Westward Bound

Those of you who follow my twitter account may have seen that I posted about my wife's grandfather last week, and that he was headed into heart surgery. We decided to make a trip to Edmonton, which is where the doctor sent him for his surgery, so that we could visit him.

This past weekend was a long weekend here in Canada, and we had some plans originally to take our daughter on a little holiday so we still did so, just changed destinations to Edmonton.

There is a wonderful park there called "Fort Edmonton". It is a historical park that has everything from an old trading fort to a whole town from the 1920's. Naturally Freemasonry playing the important part it did in the formation of western Canada, there was a Masonic lodge in this town.

The lodge room was on the top floor of a store and for me was the highlight of the whole park! The lodge is still in use at times today, and is staffed by Brethren to answer the questions of tourists. This was extremely helpful and a wonderful idea. I had my parents with me and this served as an invaluable tool in showing my mother just was Freemasonry was. As an EA I don't feel I am qualified to say exactly what Masonry is, however having a lodge room, filled with memorabilia and information correctly laid out, and staffed by two master masons really helped her to understand a lot more about just what I was up to. Not to mention I got to use a grip in a foreign place with Brethren that I had never met previously (Very exciting for me!!)

And what is cuter than your two year old daughter taking a rest on a perfect ashlar?

All in all our trip to Fort Edmonton was a wonderful time! In the evening we decided to go for a drive through the city and what better challenge would it be than to search out the Masonic lodges around the city?

Acacia Hall

Highlands Masonic Hall

Freemasons Hall

Freemasons' Hall was an absolutely amazing looking building nestled into downtown Edmonton, with amazing carved features on its exterior. I could hardly imagine what it looks like on the inside. I would definitely like to visit it someday, given the opportunity.

All in all it was a wonderful weekend, even if the circumstances that led us to Edmonton were less than perfect. It was a good time to experience the fraternity again with fall fast approaching and meeting the two brothers at the lodge in Fort Edmonton, made me even more excited for what the future holds and I cannot wait to prove up this fall!

The Summer Of An Entered Apprentice...

What does an EA do when he has 2 or 3 months of time to pass while the lodge is dim?

I think the first answer would be obvious, study study study! The lodges in my jurisdiction provide a cipher to use to study the obligation from.

At first I was very intimidated about having to memorize the whole thing. I thought to myself "Well maybe I should wait to memorize it, what if I forget it by the time the lodge lights get turned back on?"

I was amazed at how right the brethren of my lodge were in saying once you know it you will not forget it.

With that obstacle overcome, what to do next?

I read Freemasons for Dummies from cover to cover, with the exception of anything pertaining to the FC and MM degrees (didn't want to ruin any of the surprise). From that I learned alot about the history of the craft and alot about appendant bodies. Very useful source of information, as well as a tool to answer alot of questions from other family members regarding just what this Freemasonry was all about.

The most surprising thing about the whole summer for myself has been how much becomming an EA, and keeping the lessons taught in the back of my mind has really put in motion change within myself.

It started as a seed in my heart and is now blossoming into a a tree with many branches reaching into my life.

I know I still have a long way to go in shaping myself and my heart into that perfect ashlar but I am surprised at how much impact this whole experience is having on me.

All I will say is that I am applying the lessons in the lecture of the first degree to my life and it feels great knowing that I am making change!

What am amazing summer and amazing experience! I cannot wait for what the future holds! With fall rapidly approaching and the opening of lodge again it will be an exciting season!