‘Thrice in 24 hours’

    

In some places, the tide might ebb and flow twice in twenty-four hours, but what can you do when you have three Masonic meetings in the same period? If you’re like me, meaning you have nothing better to do, then you attend them all.

This is the only weekend this year when my Cryptic council, research lodge, and AMD council have stated meetings on top of each other. Hectic, but enjoyable.

Scott Council 1

R&SM

If you followed the travails of Scott Council 1 these past eight or so months, you might recall we were marked for euthanasia. Long story. Today, the prognosis is improved. Big challenges remain, like in personnel, but with committed leadership and help from Grand Council, there’s a good chance the situation will continue to improve.

No, we typically do not serve cake. It was our District Deputy’s birthday.

The help Friday night came in the form of a Council of Instruction. The MIGM himself guided us through a relaxed (casual attire!), but informative, exploration of the RM Degree. I’ve never been a ritualist in the Cryptic Rite, so this was more valuable to me than it may have been to the others. We dissected the ceremony and examined the floor work section by section, posing questions throughout. A very positive experience. Fun, even.

We expect to confer the degree a few meetings hence, which could be next February.

LORE 1786

Saturday morning, it was time for New Jersey Lodge of Masonic Research and Education 1786. Three speakers were scheduled, but we wound up with four.

First, Bro. Harry, a Past Master of historic Brearley Lodge 2, presented his findings on the dues and fees structure of his lodge during its earliest years. In short, it cost a man dearly at Brearley to receive the degrees of Freemasonry in the 1790s, and to remain a member in good standing, and even to cover the fines levied for unexcused absences, whereas none of that is true today, resulting in a neglected lodge building and other familiar headaches. Oh, and the brethren meet in the lodge’s original building from the 1790s.

Naturally, being a Knight of the North, I could not be more sympathetic; and, hearing Brearley 2 is increasing its dues and fees, I couldn’t be happier for them. Harry, however, made it sound like it may be too late.

As an editor, I’ll correct the writer in his many conversions of eighteenth century money to our current worthless currency. No such calculations are possible. Not only was the Federal Reserve not even a spark of a nightmare in Thomas Jefferson’s psyche, but American money itself was in its infancy. The average guy on the street was walking around with coins minted by states, or even by private hands, plus money from Britain, France, and Spain. (If you ever wondered why the New York Stock Exchange, founded 1792, denominated shares in eighths of a dollar, it’s because of pieces of eight.) But his point is well taken.

Brearley Lodge is named for David Brearley, a Founding Father, first chief justice of New Jersey, and first grand master of the grand lodge there. Yesterday was the anniversary of his birth in 1745.

Bro. Glenn discusses Psalm 133 while Senior Deacon David looks on.

Next, Bro. Glenn, our Tyler, delved into the meaning of Psalm 133. I know not every grand lodge’s rituals employ this song of King David in the First Degree, but many of us do, and Glenn enchanted his listeners with explanations of ointments, beards, Hermon, and even a certain postulate concerning divine energy passing downward through the body. Nicely done.

Thirdly, Bro. Jim of Hightstown-Apollo 41, encouraged us to seek the elusive book The Early Masonic Catechisms by Knoop, Jones, and Hamer. If you are the one in 10,000 Freemasons interested in the embryonic years of Freemasonry, then this book is for you—except you probably will have to be content with an online version, as printed copies are rare and consequently very expensive. (I don’t have a copy. I’ve been getting by for fifteen years with photocopied pages in a binder that Bro. Franklin gave me.)

It’s essential reading. Check out the second edition here.

Bro. Jim alerts the brethren to the existence of a rare book we need to read.

Things that Jim found intriguing were the citation of cassia, a variety of cinnamon, once placed at a certain burial site to camouflage foul odor, where we today would place acacia; and the various ritual practices that were discarded over the years as the Grand Lodge of England gave shape to the three-tier initiation system.

A final presentation was not on the meeting agenda. Bro. Jay, of Livingston Lodge 11, had a clipping from a trestleboard from the eighties, when his father was Master of his lodge, from which he read short essay titled “An Estate.” Perfect for our meeting before Fathers Day.

The lodge wants a new ‘logo,’ and solicited designs from the brethren. I think about a dozen were submitted. All had our name worded incorrectly.

J. William Gronning

Council 83

Finally, on Saturday night, it was time for the Allied Masonic Degrees. J. William Gronning Council 83 is where I’ve been for more than two decades. I was Master there in 2003, but I’m really doubting I will continue my membership for much longer. There’s not much going on there. We had one presentation that a) was not original writing; b) had nothing to do with Freemasonry; and c) started with a few paragraphs that made some of us twitchy.

I’m twenty-six years into this fraternity, and I foresee myself soon specializing in my Craft lodge and two research lodges only. The rest can be nice, but I don’t find any of it compelling any longer. Selah.