Time Flys...

Wow does time fly the older you get.  It's been a LONG time since I've been on here and I deeply apologize to my readers.  I suppose my absence has much to do with me expanding my Masonic knowledge and experience, and I have felt that I have not had much to blog about.  But it's time for me to get back to it.

I want to start by saying my raising was on April 11 2012 and it was a mind blowing experience. With out getting into much detail because I cannot, I will say it was a night I will NEVER forget.  The excitement in the air at supper before the degree, to the degree, to the fellowship after was truly amazing, and I am indebted to the Brethren for making the night such an amazing experience.  The ambiance during the raising was unreal. Truly it is hard to find words to describe it other than life changing.

Seeing how proud my Brethren were and how happy they were for me is something I've never experienced in my life outside of family, and truly show how we are all Brethren to the very core. Seeing how seriously everyone treats the degrees (especially the third) warms my heart. Our W.M (Who admittedly says he struggles with memory work) did a FANTASTIC job, especially since it was his first raising. The turn out of lodge members and visitors was truly humbling as well.

It's amazing to me how a journey that seems simplistic at a glance can have such a profound impact on ones life, and way of thinking.  Since my raising and contemplation of the degrees, I've found myself a much more patient person. I try all my cuts with my square, and always find myself asking myself if my work would pass TGAOTU's square. If I find myself slipping my wife is always quick to remind me to conduct myself as a Mason and helps to right my direction. I've taken a proactive roll in my health (dieting etc) and have lost 35 lbs to date (A lot to do with the fact that I had a hard time getting my MM apron on!)! Being a strong roll model for my children starts with living a healthy lifestyle myself.  The combination of the two have moved me to become a person who is more charitable by nature. All good qualities to be working on.

Moving to June 19 2012, I proved my apron. It was also an amazing experience.  As the Brethren of my lodge did such an amazing and heartfelt job at my raising, I felt it was the LEAST I could do to return the best proficiency I possibly could.  When I was done, more than one of the Brethren approached me and told me I turned in a completely flawless proficiency, and informed me that in their MANY years of Masonry they had not seen a better proficiency. It swelled my heart hearing that I had done the lodge and the Brethren proud. In fact when I was on the road to our district meeting the W.M and a P.M of my lodge were telling me about another proficiency from another lodge they had seen and how he enunciation the proper parts and got it all right, how it was the nicest they'd seen it done until they seen mine. It really made me proud.

At the district meeting I was asked to sit as the JS, and that was truly an honor as well. It was my first time sitting in the south of a lodge (In my jurisdiction its customary that a candidate sit in the northeast until you have proved your MM) and it was a great honor getting the opportunity to wear a collar and participate as a junior assistant for the district meeting.

Lodges in my jurisdiction go dark for the summer months and that left me wanting more! At this point in time I find myself longing to get back into the lodge to continue the experience and I can not wait for the light to get turned back on.

In short, I love my journey, I love the experience, and I love Freemasonry. As I continue to grow as a Mason I will continue update this blog, but for now take care, travel well and grow in light!

Fraternally,

Brother Ryan.

The Level and The Square

Greetings Brethren and all other readers!

I know I have not been on here for a while but I am still out there and still loving every minute of my Masonic experience.

I am still a F.C, though am very much ready for my raising. With it being winter up here in the frozen north, a lot of the Brethren from my lodge flock south (Inc members of the degree team) So I was asked whether I minded having my 3rd in March.

Naturally I said I didn't mind. As I have said in the past, one of the first pieces of advice I'd ever received from a Mason was that things in lodge happen on "Masonic Time".

It's not to say that I am not excited about it, I am VERY excited. But so to are a lot of the other Brethren of the lodge who are away and want to be there for the degree and for me as well. It was so flattering for me, to hear that absent Brethren wanted to move the 3rd a month later so more could be there. One of the Brethren of the lodge made it a point to stand up and say to me also that as important as the raising is, they all considered me a brother already anyway, so if it was okay with me they would rather do the raising when more could be present. I love our order, and I love the mystic tie. So for now I leave you with a small poem from a Bro. Robbie Burns, and another poem I found and really enjoyed by Robert Morris.

Adieu! a heart-warm, fond adieu!

Dear Brothers of the mystic tie!

Ye favored, ye enlightened few,

Companions of my social joy!

~Robbie Burns

The Level and Square

by

Robert Morris

We meet upon the Level and we part upon the Square
What priceless words of meaning these words Masonic are
Come, let us contemplate them, They are worthy of a thought;
In the very walls of Masonry the sentiment is wrought.

We meet upon the Level and from every station come
The rich man from his palace and the poor man from his home,
For the rich must leave their wealth and state outside the Mason’s door,
And the poor man finds his best respects upon the Checkered Floor.

We meet upon the Plumb, ’tis the order of our Guide
We walk upright in every way and lean to neither side;
The All-Seeing Eye that reads our hearts and doth bear us witness true,
That we still try to honour God and give each man his due.

We part upon the Square, for the world must have its due,
We mingle with the multitude, a faithful band and true,
But the influence of our gatherings in Masonry is green,
And we long upon the Level to renew the happy scene.

There is a World where all are equal, we are hurrying to it fast,
We shall meet upon the Level when the Gates of Death are past;
We shall stand before the Orient and our Master shall be there,
To try the blocks we offer with His own unerring Square.

We shall meet upon the Level there, but never thence depart,
There’s a Mansion, ’tis all ready for each trusting, faithful heart,
There is a Mansion and a welcome and a multitude is there;
Who have met upon the Level and been tried upon the Square.

Let us meet upon the Level then while labouring patient here;
Let us meet and let us labour though the labour be severe,
Already in the western sky the signs bid us prepare,
To gather up our working tools and part upon the Square.

Hands round Ye faithful Brotherhood, the bright fraternal chain,
We part upon the Square below and meet in Heaven Again;
And the words of precious meaning, those words Masonic are,
“WE MEET UPON THE LEVEL AND WE PART UPON THE SQUARE”.