‘Whew! Thank God that’s over!’

     

It’s been six years, so I can’t remember all the specifics of why Grand Lodge withdrew its recognition of the Grand Lodge of Scotland, but the disagreement has been resolved, according to a proclamation from Grand Master Richard J. Kessler.

Grand Lodge is meeting today in Masonic Hall to tackle all kinds of business for the year. Questions of relations with other jurisdictions inevitably arise, but I think it’s unusual to see squabbles between some of the oldest grand lodges in the world. I don’t see a previous edition of The Magpie Mason that explains the New York-Scotland rift, but I think I recall an incident of three individuals being rejected for membership here, who then found a lodge in Scotland that accepted them. Correction: Three New York Masons were expelled. They later became members of a Scottish lodge in Lebanon, as Scotland wouldn’t honor the New York expulsions. There is more to the affair, exacerbating details involving grand lodges active in Lebanon, but it’s all over now.

That could sound trivial to the uninitiated ear, but it speaks to a couple of the fraternity’s integral principles. But they worked it out, which honors possibly the bedrock of our fundamentals.

The decision required a vote of the members of Grand Lodge, which evidently happened, since our Grand Secretary disseminated the proclamation moments ago.

Congratulations to all parties! What a regrettable circumstance to have materialized back in 2017.

(I see Oscar is in Edinburgh today; he’s free to visit a lodge there now. 😁)