Chaplain’s Message – July 2019
First, I’d like to thank everyone who had a part in preparing and delivering the excellent 150th anniversary celebration of Washington Lodge #46. You only had one chance to get it right, and you did! Congratulations on a job well done!
As I write this message, I’m thinking about the closing charge. In the lodge we are to find a place of neutrality that is on the level with one another, a brotherhood of men individually chipping away at the sharp edges of our own rough ashlar and making ourselves living stones suitable for the builder’s work. We learn that no man is an island and that we both affect and are affected by one another both positively and negatively and that one man’s success or failure affects us all and that working together, we can accomplish whatever we set out to do. That takes a civil mind in which mutual respect and appreciation for the position in life of another is essential.
When we think of improving our brotherhood, we sometimes forget this and look outwardly to see what or who needs improvement seldom looking inwardly to see that we are a part of that whole. Yet, when we realize that we are part of many others making up a spiritual building suitable for god’s work, it necessarily causes us to look inward and that examination causes us to work to improve ourselves so that we all fit together perfectly. Masonry is a science of perfecting our society and our relationships with one another as a brotherhood and as a fraternity and civility is at its heart.
Have you been to a lodge meeting where everything went smoothly, and everyone’s minds were focused on the purpose of that event? Something magic happens if we allow ourselves to be become transformed. It’s a kind of mental-spiritual alchemy of sorts, the strange but wonderful nature of the craft and in that moment the lodge becomes a “sacred retreat of friendship and virtue” with everyone on the level, upright and true; a truly unique space, a sacred retreat and that is what we should be creating each and every lodge meeting. We should all perform our ritual work well, as others are watching, and perhaps trying to learn a part correctly from us. When everyone does well, it makes for an enjoyable meeting. When one person doesn’t say his part correctly, it becomes a virus of sorts, and spreads to others doing their parts.
The lodge is like a learning center set aside from the maelstrom of the world’s concerns. It affords us by its very structure, a microcosm in which to learn and grow and become better able to interact with one another both inside and outside the lodge. In fact, for much of the history of the lodge it was referred to as the “masonic temple” although that descriptor has lost favor as society continues to secularize itself away from all things religious. The word temple, however, is an insightful descriptor of the lodge. Old English templ, tempel, reinforced in Middle English by Old French temple, both from Latin templum ‘open or consecrated space.’ Almost always, the temple is oriented to heavenly bodies and immolates the patterns and perfect geometric and predictable movements of the heavens. A temple is designed to “reset” one’s course and give perspective and direction in perfect harmony with the universe around it. I like to think that’s what a Masonic Lodge does.
The charge implies that the world’s demands can drown out what we have learned to be our obligation in the lodge and that a necessary reminder of a brother’s duties are in order as he leaves the lodge room. Brotherly love, relief and truth can sometimes be hard ideals to find operating in the outer world, so we are reminded NOT to forget. We are reminded here that we have a certain responsibility and duties that lay claim to us that asks more than what might otherwise come natural to us. It can also be implied here that we are to remember those tenets that we have learned and that they have application outside our tiled walls because as men, they are sometimes easily forgotten outside our tiled doors.
Our families should be reminded that in the event of the death of one of our brethren to contact the Worshipful Master of the lodge, who notifies the Chaplain, and a determination made as to whether the family wants a Masonic service, and who the family would like to deliver the service. The family may know the brother belonged to the Shriners, and the Scottish Rite, and expect that they will contact the widow. The Shriners and the Scottish Rite won’t know of a death until the family notifies them, therefore they can’t contact the family without this knowledge.
Please attend the Masonic Service for our brother, Roland William Lakey, which will be held at the Washington Masonic Temple on Saturday, July 13th, at 7 pm; and keep Debora in our prayers. The Masonic service will be presented by WB John Quiroz.
Stay safe in your summer travels and have fun! See you at our Stated meeting on July 10th, at 7pm!
WB Ken Hall, Chaplain
Washington Lodge #46
