Allegan EA

Allegan may be having problems with its officers, but it is having no problem getting new candidates. Saturday they initiated two EAs, a father and son.

Tim and I drove up and had breakfast before the degree. As Tim is our Junior Warden, I pointed out that the reason Allegan is getting all the new candidates is because of the great food they serve before the degree.

Tim and I took our familiar roles as Stewards, and I blew the second Steward line during the first time through the degree. All that came to mind was the FC degree line. The second time through I got it right.

Other than that the ritual went extremely well. The master of that lodge, Mike, is young, but an outstanding ritualist. Watching him work is intimidating, as his performance as Master may be the main reason that a lodge which has every reason to crumble, is instead thriving. The Senior Warden was confident, unprompted and letter perfect, as was James, acting as Junior Warden. The Secretary has a larger role during the first degree and Mark did a great acting job. Clare, the Senior Deacon, was again instructive to watch and performed superbly. Tim led our procession and worked as a combination of Marshall and Senior Steward.

We ran late, and I had commitments with my family (my wife was actuall in the parking lot wating for me for an hour), so I could not stay for the lectures. But it was great to be part of the ritual, and watch really good ritualists work.

As a side note, I have never memorized well. I can learn, but when it comes to rote learning, I suck. It took me three days to learn one line. And even that was shaky. And I read it out loud every hour, copied it by hand, then created a one-letter-key. As SD on the Fellowcraft degree, I practiced three times in lodge, watched as Steward during the degree, and read the ritual every single day in order to make sure I had my role down. It took three weeks.

So I really admire someone new to a role performing it well. Congratulations to Allegan, and I hope we are fortunate enough to get some EA work this year.

First Ritual as SD

Part of my my job is to "receive and conduct candidates". I performed the best ritual I could last Tuesday.

Several people were pleasantly surprised. I'm not sure how I set their expectations so low, but the fact is, I worked like a dog to learn the ritual, including acting as steward at a neighboring lodge.

What went well: I spoke clearly and loudly, and tried to make the words sound as new to me as they are to the audience. I wasn't letter perfect, but I was very close. We had several members from two nearby lodges in the audience.

What needs improvement: I have to suppress the urge to correct the other participants in the ritual, and instead wait for them to work through it. I only "popped" once, and to my shame I was wrong. As a group we have to handle two candidates (yes, there were two for this degree). Some of us used the singular, some the plural. I chose to use the singular, and addressed each brother separately during key moments in the beginning of the ritual.

I had a weird moment in the middle of the degree. James, our Junior Steward, escorted the second candidate, and I escorted the first candidate. The first candidate is the one who was initiated first, and is white. The second candidate is black. So we had a white guy escorting the white guy and a black guy escorting a black guy, and I didn't notice this until... well, let's say I suddenly came to Grip with it in the middle. And it just looked weird. And I'm probably too paranoid.

What's next? Allegan needs help this Saturday with two EAs, so I'll be their steward again. Last time their stewards (Tim and I) forgot a Key Piece of Regalia from the brother being passed, and the WM sent us back right away. During our FC, I did check to make sure our stewards are better than those Allegan guys.

What really sucked:
our first candidate -- who was late to the meeting where his proficiency was tested -- left in the middle of the ritual. First, how could you not want to see the second portion of this degree: it's fantastic. Second, how inconsiderate -- all these people practicing and preparing pages of ritual, and you don't show up? You have something more important to do? Well, I learned something from his actions, so maybe it wasn't a total waste.

Allegan Fellowcraft Degree

Wednesday, Allegan had a fellowcraft degree. Allegan has had a tough time with membership recently, actually losing their Junior Warden, but we all pitched in, and passed the brother with the best ritual we could give him.

Five of us from South Haven, including James, participated in Allegan's degree. I enjoyed the irony of our Junior Warden, Tim, taking the Senior Steward position, with James taking the Junior Warden Position -- James has been sitting in as JW in Allegan during their business meetings and practices. Two superb ritualists from our lodge, Dick and AB, gave the lectures. AB is our Marshall, and Allegan hasn't practiced with one, but once their SD got used to it, the floor work went from good to great. I can't stress enough how crucial a Marshall is during the ritual, even though he is considered "optional". I was the other Steward, allowing me to observe the SD closely.

It was good in so many ways:
- I got another practice for our Fellowcraft degree -- which is next Tuesday, and I was able to observe the things I liked that the Allegan SD did.
- It is a wonderful feeling knowing that you've helped give a Brother the best ritual you can.
- It also feels good to help out a brother lodge in need.

Our lodge does not allow books during degrees or meetings (unless you've been unexpectedly asked to sit in an unfamiliar chair), and I understand why. As someone once remarked: "It is no fun to memorize all that ritual only to have some guy with his book open making sure you don't miss a word".

When I do ritual, I do it slowly. There are a variety of reasons for this -- mostly to do with my storage retrieval capacity -- but when Dick saw me doing that during practice, he told me he liked it because it lets the candidate hear the words. It also slows the ritual down to a more solemn pace. And while the SD gets ordered about to and fro, he does get to control the pace of the floor work, and quite a bit of the ritual.

On a side note, our SD last year did not use his staff during the opening of the lodge, nor do many of the other SD's I have observed. However, the SD at Allegan does use his staff during the lodge opening, and I like it. Our WM doesn't care, so I'm going to do it that way.

Does your SD use a staff to open lodge?

Senior Deacon -- least documented, most corrected?

The first night I was SD, several people came up afterward to "help" me with the right number of salutes -- whatever I had done was wrong, that was clear. Each helpful brother had a different set of instructions -- similar, but different. I did figure out where the five "salutes" go, finally.

Last month we changed degrees in the middle. That was fun.

Last night was my third stint at Senior Deacon, and we opened on the EA degree.

That was fun. I got the opening right, but dropping a phrase ("and elsewhere..." although I thought I'd said it) earned me a "reminder" from the Junior Warden. The way the altar was arranged earned some "advice" from a visiting PM. And, sadly, we had to drape the altar after it was attended -- which probably caused the shift which was criticized. Note that the altar was still arranged according to Hoyle (OK, Webb), just a couple of points not quite lined up.

Two candidates were examined -- separately -- and we got to vote.

That was fun, too. We have a very strict way to vote. Whatever that is I did that wrong too.

We're also the only lodge I know that uses Real (tm) Candles, which adds an element of excitement to an otherwise dull job.

I realize I have to pick my own style, and decide how military I want to be (not very). But, as the adage goes, opinions and Certain Body Parts are similar for a reason, and everyone has an opinion about how the Senior Deacon does his job. I'm sure the WM gets similarly advised during his first year. I do have a small anal retentive streak, but this job seems to bring out the constipation in everyone.

I have to figure out how to vote, practice the opening and closing, and just be confident about how things are done so I can listen to the advice that makes sense, and shrug off the rest.

Maybe I'll have this job down by November.

And I don't even want to discuss how Fellowcraft practice went (ok, it was horrific).

Saint John's Day in Saugatuck

Last night, on Saint John the Evangelist’s Day, my wife, stepson and I saw “December’s Rose”, a play adapted for the public from Carl H. Claudy’s Masonic play, “A Rose Upon the Altar”. The hour-long story is about a crisis in a small town lodge that gets resolved through Masonic tenets of Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. The acting was superb, the story engaging and it was paced well. If you get a chance to see it – especially as performed by the Scottish Rite Players (Valley of Grand Rapids), do not miss it. Bring a hankie and pretend it’s for your date.

The next performance will be Monday, January 14th in Potterville Lodge #367, 204 W. Main St, Potterville MI.

But that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

There was a feast before dinner, and we sat next to Brother Ron. He and my wife, Sue, share a love of Kentucky, so she and Ron had a great time discussing the caves, state parks, etc. Sue goes to a few Masonic events a year, but she dreads the third person “lovely ladies” / “lovely wife” references, and doesn’t often meet someone with whom she shares interests, so it was a pleasure for me to know she enjoyed herself during dinner.

But again, that’s not what I came here to tell you about.

The dinner was a memorial – a celebration of life -- for Theodore “Ted” P. Kimball, 33°. I never met Ted Kimball, unless, perhaps, we shared a brief greeting at a Scottish Rite reunion. He was a member of Saugatuck Lodge #328. His friends and brother masons shared stories of his character, generosity, and love of life. My family was enthralled by his life story – a child of Greek immigrants who moved to Saugatuck, joined the lodge and became an integral part of the community; at the end, moving to Greece to “die with the gods”.

As we drove home, the story of Ted Kimball – a man we only met through his friends – was on our mind, overshadowing Claudy’s moving play. Sue told me, “I wish I’d known him”. I felt the same way.

To me, there’s no better tribute to a man, when those who never met him feel his absence. And that’s what I came here to tell you.

A Layer of meaning for the Square and Compasses

I'm walking through a geometry tutorial at the moment. It's interesting because it ties geometry and math to art in unexpected ways. My wife bought me a square and compass so I could play along with the various projects. These projects have brought some insight into Masonic symbolism.

One recurring theme, from the Great Pyramids to the cathedrals, is "Squaring the Circle". That's creating a square which has the circumference or area of the given circle. There are a variety of ways of doing this, but one of the simplest is using Square and Compasses.

The circle symbolizes the divine, perfection, immortality -- i.e., heaven. The square symbolizes the earth -- the imperfect world of Man. So "Squaring the Circle" is bringing the divine to earth.

And the working tools to bring the divine to earth, therefore, are the Square and Compasses.

Installation at Allegan

Allegan Lodge 111 had a terrific installation Wednesday night, with a sumptuous feast prior to the ceremony.

The Illustrious Walt Wheeler, 33, performed the ceremony. I know he installed Kalamazoo-Anchor lodge on Monday night, and the previous Tuesday he installed me as Senior Deacon (along with some other officers) in South Haven. He was very good about explaining to the non-masons when to stand up and sit down.

The Allegan County News sent a reporter to the ceremony, which was fantastic. I wish local South Haven newspapers would have done the same.

It took me 45 minutes to get there; it's almost the same distance as Paw Paw. I take M43 and turn left (North) instead of right to get to Allegan. At Allegan there was no surprise at my presence; we had all met at the Fennville installation. In fact, James -- who lives nearby -- was there as well.

Allegan has an energetic young group of officers, but is suffering from a lack of members. They have ritual practice scheduled for once a month -- a good idea. Their WM left the state last year unexpectedly, so all the officers moved up 10 months ago; they are maintaining their current positions.

I talked with the new WM about some joint degree work, and it looks like he's open to this idea. All in all, a great evening of fellowship.