The Foundation

The first step to my decision to petition was crossed after my introduction to Ross. After the meeting I did a lot of exhaustive research on Freemasonry and satisfied every curiosity I had regarding the nature and history of the fraternity, the only places I never looked into was anything about the ritual. The last comment Ross made to me in our first meet was that I should stay away from reading about the secrets in the ritual because the ritual is what makes Masonry so mystical and if I ever did choose to petition I would get far more from it, than if I did not know what was going to happen after I entered the west gate. I did all this exhaustive research because I wanted to offer myself free of just petitioning out of curiosity. I continued to have coffee with Ross at my wife's work when he would be in at the same time as me. He never pressured me to petition, and our conversation only ever led to the topic of Freemasonry when I would bring it up. Over the course of about a year our friendship grew over these coffee's and talks, but again as life often does a detour was just ahead on my road.

My wife was on the brink of convocation from her funeral service/embalming classes and was offered a practicum position in a town about an hour from the city. Job prospects for her were sparse in the city so we chose to make the move out of town. The availability for Jobs for me also was sparse so I ended up taking a job as a tow truck operator.

At this time in my life I was not a very strong person and as such was easily taken advantage of by my employer. As such I was on call all the time nearly 24/7 and so any thoughts I had about belonging to anything quickly faded from my mind. As nearly a whole year had gone by I had almost all but forgotten about Freemasonry when the phone rang...

The phone call came from Ross! He had been passing though on a transfer and just wanted to check in on my wife and I and perhaps do lunch!

That lunch ran much later than either of us three imagined. By the end of our visit the decision to petition was solidified in my mind.

I am going to end my story here for tonight, but I want to leave you all with something to reflect on... In life, we may come to know someone, it may not be for long, or for any profound reason, but simply for who they are, and how they are, as a person, that has such a profound impact on us that it alters the way we think of ourselves and the way we live our lives. Who is that person to you?

The Introduction

My first meeting with a mason happened out of the blue. I happened to be visiting my wife at her workplace late one night when he had stopped in to drop off a recently deceased person (He worked for the local transfer service) and when he came in he would always have coffee with my wife. I never realized he was the mason friend my wife had, but my wife must have remembered my curiosity because at one point in our visit she had said "Oh yeah Ross is a mason". That comment opened the table for us to have a conversation on the subject unsolicited. At that time I was just more curious than anything. Ross answered all my questions about the fraternity, assured me that's there was no goat sacrificing, and summed the Freemasons up as being a group of brothers that take good men and make them better. We also talked a little about the rank and structure of the fraternity. It wasn't until much later that I had realized that my new friend was a past grand master of our grand lodge!! It spoke leaps and bounds to me that someone who held a station such as that was so willing to be my friend! This first meeting moved me from a place o curiosity to a place of sincere interest in the values and goals of the fraternity and planted a seed that blossomed into a desire to petition to join this great fraternity. Bear in mind this meeting happened about 5 years ago so this road is a long and windy one,so if you care to walk it with me I would love to share its highs and lows. But for now I need to say goodnight!

The Past pt 2

Fast forward 2 years...

A movie I watched with a friend, that contained a plot about the masons had sparked some more curiosity in me. Curiosity I had to research.

I mentioned this curiosity to my wife (girlfriend at that time) who worked in a local funeral home. "Oh those masons aren't a secret society or anything! I know one, you should meet him, he is a great person!"

Aren't these masons a secret society of people trying to control the world? Nice? Can't be!

The Internet is an amazing thing.

Query: Freemasonry

Response: A lot more goat sacrificing, underhanded deals, and world domination.

Problem: Most information available presented masonry in a negative light. Unfortunately for mankind, often the negative has a way of shadowing the positive.

Solution: Meet this mason friend of my wife's.

Result: The beginning of a wonderful friendship, an amazing journey, an even better perception of the fraternity, and a draw to become a part of something that fits my values, and beliefs more than anything else in my life. A journey that has had ups, downs, and in betweens. Douglas Adams said it right... "Don't Panic"

Tomorrow I will detail that first meeting I had, and the path it led me down.

The Past pt 1

I wanted to create a journal to chronicle this amazing journey that I am about to embark on. A road, really that I have been travelling on for about 5 years. A road that is about to take me down a highway to enlightenment. I am going to present this as a story on the road through my mind, thoughts and feelings from learning about freemasonry to finding out about it, to petitioning, to the news that my ballot was affirmative (which is where I stand today)

I will start at the beginning of my journey.

Freemasonry. That's that secret society right? A bunch of elite people? People who are in power. Judges, politicians, police, businessmen? I seen the movies, conspiracies, evil plots of world domination, sacrificial goats, pentagrams, demon worship, that stuff that makes you sleep with the covers drawn over your eyes.

Curiosity.

I worked with a master mason. That's high up. I Asked him about it once. The reply I got was "Yeah I am a mason." That was all. It was like a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter, but with no answer on the next page.

My tattooists' business partner was a mason.
They accept tattooists' amongst their elite ranks?
The Work you have to do to get in is incredible, but when you are in...
A social network?
Connections?

What is it all about?

Life takes over...
Curiosity fades...