The Secrets of a Brother Master Mason

Remember that we are to respect the secrets of any brother Master Mason, please remember this story next time you are tempted to speak out of turn about a brother Master Mason:

One day in ancient Greece an acquaintance met the great philosopher Socrates and said,

"Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before telling me anything I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."

"Triple Filter?"

"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true. You may still pass the test though, because there's one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

Who am I ??

I was born in antiquity, in the ancient days when men first dreamed of God. I have been tried through the ages, and found true. The crossroads of the world bear the imprint of my feet, and the cathedrals of all nations mark the skill of my hands. I strive for beauty and for symmetry. In my heart is wisdom and strength and courage for those who ask. Upon my altars is the Book of Holy Writ, and my prayers are to the One Omnipotent God, my sons work and pray together, without rank or discord, in the public mart and in the inner chamber. By signs and symbols I teach the lessons of life and of death and the relationship of man with God and of man with man. My arms are widespread to receive those of lawful age and good report who seek me of their own free will. I accept them and teach them to use my tools in the building of men, and thereafter, find direction in their own quest for perfection so much desired and so difficult to attain. I lift up the fallen and shelter the sick. I hark to the orphans' cry, the widows tears, the pain of the old and destitute. I am not church, nor party, nor school, yet my sons bear a full share of responsibility to God, to country, to neighbor and themselves. They are freemen, tenacious of their liberties and alert to lurking danger. At the end I commit them as each one undertakes the journey beyond the vale into the glory of everlasting life. I ponder the sands within the glass and think how small is a single life in the eternal universe. Always have I taught immortality, and even as I raise men from darkness into light, I am a way of life.

I am Freemasonry.

(Author: Ray Vaughan Denslow )

Masonry and the Pursuit of Happiness

One of my favorite sayings is "The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

I feel that much the same thing can be said for Masonry - once a candidate is raised to the sublime degree if they make an effort to get involved with their lodge, if they make time to attend meetings and special events, if they make it their business to learn the ritual - they will be rewarded for their efforts.

Will the reward be financial...no it will not. Will the reward be public recognition...probably not. So what am I referring to when I say that you will be rewarded?

You will be rewarded through the personal satisfaction of becoming an integral part of something much bigger than yourself, our lodge or possibly even your Grand Lodge.

You will truly become an member of The Craft when the benefit of the fraternity is of higher importance than that of measuring one's own accomplishments.

I neglected to mention to whom this saying can be attributed - none other than Benjamin Franklin, Past Grand Master of Pennsylvania and a Master Mason of much distinction that contributed much to The Craft as an anonymous contributor to many Masonic writings of the 1700's.

Do we need to change our ways ?

Masonry lost much of Generation X due to the strong belief that new members could not be invited to join the fraternity and that everything that happened in lodge was secret. Fathers would not talk with sons, and sons would have no reason to ask to join the fraternity since they knew little or nothing of the fraternity that their fathers belonged.

Yes our fraternity has secrets that should only be known to members, however we need to acknowledge that most of our "secrets" are now available on the internet and/or shown on the History Channel.

To keep up with the times and hopefuly attract Generation Y we need to change our ways of attracting new members. We need to ask ourselves how can we get the public into the lodge?

Hold frequent public events like Open Houses - if your Grand Lodge does not coordinate a statewide open house recommend that they consider starting a statewide program.

Blood Drives are great ways to involve the public and to help the community all at the same time.

Many Grand Lodges sponsor "Chips" or child ID programs this can be another great way to support the community and get the public to visit the lodge. I personally recommend combining that with a local law enforcement authorities many of whom have officers trained to inspect child safety seats to assure they are properly installed in a vehicle.

If your building is located on a main street consider investing is a Message Board Sign, these can be used to promote one of the programs above or to deliver a message to the community - possibly just to say "God Bless our Military" on Vetrans Day. In the absence of a sign, never be afraid to send a press release to your local paper about upcoming lodge events.

Everybody loves a good Charity Fund Raiser - the pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinners can bring in funds as well as bring the community in to see the lodge.

Whenever the public is present in the building always make sure to make promotional materials available about your lodge as well as the fraternity.

If your lodge doesn't have a Web Site you should think of starting one, but it needs to be maintained and kept current.

We pride ourselves on our charitable pursuits, and for good reason, but to enhance membership a better tact may be to allow people to see the good we do and make them want to get involved with and become part of our various Masonic charities.

No Dumb Questions ??

As we work together to help each other to create their own perfect ashlars of Masonic knowledge I always stress to new brothers that there are no dumb questions, and the more I study to learn the degrees, as I proceed to the East, the more this is re-enforced.

If you have read the book "The Last Lecture" by Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch he refers to the "head fake".  What this means is that while something may appear to mean one thing it can actually have two or more different meanings as well.

I propose that much of what Masonry puts forth can be considered a "head fake" - such as the point within a circle, while there is one popular meaning for this symbol within our ritual I have heard of two or three other meanings for this popular ancient symbol.

So my "head fake" in this message is that even though you know something to be a certain way within your lodge don't close your mind that it can not have a different meaning to another brother.  If a new brother asks for the meaning of something there is nothing wrong with giving the traditional answer but always encourage a brother to seek further masonic knowledge and leave room for multiple meanings for many of the symbols within our lodges.

Author's Note: I encourage anyone who has not read the book "Last Lecture" or seen the YouTube video of Dr Randy Pauch (click here) to do so.

Move Over and Make Room

It becomes the duty of every new Mason to find their place within the lodge.  If a new member likes to cook they can offer to help the kitchen crew, if they like to work with their hands they can help with maintaining the building or if they like to plan events they can help with Blood Drive or Child ID programs.

It also becomes the duty of every lodge officer, past master and member to help every new Mason find their place within the lodge.  Invite the new brother to help with the upkeep of the building, or to help plan the next lodge event - give him an oppoprtunity to learn what activities within the lodge he enjoys the most.

Why is this so important ?  If the past teaches us anything about our future, a newly made Mason who does not find his place within the lodge will be lost - they may come to an occasional meeting and they may remain on the lodge rolls as a member or they may join another local lodge that does make they feel welcome.  

There has been too many members lost to demit and nonpayment of dues because they never found their place within the lodge.  Lodge's today need to actively reach out and embrace new members - that will help us to grow and become a stronger part of our respective communities.

N.J. Grand Lodge 2009

As a voting member of my lodge, this week I attended the 222nd annual communication of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.

There was an awful lot going on in the short two days we were there - first the fellowship shared with friends and Masons from around the jurisdiction is always something to enjoy.   The opening of Grand Lodge began with the Knights Templar presenting the colors, and the introductions of all the representives of all the visiting masonic grand jurisdictions - attendees included representatives from most local states as well as Florida and Wisconsin.

Then the required business that needs to be attended to during the meeting, including reading the names in nomination for office.  Shortly after that the polls were opened for voting and the meeting adjourned for the day.  Then the activities included a blood drive as well as visiting the vendors that were on hand selling their wares and offering information.  

There were hospitality suites a plenty and a lot of fellowship was shared into the evening.

The second day began with the Masonic Kilties presenting the colors and then more important business, which included a report on how it hoped we will save our home from it's current financial crisis, as well as voting on legistlation and awards.  I was honored to be a recipient of one of those awards being the blood drive coordinator for my lodge - we were honored for collecting the most pints of blood on any lodge in New Jersey.

The voting results were that R. W. Glenn Trautman was elected Junior Grand Warden - he is from my district so it will be an interesting time as he progresses through the Grand Lodge Offices on his way to being Grand Master, at the same time as I am progressing through the officer's line of my lodge.

Our new Grand Master is M.W. Bill Berman, while I really do not know him well I trust that he will lead our craft with wisdom this coming year.

Our outgoing Grand Master John M. Colligas was a great leader and seems to have been the right man at the right time to deal with the difficulties that presented themselves with our country's current recession, causing a funding crisis for our masonic home.  I have had a few dealings with M.W. Colligas and I found him at all times to be a gentleman, and I thank him for his leadership this past year.

Should the "G" stand for Google?

If you do a search on Google for the word "Freemason" it offers 1.44 million possible results!

Is this a good thing for our craft?  I think the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no.  I speak for most Freemasons I know when I say that I wish our "secrets" were not available in so public a forum, and that those with an anti-masonic agenda often can promote their unsubstantiated information to an unknowing public without censure.

That said the availability of masonic information to the Freemason wanting to learn more about the craft is unprecedented.  Should you want to find Masonic clipart or simply look up information on the history of square and compass - the internet world can bring the information right into your living room.

The discussions groups open up a new world of sharing of thoughts and ideas from one state to another, and from one country to another.  If you want to know if there is a lodge in Zurich that meets in May, it can be a simple matter to inquire on one of these discussion groups to locate a local Freemason that knows the answer to your questions.  While I am a member of a number of masonic discussion groups the one I find that covers all area of masonry is the Masonic Light grooup on Yahoo Groups.

Podcasts allow for us to share short essays about the craft that can be uploaded and then listened to at a later time.  While many lodges have ventured into this forum - Bro. Scott Blaskin of King George Lodge in Calgary Alberta Canada has offered the most successful podcast I know of and it is called the Digital Freemason.

The more recent popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites offers a new dimension in getting to know fellow masons via the internet, typically you get top see a picture and and see a brief biography.

Will we someday be able to "virtually" attend lodge?  I sure hope not, but there seems to be no limits to the ways people can interact via the internet.

M.W. Carl Claudy a Masonic Author of Distiction

Carl H. Claudy (1879 - 1957) is probably one of the best know masonic authors, he is probably is best known for his series on the three degrees of freemasonry and his book "Old Tiler Talks".  His simple style of writing makes his stories as important today as when they were written.

An author of 32 books and a galaxy of essays and short stories numbering more than 1,600.  His formal education concluded after only a year of high school whereupon he found himself in the hardscrabble workaday world of the late 19th century.

At age 19 he headed to the Alaskan gold fields. Finding no gold after six months, he returned to the States and took up employment with an emery wheel manufacturer. After several years he left that job to move back to Washington, DC, where he became the editor of a popular science paper. This was his springboard.

Despite the lack of a formal education Claudy began to read and to write. In fact, the first story he ever wrote appeared in The Washington Post. He freelanced for The New York Herald, eventually joining its staff in 1908 with a special assignment covering the then infant aeronautical industry.

During this time he wrote a number of articles on the subject and published a book titled, Beginners Book of Model Airplanes. But he was also a photographer. His photos of early flights were given to Alexander Graham Bell who placed in the Smithsonian where they remain today. At the end of World War I, Claudy went overseas as a correspondent for Scientific American.

An avid athlete and outdoors man, his hobbies included camping, mountaineering, boxing, rowing crew, tennis, and football. His love of the outdoors brought him frequently to Montana and inspired many short stories written for various Boy Scout publications.

Claudy's association with Freemasonry began in 1908, when, at the age of 29, he was raised a Master Mason in Harmony 17 in Washington, DC. He served as its master and eventually served as Grand Master of Masons in the District of Columbia in 1943.

His Masonic writing career began in earnest when he became associated with the Masonic Service Association in 1923, serving as associate editor of its magazine, The Master Mason until 1931. He became executive secretary of the Masonic Service Association in 1929 — a position held until his death in 1957. Under his single handed leadership the Masonic Service Association was brought to a place of preeminence through his authorship and distribution of the "Short Talk Bulletin" which made his name familiar to virtually every lodge in the country.

Claudy can personally lay claim to authorship of approximately 350 Short Talk Bulletins. In addition to the bulletins themselves he wrote and distributed innumerable digests, special bulletins, and portfolios of historical and factual nature   all designed to promote the Craft. One of his finest works of this nature is the "Little Masonic Library," a collection of 20 pocket size volumes by noted authors. In 1930 he published serially in The Master Mason his delightful novel, The Lion's Paw, shortly followed by several others, including the timeless Master's Book, in which are set out the principles and practices of a successful lodge master. Another classic written during this time, his primer for new Masons entitled Introduction to Freemasonry, enjoyed international popularity. In 1934 he penned the first of his series of 12 Masonic plays while in his Washington office. The succeeding plays were all drafted on the road, so to speak. Nine of them were written in a log cabin in Montana in the sight of Emigrant Peak — a blue lodge in the Gallatins as Claudy called it. The plays have, in the past, had a powerful 

impact on the fraternity and formerly were performed countless times in nearly every grand lodge jurisdiction.

In consequence of his long service, Masonic recognition was mighty. He was a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, recipient of the Henry Price medal and honorary member of many Grand Lodges and lodges.

(Note: Information for this posting was taken from a story on Carl Claudy by the Masonic Service Association.)

M.W. Dr. Jepthah B. Munn, PGM

Recently I became aware of the grave site of a distinguished worthy brother that was buried in the Hillside Cemetery across from Madison Lodge.  With a little help from WB Dale Keller who used to work in the cemetery many years ago, I was able to locate the grave of M.W. Dr. Jepthah B. Munn (1780-1863).

The story of Jepthah B. Munn is the story of a distinguished physician, and statesman as well as something of a history of Freemasonry in the Morris County area.  

Jepthah B. Munn was a physician and was a founder of the Medical Society of Morris County in 1816 and was elected the organization's President in 1820.  In 1828 he was elected a Fellow in the Medical Society of New Jersey.

Munn served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1810 to 1814 and on the Legislative Council (State Senate) from 1825 to 1836, serving as vice-president and acting Governor of New Jersey in 1836.

M.W. Munn was raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason in 1804 in Paterson-Orange Lodge No. 13, he served as Worshipful Master of Cincinnati Lodge No. 17 (Morristown, NJ) from 1809-1814 and became the charter Worshipful Master of Chatham Lodge No. 33 in 1814 and served in this capacity until 1819.  (Note: The current Borough of Madison was not founded until 1834, and previous to that was known as the "Bottle Hill" section of Chatham)

Chatham Lodge subsequently surrendered it's warrant in 1824, and M.W. Munn returned to Cincinnati Lodge, and affiliated with St. John's lodge No. 2.Elected Senior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of New Jersey 1818-1820, he subsequently became Grand Master of New Jersey in 1821 serving in this capacity until 1824.  His term as Grand master was best known for when 

he received Bro. Lafayette at Elizabeth, NJ in 1824.

 In 1837, Munn participated in constituting the St. John's Grand Lodge in New York in competition with the regular Grand Lodge of New York.   Munn Lodge was the first lodge to be voted on and warranted under the jurisdiction of Saint John's Grand Lodge and for some 30 years there were two distinct Grand Lodges in New York, and a number of warrants were issued - including one in Hoboken, NJ which was later absorbed into the Grand Lodge of New Jersey.

In 1842 M.W. John Darcy, PGM censured M. W. Munn for his participation in the creation of theSaint John’s Grand Lodge.  This censure was rescinded in 1845.Most governing bodies of Masons in America openly admitted that the St. John’s Grand Lodge had no Masonic Status, but they also did not regard it as a clandestine body. 

Then in 1849 a third Grand Lodge of New York a third Grand Lodge in New York was constituted and the situation was found entirely ridiculous and arbitrated by all other Grand Lodges in the country at the time.  In December of 1850 Munn Lodge was granted a warrant by the Grand Lodge of New York and Saint John’s Lodge was subsequently dissolved.

Masonic Police Patches

I recently put together a display of masonic police patches for my lodge. These patches are worn by degree teams from the respective police agencies while performing the Master Mason Degree for members of their respective departments.

These patches are a good example of the universality of masonry, these patches can be found for many states and large cities in both the United States and Canada.

Something new for all Masonic Leaders The Masonic Renewal Committee has brought together countless Masonic programs and ideas from all across North America and made them available to all at one easy-to-use electronic site www.masonicrenewal.org Subjects include Membership, Mentoring, Leadership, Community Service, Member Retention, Promotional, Training, Secretarial issues and more. There are PowerPoint presentations, a calendar of all Grand Lodge communication dates, and even a password-protected area for Grand Masters to discuss issues.

Blood Drive Opens Facebook Group

In an effort to reach out to the community, and to increase the exposure of the Lodge I have opened a new "group" on the popular social networking site Facebook.

Anyone interested can go to  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=76534013824  to follow the efforts of our Blood Drive.

11th District Reception

The 11Th Masonic District was recently honored with their annual visit from M.W. John M. Colligas, Grand master to honor the appointed Grand Lodge Officers for 2008-2009.  This year the 5Th Masonic District joined us to honor their Grand Lodge Officers

The event was held at The Zeris Inn in Mountain Lakes and was well attended by Masons from throughout the state.

Madison Lodge was well represented this year with four Grand Lodge Officers calling the Rose City Temple home.  Those Madison Brothers are Anthony Montuori, District Deputy Grand Master also Edgar Coster, Grand Pursuivant also Robert Guidice, Jr. Grand Steward and Russell G. Jayne Grand Soloist.  (Pictured are Anthony Montuori and Edgar Coster)

The evening was most enjoyable, attended by many of our ladies - the true principle supports of Masonry!

Madison Lodge's Distinguished Brothers

  During the December installation of R.W. Charles Woolsey as Worshipful Master in December we were honored with a visit by M.W. John M. Colligas Grand Master.  M.W. Colligas was presented with an honorary membership to Madison Lodge and two worthy brothers Russell L. Jayne and Robert Huntington were presented with the "Distinguished White Apron" award.  

These brothers have distinguished themselves with years of service to the craft, and we were honored that R.W. Anthony Montuori our DDGM had recommended these brothers for the award.

The evening was made even more special when R.W. Russell G. Jayne Grand Sol. was able to join the group to congratulate his father via speakerphone from Israel where he is currently studying.

Madison Lodge is fortunate to currently have four active members as Distinguished White Apron brothers, the others being G. Barry Murray and Richard Wantz. (Richard Wantz's award is from the Grand Lodge of N.Y)