dreamed of it becoming. In hushed tones I helped my Brothers polish their secrets to make sure they shined if tried. They were ready, we were ready. I had already explained to them that the lodge we were visiting was special and did things very different form how we did things but even I did not know what was to come. It seemed the stations passed by in a blink because we arrived in Grand Central in a very short time.

The bustle of the city allowed us the anonymity to hone our art further. After a packed subway ride we strode down the street toward our destination on a drizzly overcast evening but we must have shone like diamonds as many a person took the time from their hustle to say "looking sharp gentleman" or "nice suits". Our secret conversation was so engaging that we almost missed our destination and surprisingly it could be missed if you weren't looking for it. 

The polished modern entrance was like any corporate headquarters with the revolving glass door and an attentive security guard behind surveillance monitor but just past the doorman was a beautiful stone floor with an inlaid brass square and compasses encircled with the motto "Let There Be Light". We were ushered to an elevator in the rear entrance lined with beautiful glass cases filled with Masonic memorabilia and murals. Our excitement mounted as we rode the elevator to our destination where we were greeted by the Tyler who asked us to sign the guest book and wrote down our names and titles for the Masters benefit. We grabbed our aprons and walked inside the one of the most amazing lodge rooms I had ever entered.

The Ionic room was like a Greek temple as its name implied. Thirty foot marble columns surrounded us with ornaments painted in all sorts of colors as those temples were decorated in their heyday. There were already many many Brothers anxiously waiting for the night to begin and I greeted my fellow Worshipful Master and we made our way to the North Eastern side of the room of course to take our seats. While we waited for the night to begin we were greeted by a very gracious Brother who gave us a little insight to the lodge we were visiting he turned out to be Mark Koltko-Rivera author and fellow blogger. He had long ago helped me with a memory technique after one of my posts so it was nice to meet him in person.

A bell rang and the night began.

This lodge was a Traditional Observance Lodge. I have long been an admirer of the TO concept but never had the opportunity to see one in action.... let me just say it was worth the wait.

First they turned off the lights. Then there was music. Brother Mozart helped us from beyond, to shed the day and excitement and focus our thoughts for lodge. Then the lodge was opened. It was not really that much different from how we do it, except the little differences between jurisdictions, there were even some requisite line fumbles as we all do, but the contemplative time before the start made it all the much more meaningful. After the opening all of the visitors were welcomed and the night began. Business as usual but then the guest lecturer was brought in and we were enlightened by a thoroughly engaging discussion on "Symbolic Interaction-ism". It was delivered by an amazing Mason and Man who I have long admired and we all really enjoyed it. The night was running late so they closed the lodge and ended in a chain of union,(see TO lodge above) which is quite a fulfilling way to end such a great meeitng. 

We then retired to Coalition (dinner) which was held in a private room in the basement of a nearby restaurant where we shared excellent food and wine and company. The level of conversation was at a height of profound intellectualism and Brotherly Love and friendship that I had never reached before but had always dreamed of. This was a lodge night like I had envisioned it to be before I approached the West Gate, men from every station and level of life meeting on the square and sincerely trying to make themselves and each other better. Deep conversation and thinking deserving of the profound nature of our ritual and fellowship and camaraderie over amazing food and drink.

I can say with out a doubt I came home a different man than I left and I have seen what I wish my lodge to become. We are almost there. The bar is set high. It was the most profound Masonic night I had ever experienced and I thanked the Worshipful Master and guest lecturer profusely and had I asked their permission I would be doing it by name but alas I did not so I will not. It was the lodge night I always dreamed of.

Disappointment or Reality?

A while back I finished reading Master of the Mysteries: The Life of Manly Palmer Hall and like many things in my quest for esoteric knowledge the reality was not anything like the idealized vision I had built up in my head. Very early in my research into Freemasonry I became a big fan of Mr. Hall. I started out, like many searchers of hidden knowledge, with The Secret Teachings of all Ages. It was a revelation and although I have still not finished the entire book Manly's writings stirred something in me and spoke directly to me. Sometimes it seemed that he wrote in my thought pattern. It soon became an obsession of mine and the large stack of his books began to grow on my nightstand. Melchizedek and the Mystery of Fire (Adept Series),Words to the Wise: A Practical Guide to the Esoteric Sciences,The Secret Destiny of America,Twelve World Teachers: A Summary of Their Lives and Teachings,The Lost Keys of Freemasonry (Also Includes: Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians / Masonic Orders of Fraternity) books, pamphlets, websites, I devoured them all. I repeatedly went on to the Philosophic Research Society's website and even dreamed of entering it's degree program. My highlighter has only gotten more work when I was given a script for a play.

The knowledge of this man seemed unbelievable and still does. He traveled the world studying our search for more meaning and must have read more arcane and obscure books than anyone ever. His library at PRS is still nearly second to none. As I read more and more I had a picture of this amazing man (definitely helped by his mysterious head shots) like some kind of dalai lama-guru in California living the enlightened life of a chosen one. As only a chosen one can, he never was unhappy or sad, and with all of his secret knowledge he lived a life of bliss until he re-merged with the source of all being. Reality was reality.

I sort of wish I had never read his biography so that my image of him remained unspoiled but like all things idealized, expectations can be overreaching and romanticized. Nothing about his writings has changed for me, they still hit a chord in my soul, but I am very sad for what happened to him. He deserved better.

If You Build It...

So what comes first the lodge or the "lodge"? As most Masons know a lodge is a group of Freemasons, it is constituted (or licensed in layman's terms) by a Grand Lodge and given the power and authority to make Masons. As most non Masons and Masons wives know a "lodge" is the building that Freemasons go a couple of times a month to meet and do that "secret" stuff. In early times the lodge was formed without a "lodge". Freemasonry grew in pubs and coffee houses and any other place that could be Tyled or secured from non Masons in order to do the work of the order. As Freemasonry grew the "lodge" became a new reality, lodges swelling with members who wished to donate their time and money built edifices that reflected their love and devotion to their craft. Magnificent structures were constructed at a time when Brothers had a lot less means than todays masons, but built they were.

The building that caught my imagination and helped to draw me to the lodge of which I am Master today was sold, like many "lodges" were, because the big white elephant was too expensive for the dwindling brotherhood that met there. It is an amazing structure with stained glass Masonic windows, brass door hardware with square and compasses emblazoned on every handle, and a ceiling painted to match the canopy of heaven, but it is not ours. Yes we meet there but someone else owns the building and they are not going to give it up in the foreseeable future. We are uncomfortable tenants doing the labor of Freemasonry in a museum from the past. When we retire to the South for fellowship we must bring and remove any evidence of our existence and never feel comfortable in our camaraderie.

My dream for my lodge is to get us back into a "lodge". I want a place of our own. I want a place where if a couple of Brothers want to discuss things over a cigar and a dram of whiskey they can do so. I want a place where we can leave supplies to make the dinner we consume before a degree. I want to have a piece of property that the Brothers can be proud to bring a prospective candidate to. Is this wrong? Am I spinning my creative wheels on a thing that is more trouble than its worth?

I have found a building with a fraction of the grandeur of our old "lodge" but it still has the possibility of grandeur. This building is within the money we collected for the sale of our old building and then some. We should have enough money to purchase and renovate and put some money away to help us in the early years of ownership. But even with all of these qualities the older guys at the lodge are scared to own property again.

I think that a "lodge" would help my lodge in retention and growth because it would be a place we could all be proud owners of, but is this not the case? Does my idea of a "lodge" like the royal society, a clubhouse for the Brethren, not fit in with the reality of modern American Freemasonry? I see places like Halcyon Lodge and what they have done with their old building and think that if we had that we would be so much better off. Am I wrong?

What do you think?

Which Way Do The Compasses Point?

The road is bumpy, the road is winding, the road is long and then you come to this.

When you are traveling on a road to somewhere the bumps jar, the turns sway but the traveling is still easy because you don't have to think really, you just keep moving. The fork in the road is hard because you have to decide. As far as you know both paths lead to a similar destination.

On the left there is a downhill road through a dark forest. It is an easy way to go but the light is obfuscated and diffused and you will have to turn on your headlights and shine the light as you go, but you will save gas and get there sooner.

On the right there is an uphill road over a high precipice. It is a much harder road to travel and you will have to really pay attention to the road but the light will be shining on you and the view could be breathtaking.

You get to the fork and you stop, car idling away. One passenger really thinks the easy road is the way to go, save gas, get there sooner with much less effort. The other passenger is just as adamant about the hard road, it'll cost us more and be a lot of work but just imagine the view. You were the one who found the scenic route and convinced your friend of its merits but the longer you drive the more the easier route calls to you because you want so bad to get where you are going.

Neither friend wants to push you too hard in their direction but are still insistent of their opinion. So with the radio on keeping you entertained you sit there and wait because you cant decide.

If you didn't have passengers you would go the hard scenic route or would you?

The Joy Of Building

The best thing about being Worshipful Master is being able to take things I had only contemplated or wrote about and making it into reality, tonight was one of those great nights. For those of you who read this blog you may recall at the end of one of my posts about an idea for a lodge "building" night I called "Mix The Cement Night". The basic idea of the program came from an experience at our Grand Lodge's Wardens Seminar I attended in October of last year. We were separated into pairs and caused to interview each other as a team building experience, I took this idea and came up with "Mix The Cement Night"and it was a tremendous success.

I snuck the event into my Message From the East and did not give any details about what it was going to be, knowing that none of the Brothers of my lodge really reads my blog so it would be a complete surprise(as it turned out one of the newest Brothers had read it but kept it a secret). I started receiving calls about it the day after I sent out the Trestleboard and would not give the slightest idea of what it was to be, which heightened the anticipation.

I arrived this evening, fashionably late, to a full parking lot and a bunch of Brothers quite enjoying each others company already, which just made it that much better. We quickly opened lodge and disposed of the good business of petitions and returned investigations, then I put the lodge at ease so I could explain what we were about to do. I explained the esoteric idea of the night and knowing my lodge as I do split the Brothers up into pairs of "old school" and "new school", so to say, and gave them a nice questionnaire to conduct the interview. Name, Family Members, Why You Became a Mason were some of the questions on the sheet that I explained to the Brothers should be used as a template to know your Brother better. I then promptly closed the lodge and we adjourned to the dinner hall for the exercise.

We all grabbed a beverage of choice and the fun began. I wanted to limit the time of the interviews to 15 minutes a piece so we would have enough time to hear everyones answers but to my pleasant surprise I was asked for a little more time. The buzz in the air was music to my ears as everyone got to know each other a little better and then I started by introducing my Brother the Treasurer to the lodge. I then went around the room and randomly went back and forth between old and new and had every Brother tell us a little more about their Brother. The stories were great, the camaraderie was amazing and no one was in a rush to leave afterwards! The best part of it was that we all knew each other better than we had ever before and left more cohesive and happier than we came, TRUE BROTHERHOOD.

The cement of personal knowledge was mixed into the aggregate collection of men and turned into a concrete foundation of a Freemasons Lodge. It just doesn't get any better.

Delivering The Goods

I remember.

The expectations of what was to come were overwhelming. So overwhelming that I sneaked a peek at what was to come and I can never get that experience I cheated back, but what came next I kept pure. I kept it pure because my heart and the stars had led me here and I wanted to let it take me to where I was meant to go.

I was swept up in it immediately but I was different than most. When you expect a treasure ship from the shore and receive a fishing boat most would head back to the safety of their home but I hopped on board and started fishing and fishing is hard work.

You sail farther and farther away from your home dragging a line with the hope of coming home with that big catch that will keep you home forever but it never comes so you keep fishing...it'll come some day.

After your Entered Apprentice degree, if you were like me you probably had more questions than answers after such an amazing ordeal. What was that all about? What am I now? They call me Brother so what can I do? Am I their Brother?

The veil of Freemasonry is a heavy one to lift and often even after their initiation, after all of the ceremony and symbolism most Entered Apprentices leave the lodge not really knowing what to do next. For all of our ritual and its importance most of it is lost to the person who needs it most...the candidate. They are so caught up in the moment and overwhelmed that they barely absorb anything that they just went though. I remember that feeling and have made it a point to change that experience for the better.

When I was a junior officer and was doing the different lectures I made sure that the delivery was for the candidates or Brothers and that what I was giving them was from the heart. I tried to learn not just the words but the meanings and feelings of the ritual and convey this to the men who it was supposed to be for. Ours is a theater of the mind and the greatest lecturers keep them on the edge of their seats as far as 18th century prose can bring modern man there, even though they will forget most of what was said as soon as they turn the key to their cars and drive home late that night.

Now that I sit in the oriental chair, I am more of a Master of Ceremonies and administrator so I have brought something new to my old lodge. I still try to deliver a profound experience with the ritual but now I can add something new. I have developed a "Welcome Package" for those who stand in the North East Corner for the first time in their lives. I wanted to give the new Brother something he could take home and read and really feel a part of my lodge. Included in this package is the usual mnemonic EA booklet with the lecture, the more verbose EA booklet from our Grand Lodge, our lodges Trestleboard and a "Welcome Letter";

Welcome Brother,

Again, it is with great pleasure that I now address you by that sacred appellation. You have now undergone the same experience that some of the greatest men in history have and can call George Washington, Henry Ford, Simón Bolívar, Mozart, Voltaire and countless other Brothers. The light of Freemasonry is a beacon that has long attracted men of the utmost character and temperament. This letter is to help you with the great honor that was bestowed upon you and to help welcome you into the St. Johns Lodge № 6 family.

St. Johns Lodge № 6 Free and Accepted Masons was chartered in 1765 by the then Provincial Grand Lodge in New York. The first Worshipful Master was a local merchant and ship’s captain named Benjamin Isaacs and Lodge met in his home on what would later be named Isaacs Street. To put it in perspective George Washington was a young 33 years old when our Lodge was formed. Our lodge has continually met and made Masons ever since and has produced a few Grand Masters and leaders of all levels in the Grand Lodge of Connecticut that was formed 18 years after our forming.

As an Entered Apprentice you are now a Freemason and you are entitled to join us at our meetings. We meet on the first and third Thursday of every month except July and August when we go dim for summer (which is to say not meeting formally). We will open the lodge on the degree of the lowest Brother attending unless we are conferring a higher degree and even then you may come for the fellowship that occurs before we open Lodge. We sincerely hope you will join us at all of our meetings and events when possible. The more you put into Freemasonry the more you will get out of it. We are first and foremost a Brotherhood and it is always great to see your Brother!

You may not yet display any forms of Masonic identification (i.e. rings, pins, and emblems) for although a Brother you are not yet a full member of the Fraternity and will not be one until you attain the Sublime Degree of Master Mason. I encourage you to enrich your mind with the countless books, articles, and websites that will enlighten you to the Craft, but be wary of reading anything that exposes your next two Degrees, only because it will lessen the experience that our rituals invoke. Our initiatic system was developed in time immemorial to reverberate in the soul of the true initiate and a knowledge of what is to come although trivial will dampen your experience.

You will need to learn the Question and Answer lecture that was recited for you in order to pass onto the next Degree of Fellowcraft. The booklets you were given will help you some but what will help you even more will be the guidance of one of your Brothers who will gladly assist you in learning. This not only helps you learn but will grow the bond of Brotherhood that is the binding part of Freemasonry. The lecture book is written in mnemonics, a sort of code that is meant to help you in memorizing the lecture. While perfect recitation of the lecture is desirable and encouraged it is most important that you know the Due Guard, Sign, Grip (handshake), and Word of an Entered Apprentice which are the true secrets of your rank. Included in this packet is our Trestleboard which is our monthly newsletter, which has a list of the Officers of the Lodge and their contact information. Feel free to contact anyone of us including myself to help you become a proficient Entered Apprentice and a shining example of our lodge and great Order.

Sincerely and Fraternally,

Matthew M. Morris, Worshipful Master St. Johns Lodge № 6 F.&A.M.

I wanted to give the new EA some insight into the lodge and answer what questions he may have lingering and make him feel at home. All of these items are presented to the Entered Apprentice at the end of the degree in a nice pocket folder.

I have shared this letter with some Worshipful Masters in my Grand Lodge and feel it may help others. All you have to do is replace all of the stuff about my lodge and replace it with stuff about yours and hopefully you will see him at your next meeting more eager than before.

What do you think?