Senior Deacon

Last meeting we discussed who would fill what chair next year. Our Junior Deacon does not want to move up; his job is very demanding right now, and he has two small children. So I'll enter the officer chain as Senior Deacon. As a side note, we have a West who hasn't been in the officer chain in a few years, and our South will be moving to the sidelines, so next year looks to be a different make-up.

The Senior Deacon is the NCO of the lodge. All the other officers do a lot of talking, but when something needs to get done, guess who wades through the metaphoric mud? He sets the social tone for the lodge, and he also does a lot of kneeling, which at the moment is worrying me (I had my knee scoped last week).

Opening and closing the lodge is a piece of cake -- the floor work is familiar and unless we open in the EA degree, there isn't much to say.

The real work is during the degrees. He's got his own lecture; no one is closer or more important to a candidate during rituals. During my degree work, I was astounded at the level of effort put forth by our current SD.

I have to work on my memorization, but I keep forgetting.

A stopgap post

Masonically I've been fairly active, even if I haven't blogged at all.

In August we had our Open House and MICHIP program. We created ID kits for 83 children; we had several visitors -- no petitions -- at the open house.

In September I missed my first meeting since being initated (in January), due to work travel.

Last week I met JD, from Pennsylvania. He discussed how their meetings and rituals differed from ours. It was very interesting. We also compared some wordings and found huge differences, although the general meaning is the same.

Lodge Education

I've been reading about lodge education. Tonight the officers are going to be giving the EA lectures from our state; I'll sit in and see if I can help since I'm in town, and because I want to help out when I can.

In the GL magazine (http://www.grandlodgemi.org/from-point-to-pointe.cfm) there's a request for Lodge Education Officers to contact the state LEO; only about 10 -15% of our lodges seem to have these officers.

My natural inclination is to ask, "how can I help". But I was raised less than two months ago, so I don't think I have the experience to teach Masonry.

It's almost a forgone conclusion that I'll take a chair next year. The question is, which one? Hopefully the JD will move up (he doesn't want to). If not, I'll take SD -- but that will be a lot of work. With JD I'll have the time to do a little more, maybe with the Scottish Rites; maybe with our LEO -- if we get one.

I "can't" do it the hard way?

The ritual books I have don't include the information I need to take my Master's proficiency the long way. I wrote to the Grand Lodge for help in acquiring the materials. I received the following answer:
"Doing the proficiency in the "long way" is no longer an option. "

That doesn't mean we can't do it, if my brothers can dig up an old copy of it. It just means that it doesn't "count".

You will get a nice card if you memorize your obligation, though.

I'm not someone who rocks the boat for the sake of getting sea-sick, and I am new to Masonry; however, next year there will be a proposal to allow earning proficiency the long way -- as an option.

An update on Jewelry

The Jewelery posted here has been partially identified:
http://masonicpath.blogspot.com/2007/05/jewelery.html

According to the jeweler at last weekend's Scottish Rite reunion in Grand Rapids, MI, the lavender symbol is that of a past officer of a Royal Arch lodge.

Doing it the hard way

I was prepared to take my Master Mason proficiency last April. It was only two weeks after I was raised, but what's expected today isn't much. I wore my presentation apron and dressed nicely, but I didn't realize I should have mentioned it during the meeting. After all, the SW and I practiced before the meeting. Everyone was telling me that I didn't have to do it, so I dropped it.

Then, last night, one of our members presented his opinion about a resolution before the Grand Lodge and got sidetracked: he pointed out that it was too easy to demonstrate proficiency. I agreed with that point, though I disagreed about the resolution.

After the meeting the SW apologized for forgetting again, then pointed out that I had to share responsibility for remembering to mention it when the WM asks for any additional business. That got mixed in with the discussion of it being too easy... and some how -- I really don't know how this happened -- I "volunteered" to demonstrate my proficiency the hard way.

Now everyone's all excited. I know how much there is to learn, so I told them I might not be ready in June. Still, I have a one-letter-key monitor to help me learn, and several volunteers to help practice.

Oh, last night I was the tyler; one member came late, and an initiate showed up during the meeting so I actually had something to do. What's a cowan?

Jewelery

My mother gave me a small box of jewlery from my Grandfather. He was apparently very active in the Order of the Eastern Star and the York Rites. Among his Masonic jewelery were two symbols I've never seen before. This weekend I'll be taking the Scottish Rites, and I'll bring the jewlery along in case anyone knows.

I wish I knew where his ring was -- or my paternal Grandfather's ring. I've wanted a Masonic ring since I saw "The Man Who Would Be King" -- I was a teenager at the time.