Masonry today and how you fit in?

So you are a master mason... You have been through the blue lodge degrees and experienced all the uncertainties,excitement and hardwork to get there. Now what?

It seems after the degree work alot of masons lose their flair of the craft and the used to be flair has not sizzled out. It seems you are lost on what to do and where to go. Well, for me I see many blogs post on the excitement of joining and after the degree work it just fades. Even at the lodges you see one individual make it to their 3rd never to be seen at a business meeting again.

Why do you think this is?
What are some things that can be done in the blue lodge to keep members active?

In my last post which I decided to talk about Linkedin and professional affiliations I was kind of setting it up for this post.
Sometimes, I do think there are many motives other than the improvement of a man himself.
Getting the 3rd degree and not participating in the degree work or being active with a lodge seems to me that you are shorting yourself this level of self improvement.

Some lodges today are suffering lack of participation. I encourage you if you have not been to your lodge in awhile stop by and get active.

I talked to a man/brother the other day who practically was my father growing up and I found out through his son that he was indeed a brother and he told me he felt bad he had'nt been in his lodge in years and probably did not know anyone anymore. I encouraged him to go back and meet some of the newer brothers and provide some leadership and guidance to the newer generation.

My question to you is to look deep and ask what was your real reason in becoming a Freemason?
What were your motives and intentions once you became one?

Answer these questions and think back when you were going for your EA and think of the excitement you had about the craft.

If you have'nt participated in your lodge in awhile I encourage you to get out there and do it absorb the degree work and emerse yourself and meet new brothers share their excitement in the degrees again.

I hope this has brought some light to your today. This is my masonic pep talk for today.

I hope you all have a great week!

Masonic Linkedin Plug yourself

Remember when the old days when a handshake would seal the deal?

Well now days it is hard to know whether or not someone is square and on the level or not. I have met so many Freemasons through a site called Linkedin to the point that I have put it on my website and decided that anyone in business should try it out.
It is free and you can join a ton of masonic groups and meet brothers from all over the world. I think now days people need security and trust and network in the business world during uncertain times in the economy.

I know some masons who don't really like to mix business with Masonry but to me if I see a mason or it listed on a resume I know he at least represents hardwork and dedication. Do you like to display your square and compass at work or do you like to be a little more secretive about it. I guess this goes back to my previous blog post about wearing the ring. What are your true thoughts on Masonry and business ediquette?

Wonderful Vacation

It was cool to go to the beach and meet more brothers. I was down and met a brother who was from Seneca, SC a district away from me. We hung out the whole week and it felt like being with family. It is a awesome thing to meet a new brother you have never met before and built a friendship from it. I noticed so many Square and Compass emblems on cars and met so many different brothers it was a awesome event. I started readom more on esoteric masonry especially the hiramic legend and 47th problem of Euclid. Very interesting stuff. I have been reading so much other things such as Rich Dad Poor Dad Series. I went through probably 4 of his books. If you ever are interested in understanding business and investing without the bore of numbers and budgets those books are really great!! Well back from vacation and back to work. Hope you brothers out there are having a great week!

The Masonic Mill

I had a weird thing happen awhile back; a guy saw my square and compass ring and said "He had got his 3rd degree in Florida on a Saturday saying he went from EA to MM him and several others."

I know I hear brothers from other regions grumbling about York Rite being done on a weekend and how it took them years to complete those degrees.

But, the core of the work is done in the Blue Lodge. I can't really see legitimate Freemasonry taking a candidate from EA to MM in a day with out any memorization of degree work. This seems very clandestine! Has anyone heard of 1-3 in a day degree work? What are your thoughts on the subject?

I had quite a bit of feed back from the PH masonry post which led to very in depth emails from Racism to other logical reasons related to Grand Lodge laws and why such things are done. So now the next one is to tackle why have a clandestine lodge "Milling out Master Masons".

Also, I have noticed a lot of Masons not wearing their ring or only wearing it in lodge meetings or degree work. Is this the norm? I wear mine all the time and proud to show that I am a member of such a wonderful brotherhood. Once again thanks for contributing to my blog and I look forward to hearing from you.