Passed to the degree of Fellow Craft!

Good evening Brethen and fellow followers!

Tonight I was passed to the degree of Fellow Craft!

It was an absolutely amazing experience! I cannot even describe how amazing the experience was!

At supper my anxiety over proving up grew and grew but as soon as the W.M called me to the alter to give back my profficiency in the 1st my nervousness dissapeared and i just started giving it!

Afterwards I had serveral brothers approach me and tell me it had been one of the best they had heard. What an amazing and flattering thing to hear from some members who have been around for over 50 years. I couldn't believe how flawlessly I was able to give my proffiency with all those eyes on me. It made my heart feel wonderful knowing I was showing the brethren of the lodge and visiting DDGM and his entourage the respect they deserve, and the fraternity deserved by doing the absolute best I could to give a flawless performance.

The DDGM also presented me with my lapel pin at the supper before the meeting, and I am SUPER excited that I get to wear that now!

This time around I was able to absorb much more of the ritual because I was not as nervous. I will have to let it all soak in over the next few days before I can make hide nor hair of the lessons taught but for now I will just enjoy the fact that it was an amazing evening. I'm exhausted!

I just want to take a minute to sincerly thank the brethren of my lodge for the awesome job they did and for all the time and effort they have been putting into this to make it such an excellent experience for me.

I also have a picture of myself with the degree team but would like to ask their permission before I post it on here.

2º!!

Good Evening Everyone!

Just wanted to put a quick post up there to let everyone know that I am still out here! Just recieved my notice to appear for my passing to the second degree on the 15th of November!

Excitment is definitly mounting! I have been going over the 1º work nightly to ensure I am ready, as I will be proving up just before recieving the 2º.

Tuesdays meeting is also our DDGM's official visit to the lodge could be quite busy! A little nerve wracking but it will be very nice to have more people there!

Anyway I will post again after my passing! Wish me luck!!

And The Lodge Is Returned To Light

Good evening everyone!

Sorry for the lapse in entries! I have been spending my time preparing to prove up in the 1st degree! My lodge will be returning to work officially tomorrow. (I know it seems late but as I live in a farming community, our recess is a little longer as most members are harvesting their crops in September.)

I am very excited to get back into lodge and experience more of just what this "Masonry" is all about.

I am a little dissapointed however, I found out last night that I would not be recieving the 2nd degree tomorrow night as someone who plays a large role in the degree backed out, and they could not find a replacement. But such is the way of things I suppose! All in due time!

Thinking about it, it does kind of make me nervous, as IF I do recieve the 2nd degree at Novembers meeting, I may be recieving the 3rd in December and as December is a busy time for the lodge, there may be quite a few people visiting our lodge.

I am a little leery about having my 2nd degree moved to November however as I do not want any of the 1st degree obligation to slip from my mind before I prove up. I just spent the entire weekened refreshing it and rehearsing it, and getting it just right. I suppose we will see how it ends up!

Be expecting more post and entries from myself, as I get back into the swing of things with regards to Freemasonry.

For now, good night, and thanks for reading!

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!

When Is A Man A Mason

I read this on Masonic Matrix and I just wanted to share it with you all, it's from "The Builders"


When is a man a Mason? When he can look out over the rivers, the hills, and the far horizon with a profound sense of his own littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have faith, hope and courage — which is the root of every virtue.

When he knows that down in his heart every man is as noble, as vile, as devine, as diabolic, and as lonely as himself, and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love his fellow man. When he knows how to sympathize with men in their sorrows, yea, even in their sins — knowing that each man fights a hard battle against many odds.

When he has learned how to make friends and keep them, and above all how to keep friends with himself. When he loves flowers, can hunt the birds without a gun, and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy when he hears the laugh of a little child. When he can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner drudgeries of life. When star-crowned trees, and the glint of sunlight of flowing waters, subdue him like the thought of one much loved and long dead. When no voice of distress reaches his ears in vain, and no hand seeks his aid without response.

When he finds good in every faith that helps any man to lay hold of devine things and sees majestic meanings in life, whatever the name of that faith may be. When he can look into a wayside puddle and see something beyond mud, and into the face of the most forlorn fellow mortal and see something beyond sin.

When he knows how to pray, how to love, how to hope. When he has kept faith with himself, with his fellow man, with his God; in his hand a sword for evil, in his heart a bit of song — glad to live, but not afraid to die! Such a man has found the only real secret of Masonry, and the one which it is trying to give all the world.

– Joseph Fort Newton – THE BUILDERS

After The Knock Pt II

So now that the excitment and rush of my initiation had settled down a little I was trying to decide where I wanted to go with this blog. I think for now I will just talk alittle about what I am doing with Freemasonry.

Lately I have been chomping at the bit with wanting to learn more, about the EA degree the symbols etc, but am not too sure where to go for that. I picked up a copy of Bro. Hodapps Freemasons For Dummies book, partly because i've wanted to read it for a while now but swore off reading anything that would have anything to do with ritual etc in it. (I skipped over the parts that talk about the F.C degree and the M.M degree) and partly because I wanted to give my mom something that would be easy to read and understand that will explain just exactly what Freemasonry is.

I have to say, his book so far is very informative. I've found it easy to read, not boring and a very good beginners tool to have.

Between reading Freemasons For Dummies and my family duties i've spent about an hour every other night learning my obligation and am happy to say that I have about 3 quarters of it solidly in my head. I hope i'm not going to fast and forget it by October, when I will be proving up. That is still quite a few months away.

In the mean time if anyone knows of any more supplemental reading I might be able to look into, please let me know in the comments. I would like to learn as much as I can about the E.A degree, symbols, ritual etc before I move on, so as to make sure I can take out as much of it as I can!

Until next time light be with you all!

Fraternally, Bro. R.S (I love being able to say that!)

After The Knock

Wow what an amazing, overwhleming, nerve wracking, enlightening, fellowing, brotherly night it was! It is now 11:21 here and I am exhausted. I just wanted to say thanks for all the well wishes, and messages of congratulations i've recieved from all the Brothers who have been following my blog, and following on twitter! Tonight a path ended at the west gate, and a new road beyond that gate to the east lies. I am so very excited! Once again thanks for all the fraternal love and kindness that has been shown! Now to start that memory work!!

A Knock On The Flipside.

Well everyone, tomorrow marks the end of one journey that will bring me to a gate at 7:30pm tomorrow to knock. Words cannot say how excited I am, to finally see whats on the other side! I just wanted to say good night, and the next time you all read I will officially be a brother. Wish me luck tomorrow!!!

Fellowship

Before I get into this post, I just want to apologize to my readers for the late response. I've been waiting this long to post for a couple reasons. One being that I wanted to end my history story closer to the date of my initiation and two because there was an issue with my DSL line so I had limited access to the Internet (ie: I really didn't want to have to do a blog post on my blackberry) So that being said "I'm Sorry" and without further ado ill get into this!

After hearing that my ballot was affirmative I was pleasantly surprised that the members of the lodge started to welcome me in to readily. Not that I was surprised at being welcome, but that out of the blue, people I hadn't met would come up to me in introduce themselves.

One such incident comes to mind readily. One evening after work I had to run to the grocery store for some buns. I had my young daughter with me because she likes shopping with her dad (Usually ends up in a treat for her) When we walked into the store a man walked up out of the blue and introduced himself to me, told me he was a member of the lodge, that he was excited to have me join and was looking forward to getting to know me. He asked me about my daughter, talked a little with her (She's not even 2) and we parted ways. I had always known the Masons were good, friendly people, but was still pleasantly surprised at how readily this man approached me and talked to me, and how genuinely excited he was to have me become a member. Not that I needed more affirmation of my decision to petition, but I left this parting even happier with the decision. It's so hard in today's society to find people so willing to extend an olive branch, and it totally excites me that I get to become a part of a fraternity that, that is one of its core practices; the olive branch of brotherhood.

The service award night quickly came, and the W.M of the lodge came over to pick me and my wife up. The evening was fantastic! I got to meet a good portion of the brethren and all of them were extremely excited about meeting me and having my upcoming initiation (though some of them that were going to have parts jokingly cursed me for making them brush up on their work) We got to have a wonderful meal and enjoy the fellowship of the brothers and their families.

I was amazed at the dedication of the brothers of the lodge. One member (who hadn't attended lodge for 25 years, age related) but kept his dues current, received his 65 year service pin. He was initiated into the very lodge we were in, in 1945! I was so touched by the fact that even though he hadn't attended lodge for 25 years, Freemasonry meant enough to him that he kept his membership up to date.

Needless to say, I am sitting here exactly one week from my initiation, (this time next week I will officially be able to be called a brother) Totally excited for what the future has in store. Over the last two months, I've been allowed to share a story with you all that I hold dear to my heart, so I would like to thank you all for listening to me. I'm all caught up to the present day, and so the next post you will get from me will be next week after I knock at the gate. Thanks again and good night!

The Door In

I wasn't too sure what to expect or think of this Investigation committee. Three strangers coming into my home to talk to me and my family. What would they think of me? My life? My home? I was nervous.

It was kind of funny my wife quipped that I was not even as nervous about our wedding! I just explained to her that this was a long time coming, and that I just did not know what to expect.

Before the investigation committee came I went against my nature and tried to prepare by looking up on the web what to expect from an "Investigation Committee". Like the Internet often does all it did was instill more nervousness because all my results ranged from "Nothing to worry about" to "Expect to be grilled."

What I found instead was a group of three Brothers that simply wanted to get an unbiased feel for me, to make sure I didn't have any concerns, and most importantly to make sure that my wife did not have any questions or concerns about this group of men that would be taking some of my time away.

We chatted about my background. A little about what would be expected of me. Reaffirmation that it was what I really wanted. That it would be a lot of work, but worth it. And reaffirmed that I believe in a supreme being.

After about a 45 minute meeting they said thank you, told me that if their report was in favour they would ballot on my petition and told me that I would hear from someone at the lodge, and took their leave.

I felt quite good about the meeting, that it went well, but still in the back of my mind I had a lingering concern "What if one of them didn't like me?"

I knew when the lodge meetings were in my town, and a week after the meeting with still no phone call I started to get worried that maybe they weren't in favor of me joining. Did they find I was not worthy of the mysteries of Freemasonry?

As it turned out, I was informed by my bowling teammate (who is the current worshipful master of the lodge) that there was simply a clerical error made because he and most of the officers were new, that my petition hadn't been posted in the monthly notice to inform the brethren of the ballot, so they could not ballot on my petition that month, but would be at their next meeting.

Phew! I thought it was far worse than that!

Next months meeting came, and the very next day I was contacted by the W.M at my work! He told me that my ballot was in the affirmative, and told me that I was to report to the lodge in two months (June 21st 2011) for my initiation. But that my wife and I were invited to their annual pin award supper. I was absolutely elated!

I will end my story here for tonight as we are rapidly catching up to present day. I will really only have one more post before June 21st, which will highlight that awards night supper. Thanks for reading and good night!

Steps To The Temple Gate

Last fall my wife and I decided we needed something for the two of us to do that was social and adult. Options being what they were in a small town (curling and bowling) it lead to us joining the local bowling league. Because we weren't on a team, or knew of a team to join we were placed on a team that had two open spot available. It turned out to be a great fit and we quickly became friends with our teammates, and league mates. As the league progressed we got to know everyone a little better but to my surprise on the night of the information night I learned a surprise about one of my team mates.

That team mate was the up and coming W.M of the local lodge! This was a pleasant surprise for me as I was expecting to know no one at the information night! Turns out I knew and was friends with two members of the local lodge! This made it a lot simpler to have two signatures on my petition.

The funny thing about the whole situation is that, I had gone on for a while thinking all throughout the fall that I did not know any lodge members, and was extremely nervous about having to get to know the members, as, I would say, I'm probably not the typical candidate that comes to a small town lodge (27 years old, visible tattoo's, ears pierced etc.) and was kind of expecting prejudgment.

That preconceived notion I had could not have been further from the truth. All the brothers of the local lodge welcomed me in excitedly and did not hesitate one bit to introduce themselves and get to know me a little. It turned out that I had a common acquaintance with most of the lodge members and that acquaintance was Ross. I was touched by how fondly everyone there spoke about Ross and what he did for Freemasonry in Saskatchewan, and how many people knew him!

The last thing the representative from the grand lodge said before he ended his speech about Freemasonry was that "All they could do was give us information on the fraternity and a little about what it is about, the rest is left to us. To leave the lodge and think a little about it, and if and when we were ready to ask for a petition."

I though about it good and hard for about a month and a half after the information night. Not that I wasn't sure that I wanted to petition, but to make absolutely sure I was petitioning for the right reasons.

Just before Christmas of 2010, I asked that team member of mine for a petition, he eagerly gave it to me the next week, with a warning that the process can take time... "Masonic Time". I chuckled and told him that this had been a long time coming, and what was a few more months in the 6 years it had taken to get to here.

When I got home I eagerly filled out my petition, but I ended out catching a winter bug in January and did not get my petition in until February.

The February meeting came, and I was informed that my petition had been read in lodge, and I should be expecting to be contacted sometime before the next months meeting by a very ominous sounding "investigation committee". But that's a story for another night.

The Path Forward

The rush and pace of life quickly ushered in 2010. My daughter turned one, the sun began to set on the summer and it was time to start re-evaluating my life goals and career aspirations.

As I mentioned in a previous post I operated tow truck in the town I live in. The time commitment (which was pretty much all the time)was starting to really pull me down. I wanted to be available to my family first and foremost, and secondly start living the life I wanted to live.

I'll never say I regretted doing the job I did. I did learn a lot, and got to meet some very good people. One of those people was on one of the last calls I did, I will not forget him, and I do hope that one day I will be able to thank him.

The call was a run of the mill breakdown. I loaded his truck on the tow truck and as I was doing my walk around I noticed he had a Shriner's license plate. Once we got going and chatting I inquired as to weather or not he was a Mason. He chuckled as that was a peculiar question and asked how I knew. I told him I noticed the license plate which he thought was funny as he had forgotten that he had it on his truck. We talked a little about Freemasonry and he told me what it had done for him. The example he had given me was that prior to being a Freemason he would have been a lot more upset with his truck breaking down, and that Masonry taught him to approach situations in life a lot more "level". I told him about Ross and my petition in Saskatoon, and he informed me he knew Ross well. I mentioned I was thinking of looking into petitioning but that I did not know anyone from our local lodge. When we parted ways he gave me his business card, and took my name and number. He told me he would be at the district meeting and would give my information to a member of the lodge in my town. I was astounded that he would do that for me given that he had only just met me.

When I got home I eagerly told my wife about the call and expressed how happy I was that I had met this man and that he was going to help me get into contact with the local Masons!

In the fall of 2010 with the full support of my wife I also moved on to a new career. I started with an entry level position at a pulse processing facility near our home. The pay was less than I was making towing, the work labor some, but something told me it was the right choice to make. Apparently I have a knack for the grain business and my strong work ethic (which I did get from towing) lead to rapid promotion and I am now the logistics manager and grain buyer of the same company!

As I settled into my new job, and more active role in my family, the draw to become a Freemason grew ever larger and larger. I wanted to finish what I started all those years ago. For myself, and because I knew deep inside Ross would have wanted me to.

I still had not heard from anyone at our local lodge so I decided to take a proactive role in seeking out membership. I didn't know where to start so I figured the best place would be to send an e-mail to the the grand lodge in my jurisdiction (Grand Lodge Of Saskatchewan). I told them about my situation with Ross and asked how I could go about getting into contact with someone from our lodge. To my surprise I never received an e-mail back, but instead the grand lodge secretary phoned me back directly! We chatted a little and on parting he gave me the contact for our local lodges secretary.

With much anxiety (because this was a long long time coming) I phoned the secretary and introduced myself, explaining my desire to join and interest in meeting the brothers. He informed me that once lodge was back in session they would be planning an information night and would let me know when it would be (this was in September). By October I had not heard from him, so I phoned him again to reiterate that I was still very interested. It happened to be that he was going to phone me that very day to give me the details, and offered to pick me up on the night!

The information night finally arrived, and with much anticipation I dug my best clothes out of the closet got ready and stepped out the door onto the final path that would quickly lead me to the gate in June. Before I get there I want to highlight a few things about the information night and my petitioning, but that's for another night. As a teaser for the next post I will say that when I got to the meeting I learned that someone I am friends with is a Mason not just any Mason, but the W.M of the lodge!

A Sad Farewell

Upon hearing that our friend was hospitalized, my wife and I felt that we needed to go and see Ross right away. This is a decision I will never regret.

I remember walking into the hospital room, and looking at my wife. Upon seeing Ross, her faced immediately turned red and she started to weep harder than I had ever seen her.

I've always taken this is a testament to Ross' character, friendship, and loving nature because my wife tends to handle these situations well given the nature of her job (mortician).

Even though he was so tired he readily welcomed us in for a visit, so we chatted for a short while talked about life, told him to be strong and said our farewells.

I am glad we got to say goodbye.

Upon leaving the room we got a little ways down the hall and we had to stop because my wife was so upset. I had never seen her like this before and just held her, and assured her that everything would be alright.

At least we got to say goodbye.

About a month later Ross made his trip up to the grand lodge in the sky.

Suddenly my petition didn't seem so important.

I remember being awestruck at his funeral service. As further testament to Ross' character there was about 500 people at his funeral service. Of that 500 about 150 were Freemasons all dressed up in their masonic regalia.

It wasn't until after his funeral that I realized that Ross simply got sick before he could turn my petition in after the summer recess.

I still wanted to become a Freemason but no longer knew how to go about it with the passing of my friend. And once again as life can do, I got swept up in the rapid passage of time. Calender pages began turning and life got busy.

Marriage to my beautiful wife.

Renovations on the house.

The birth of our beautiful daughter.

As these amazing things began to happen in my life. The longing and draw I've felt to becoming a Freemason became stronger and stronger, and my initial decision to join became clearer and clearer. As I settled into my role as a husband, and then a father I was able to ease up on my throttle and start to re look at joining....

This time was definitely the right time...

A Bump In The Road

After the lunch I had with Ross we parted ways for a couple of months. I was beginning to think he had forgotten about me, and that maybe he wasn't taking me too seriously about petitioning, when out of the blue late in the spring he called me and asked if I would be willing to have coffee with him and another member. Ross wanted to have me meet another member so we could get to know one another as you need to have two sponsors on your petition. We met at a Tim Hortons (A famous coffee joint in Canada) And had a nice long meeting to discuss my life, my interests, goals and aspirations. At the end of the meeting we filled out my petition. Ross told me he wasn't going to read my petition until the fall (It was May)as it would be a lot easier to go through the degrees in the fall with a few other candidates. I of course was slightly disappointed but was well forewarned about "Masonic" time. They told me to expect a phone call from a very ominous sounding "Investigation Committee"

The Days Come And Go
Anxious Floating In Darkness
Masonic Time

Fall rolled around and still no word from this investigation committee or Ross. Was I deemed unworthy? Why haven't I heard from Ross?

September came and went... No Call

October came and went... No Call

November came and went... No Call

Frustration mounting

December came and went... No Call

January came....

And so did the news that my dear friend Ross was dieing of occupational cancer, and had been in the hospital since the summer....

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...