Friday, May 29, 2009

More ‘Alpha males’

Senior Warden Kevin, Organist Nathaniel, and Bro. Ali at Alpha Lodge Wednesday night.


It isn’t necessary to be a Masonic VIP from a faraway land to speak at Alpha Lodge’s podium. On Wednesday, we heard from a homegrown Alpha male, recently raised to the Third Degree.

Bro. Nathaniel spoke on several subjects, compensating for two other Alpha brethren who could not attend.

“Music, Brotherhood and Harmony” was his first subject. Steering clear of the obvious approach (i.e. famous Masons who composed music), Nathaniel neared his topic obliquely. “Harmony is the Mystic Tie that binds brethren together,” he said. “It binds our hearts together in brotherly love.” He recounted the significance of music in Masonic labors, starting with the songs printed in the back of Anderson’s Constitutions, and explained the unifying joy of music in Masonic refreshment, as in the ways Masons in previous generations would support the performing arts by attending concerts together as a lodge.

Perhaps the best point Nathaniel made concerned the elementary definitions of the words harmony and brotherhood.

har•mo•ny: 3 a: pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts (a painting exhibiting harmony of color and line) b: correspondence, accord c: internal calm: tranquility.

broth•er•hood: 3 : as association (as a labor union or monastic society) for a particular purpose.

Every Mason is like a musical instrument, he explained. Each gives a gift to the lodge, and then unites, as for a symphony.

Read more about it here.

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