I refuse to own a cell phone. I don’t see why I need one. I don’t want to be bothered 24 hours a day; anyone who wants to talk to me can leave a message on my answering machine.
That’s just what a brother did the other day. This brother was our Chaplain for a few years but doesn’t get to Lodge meetings because he’s got a new job and is working most nights. He used to be employed by the Shrine, taking kids to their hospital treatment in Portland. He stopped in at the Shrine office the other day, at the same time someone wandered in who had been friends with a late member of Fez Fraternity. The two chatted for a bit and the conversation turned to how to join a Lodge. The inevitable conclusion was I was a person who should be talking with him.
Anyway, like many guys interested in Freemasonry, he’s read things on-line about it, both the hilarious conspiracy nonsense and the things from Masonic web sites. I thought about this as I’ve read two fine blog pieces in the last couple of days that are probably ideal to direct your prospective members to.
Ben Rowe at The Chequered Carpet tackles the subject of what Freemasonry is HERE. There is lots to think about. In fact, I sent this link out to the members of the above-mentioned Lodge and one of our E.As wrote back saying how it answered what was in a dream of his.
Ben is 22 and I’m still floored he's already Sr. Deacon of his Lodge.
The other item is HERE and comes from Nick Johnson at The Millenial Freemason. It is directed squarely at prospective members. Nick is at the comparatively old age of 26 (which is when I became a Freemason).
Again I say there is lots of good material in the Masonic E-World for the reading—some symbolical, some historical, some philosophical and some practical. These are two great examples if your Lodge has someone considering whether to petition.
As for the prospective Freemason mentioned above, I’m meeting with him at a pub near his place next week. I asked him how I’d recognise him, and he told me when I got there at the appointed hour, he could call me on my cell phone.
Oh. Yeah.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Friday, 18 July 2008
Ontario Does the Right Thing
A Past Grand Master of my jurisdiction stood up in my Grand Lodge’s annual meeting in 2000 and stated “If we are going to wait until the Grand of Canada in Ontario [recognises Prince Hall Masonry in Ontario] it will be the year 2050.”
I’m most delighted to inform you he was wrong. And I’m sure he’ll be just as delighted.
Dean over at Freemason’s Corner has passed on a note from Bro. Peter Renzland in Toronto that recognition has been approved by his Grand Lodge.
Congratulations to my brothers in Ontario. By “brothers”, I mean both Prince Hall and non-Prince Hall, as my Grand Lodge recognises both Grand Lodges (after the P.G.M’s pessimistic statement above, we didn’t wait much longer).
This is such wonderful news. I’m just elated.
Members of the Grand Lodge of Canada (a misnomer since 1867) should be familiar with the line in the General Address that “the object...of meeting in a Lodge is of a two-fold nature—moral instruction and social intercourse.” Certainly they’ll enjoy fellowship at a Prince Hall meeting. But they will receive moral instruction in a different package, as the ceremonies of their Lodges come from the U.S.A. and are quite different than the ritual used by almost all Lodges in Ontario.
My only bit of advice I would give my Ontario Masonic colleagues is what I wrote to members of my own jurisdiction after the Past Grand Master mentioned above worked to have the local Prince Hall G.L. recognised. Don’t take recognition for granted when the novelty wears off a few years from now. Continue to visits each other’s Lodges. Therein, you’ll not only find your brothers—you’ll find they’ll become your friends.
I’m most delighted to inform you he was wrong. And I’m sure he’ll be just as delighted.
Dean over at Freemason’s Corner has passed on a note from Bro. Peter Renzland in Toronto that recognition has been approved by his Grand Lodge.
Congratulations to my brothers in Ontario. By “brothers”, I mean both Prince Hall and non-Prince Hall, as my Grand Lodge recognises both Grand Lodges (after the P.G.M’s pessimistic statement above, we didn’t wait much longer).
This is such wonderful news. I’m just elated.
Members of the Grand Lodge of Canada (a misnomer since 1867) should be familiar with the line in the General Address that “the object...of meeting in a Lodge is of a two-fold nature—moral instruction and social intercourse.” Certainly they’ll enjoy fellowship at a Prince Hall meeting. But they will receive moral instruction in a different package, as the ceremonies of their Lodges come from the U.S.A. and are quite different than the ritual used by almost all Lodges in Ontario.
My only bit of advice I would give my Ontario Masonic colleagues is what I wrote to members of my own jurisdiction after the Past Grand Master mentioned above worked to have the local Prince Hall G.L. recognised. Don’t take recognition for granted when the novelty wears off a few years from now. Continue to visits each other’s Lodges. Therein, you’ll not only find your brothers—you’ll find they’ll become your friends.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
A Mason and a Christian
There are some people out there who think they know me better than I do. They’ve never met me, never seen me or heard me. They may never have even read anything I’ve posted on line.
But they know me—so well, that they know my religion. Or what’s not my religion.
You see, they know I’m not a Christian, even though I’ve been one since a little boy. I can’t be, they say, because I’m a Freemason. And why can’t Freemasons be Christians? It’s because, well, they can’t be.
I’ve read all their claims and arguments. Some are goofy. Some are sad. Some are misguided. But in the end, despite all they say, I’m still talking to God’s Son when I feel the need to. No Masonic ceremony or law tells me not to pray to Him, nor to reject the Good News message of John 3:16. Nor would it. That’s because how I worship God isn’t relevant to Freemasonry, as it is not a religion.
While the “how” isn’t relevant, the action itself is. The ceremonies remind me, and every newly-made Mason in his First Degree, that there is a duty:
For a Christian, that means praying to Christ, right? So where’s the problem?
Well, some get hung up on the fact it’s an old tradition that religion must never be discussed in a Masonic Lodge meeting. They seem to think Christians should be able try to convert people 24/7. They should remember the admonishment in Ecclesiastes 3:1—“to everything there is a season.” Ecclesiastes 3:7 continues: “a time to keep silence and a time to speak.” If you’re into a big business meeting with a client, you wouldn’t stop everything to harangue about Jesus. It is not “a time to speak.” If you’re a cashier at a grocery store, you wouldn’t do it to a customer with a huge line of shoppers behind him. Nor at your strata council meeting in the middle of a financial debate. And you certainly wouldn’t do it at a meeting of any other association or a fraternity, as it would break down in an argument over whose religious beliefs are right.
There’s witnessing. And then there’s effective witnessing. The scenarios just mentioned would not result in effective witnessing and just might close ears instead.
Then there’s the claim Christ is somehow denied because He is not mentioned by that name in the Lodge’s ceremonies. The term “Great Architect of the Universe” is used as just one part of the building analogy found throughout the Masonic ritual designed to apply it to our character. One’s own religion defines who “The Great Architect” is; for any Christian, it would be God the Father (see Genesis 1).
I await someone to claim that when Tommy Lasorda talks about that “Great Dodger in the Sky” he’s referring to someone other than our Almighty Creator and therefore Christians should not play baseball.
It seems the height of foolishness for anyone to claim that if someone’s a Christian and doesn’t mention the word “God” or “Christ” specifically, a prayer won’t get to Him. How can anyone really think He’s so stupid He doesn’t know who’s talking to Him? Or think He’s so weak that those prayers somehow will be mysteriously hijacked by someone or something else? Isn’t He almighty enough to prevent that?
Still others rail about some kind of “Masonic god” named Jahbulon or Baphomet or some other such nonsense. They say people in the “higher degrees” know all about this stuff. Yet they never can quote from any degree which says any of this. The best they can do is take a snippet from a 19th century book of some Mason’s personal musings about comparative religion, find a context that suits their pre-determined “Masonic god” conclusion, and pontificate away.
I’ve always been amused the idea that, somehow, I don’t know about these ceremonies because I’m too “low grade”—but anti-Masons who are “no grade” know all about them.
And since Jahbulon doesn’t exist, how can you pray to it?
Then there’s the argument stemming from 2 Corinthians 6 about being “unequally yoked” with non-believers (verse 14). The key word here is, perhaps, “unequally.” In Freemasonry, a Christian is not bound in an inferior position to non-Christians where the non-Christian tells him what religious beliefs he must have (later verses in that Chapter deal with matters of worship). Freemasons are equal in matters of their personal religion. As mentioned, they’re never given any forced instructions on what they must think. Rather, each is reminded to follow the faith he already believes in. That’s obviously Christianity for any Christian.
However, if someone really, truly sees some kind of incompatibility between the fraternity and their religion, there’s a simple solution—don’t join. Freemasonry doesn’t solicit unwilling members. It doesn’t tell a non-Mason how to behave or what to believe. It’d be nice if the reverse always held true.
But they know me—so well, that they know my religion. Or what’s not my religion.
You see, they know I’m not a Christian, even though I’ve been one since a little boy. I can’t be, they say, because I’m a Freemason. And why can’t Freemasons be Christians? It’s because, well, they can’t be.
I’ve read all their claims and arguments. Some are goofy. Some are sad. Some are misguided. But in the end, despite all they say, I’m still talking to God’s Son when I feel the need to. No Masonic ceremony or law tells me not to pray to Him, nor to reject the Good News message of John 3:16. Nor would it. That’s because how I worship God isn’t relevant to Freemasonry, as it is not a religion.
While the “how” isn’t relevant, the action itself is. The ceremonies remind me, and every newly-made Mason in his First Degree, that there is a duty:
“...to God, in never mentioning His name but with that reverential awe which is due from a creature to his Creator, to implore his aid in all your laudable undertakings, and to esteem Him as the chief good.”
For a Christian, that means praying to Christ, right? So where’s the problem?
Well, some get hung up on the fact it’s an old tradition that religion must never be discussed in a Masonic Lodge meeting. They seem to think Christians should be able try to convert people 24/7. They should remember the admonishment in Ecclesiastes 3:1—“to everything there is a season.” Ecclesiastes 3:7 continues: “a time to keep silence and a time to speak.” If you’re into a big business meeting with a client, you wouldn’t stop everything to harangue about Jesus. It is not “a time to speak.” If you’re a cashier at a grocery store, you wouldn’t do it to a customer with a huge line of shoppers behind him. Nor at your strata council meeting in the middle of a financial debate. And you certainly wouldn’t do it at a meeting of any other association or a fraternity, as it would break down in an argument over whose religious beliefs are right.
There’s witnessing. And then there’s effective witnessing. The scenarios just mentioned would not result in effective witnessing and just might close ears instead.
Then there’s the claim Christ is somehow denied because He is not mentioned by that name in the Lodge’s ceremonies. The term “Great Architect of the Universe” is used as just one part of the building analogy found throughout the Masonic ritual designed to apply it to our character. One’s own religion defines who “The Great Architect” is; for any Christian, it would be God the Father (see Genesis 1).
I await someone to claim that when Tommy Lasorda talks about that “Great Dodger in the Sky” he’s referring to someone other than our Almighty Creator and therefore Christians should not play baseball.
It seems the height of foolishness for anyone to claim that if someone’s a Christian and doesn’t mention the word “God” or “Christ” specifically, a prayer won’t get to Him. How can anyone really think He’s so stupid He doesn’t know who’s talking to Him? Or think He’s so weak that those prayers somehow will be mysteriously hijacked by someone or something else? Isn’t He almighty enough to prevent that?
Still others rail about some kind of “Masonic god” named Jahbulon or Baphomet or some other such nonsense. They say people in the “higher degrees” know all about this stuff. Yet they never can quote from any degree which says any of this. The best they can do is take a snippet from a 19th century book of some Mason’s personal musings about comparative religion, find a context that suits their pre-determined “Masonic god” conclusion, and pontificate away.
I’ve always been amused the idea that, somehow, I don’t know about these ceremonies because I’m too “low grade”—but anti-Masons who are “no grade” know all about them.
And since Jahbulon doesn’t exist, how can you pray to it?
Then there’s the argument stemming from 2 Corinthians 6 about being “unequally yoked” with non-believers (verse 14). The key word here is, perhaps, “unequally.” In Freemasonry, a Christian is not bound in an inferior position to non-Christians where the non-Christian tells him what religious beliefs he must have (later verses in that Chapter deal with matters of worship). Freemasons are equal in matters of their personal religion. As mentioned, they’re never given any forced instructions on what they must think. Rather, each is reminded to follow the faith he already believes in. That’s obviously Christianity for any Christian.
However, if someone really, truly sees some kind of incompatibility between the fraternity and their religion, there’s a simple solution—don’t join. Freemasonry doesn’t solicit unwilling members. It doesn’t tell a non-Mason how to behave or what to believe. It’d be nice if the reverse always held true.
Friday, 11 July 2008
Talk to a Senior Brother Today
You hear or read more and more these days about how boomers didn’t join Freemasonry, so Lodges now have members who are young or old and not many in between. That’s what makes THIS touching poem at Shane Hale’s cleverly-named “Light Switch On” blog not only a good read, but a message for all Masons.
The poem brings to mind two personal stories.
This year has been a tough one for one of my Lodges in that three of the four longest-serving active members have stopped coming due to their health—including our Secretary of 27 years. He received his First Degree more than 50 years ago and dearly loves the fraternity.
Most of the active members of the Lodge are comparatively new as we’re, more or less, rebuilding, while simultaneously the “all-devouring scythe of time” cuts down the senior Past Masters who had kept the Lodge alive in a 15-year game of musical chairs. The new guys don’t really know the old guys all that well. Yet nothing has been more personally pleasing to me to talk to our venerable Secretary and hear that our newer members have been using their 24-inch gauge wisely “for the service of...a distressed worthy brother” (though my Lodge’s ritual doesn’t have that line). Several have given him a call to see how he’s doing. He’s so happy that the guys care.
Isn’t that part of what our fraternity is about?
The Lodge was founded in 1906 by a P.M. of Lodge Cootamundra St. John No. 124 in New South Wales. One of his friends affiliated in 1907 and two years later had a son. The founder was asked to be the boy’s godfather. The son turned 21 in 1930 and became a Freemason in his local Lodge. He is 99 years old and probably the longest-serving Masonic member in British Columbia right now.
His Lodge just turned 100 last Friday but, unfortunately, he doesn’t have the physical ability to get up the long flights of stairs in his Lodge hall and was unable to attend the anniversary meeting. But he’s not forgotten. Not only are members of his own Lodge in communication with him, so are members of other Lodges in his District who go to visit him to say hello and talk about the old days. And they’re planning his 100th birthday celebration is a location where stairs are not a burden.
Isn’t that part of what our fraternity is about?
One of the greatest hockey broadcasters of all time is a gentle fellow named Jim Robson. Every game, during an interruption in the play, Jim would always give a special welcome to hospital patients, the shut-ins, the blind and those who couldn’t get out to hockey games, hoping they enjoyed the broadcast. Jim isn’t a Mason. But if a non-Mason can express care and concern for someone, shouldn’t Masons charged with the principle of brotherly love be doing it, too?
Not all of us are able to pick up a senior brother who hasn’t attended in many years like the hero of the poem on Shane’s blog, but aren’t we able to pick up a phone and call?
Isn’t that part of what our fraternity is about?
The poem brings to mind two personal stories.
This year has been a tough one for one of my Lodges in that three of the four longest-serving active members have stopped coming due to their health—including our Secretary of 27 years. He received his First Degree more than 50 years ago and dearly loves the fraternity.
Most of the active members of the Lodge are comparatively new as we’re, more or less, rebuilding, while simultaneously the “all-devouring scythe of time” cuts down the senior Past Masters who had kept the Lodge alive in a 15-year game of musical chairs. The new guys don’t really know the old guys all that well. Yet nothing has been more personally pleasing to me to talk to our venerable Secretary and hear that our newer members have been using their 24-inch gauge wisely “for the service of...a distressed worthy brother” (though my Lodge’s ritual doesn’t have that line). Several have given him a call to see how he’s doing. He’s so happy that the guys care.
Isn’t that part of what our fraternity is about?
The Lodge was founded in 1906 by a P.M. of Lodge Cootamundra St. John No. 124 in New South Wales. One of his friends affiliated in 1907 and two years later had a son. The founder was asked to be the boy’s godfather. The son turned 21 in 1930 and became a Freemason in his local Lodge. He is 99 years old and probably the longest-serving Masonic member in British Columbia right now.
His Lodge just turned 100 last Friday but, unfortunately, he doesn’t have the physical ability to get up the long flights of stairs in his Lodge hall and was unable to attend the anniversary meeting. But he’s not forgotten. Not only are members of his own Lodge in communication with him, so are members of other Lodges in his District who go to visit him to say hello and talk about the old days. And they’re planning his 100th birthday celebration is a location where stairs are not a burden.
Isn’t that part of what our fraternity is about?
One of the greatest hockey broadcasters of all time is a gentle fellow named Jim Robson. Every game, during an interruption in the play, Jim would always give a special welcome to hospital patients, the shut-ins, the blind and those who couldn’t get out to hockey games, hoping they enjoyed the broadcast. Jim isn’t a Mason. But if a non-Mason can express care and concern for someone, shouldn’t Masons charged with the principle of brotherly love be doing it, too?
Not all of us are able to pick up a senior brother who hasn’t attended in many years like the hero of the poem on Shane’s blog, but aren’t we able to pick up a phone and call?
Isn’t that part of what our fraternity is about?
Thursday, 10 July 2008
Masonry and Life
This is taken from The Square, a monthly Masonic newspaper published in Vancouver for a few years in the 1920s. The issue is dated August 1922. The newspaper was edited by Bro. Robert Templeton of Cascade No. 12 (who never served in office in his Lodge). I don't know anything about the author.
MASONRY AND LIFE
By William Jack
EVERYTHING good and permanent in this world of ours owes its origin to some necessity of the human soul. No institution can survive long unless it is founded on the actual needs of the race. Our public school system has sprung out of the desire of the human mind for knowledge. Our churches are established on the universally felt necessity of help from Heaven in meeting the temptations and bearing the burdens of life. The printing press and the newspaper were called into existence because the world needed some method of preserving its investigations and circulating its information.
Masonry had four sources of origin in the human mind: (1). Masonry sprang from the demand of the race for the presence of God in human affairs and a revelation of the divine to human hearts. When Masonry was born the number of persons who believed in God as the self-existent Cause of All Things was comparatively small, and it was therefore necessary to stereotype the existence of God and crystallize the eternal truths of morality in some form that would not be affected by the changes of history; (2). Masonry had its origin in the social instincts of man. Some institution was demanded that would stand for the brotherhood of the race, and emphasize the thought that a true development of the moral nature could not be attained in solitude, but by the friction of hearts in social converse; (3). Masonry had its origin in the human love for the secret and mysterious. This is the soil in which our oral and unwritten work has been planted, and out of which has grown the strict secrecy of the Order; (4). Masonry had its origin in the tendency of the human mind towards the concrete. The philosopher loves abstractions, but the human race at large has never been interested in abstractions. Masonry was designed for the common people, the great middle class of the world.
Masonry consists of an almost endless series of pictures so presented to the mind as to leave lasting impressions. Masonry is an album of realistic scenes drawn from actual life covering the journey all the way from the cradle to the grave. This is what is meant by the symbolism of Masonry—human life illustrated. It is very easy to see, therefore, that when we investigate the symbolism of Masonry we are digging in that part of the rich field where the priceless treasure of its true meaning may be found.
All the sciences, all the different steps of learning, all the vast outreaches of the mind are represented in the Masonic lodge room. This, looked at from a material standpoint, has a mighty influence in the formation of character. When a man becomes a Mason, his eyes are opened to see not only this little planet, but other worlds in space above him, and his life must therefore be enlarged, and he must take a sublimer view of human destiny. This is one of the grand results of Masonry, to show the works of creation in their true magnitude. A Mason thus looks through nature up to nature’s God, and devoutly worships him as the Supreme Architect of the Universe whose eye is ever upon him and to whom he is responsible for every thought and act of his life.
When a man enters a Masonic lodge room for the first time he is symbolically taken back to the early days of his youth. He is supposed to be starting out in life. His condition is that of complete ignorance. The outer world from which he would separate himself by the mystic rites of our Order lies behind him in a scene of confusion and turmoil. If he ever gets into a lodge it is because he places his reliance on God and is seeking for light. Every symbol of the Entered Apprentice points to the fact that the candidate desires to make a new start in life. He is represented as being dissatisfied with his past habits, associations and courses, and as having an earnest desire to begin a new career. During the ceremony he is reminded that the serious work of life has now begun. He is provided with working tools. He is taught that on his own efforts depends his future success. A holy ambition is inspired in his soul to excel in all laudable undertakings. The Entered Apprentice degree represents and provides for the period of youth. The follies of idleness, intemperance and sensuality are pictured before him, and he is exhorted to honor the name of God, to act on the square with all men and to avoid any irregularity which might impair his faculties or debase the dignity of his profession.
The second degree of Masonry symbolizes the stage of manhood. The lessons of wisdom and virtue which he received in his youth as an Entered Apprentice are now to produce their active fruits. The working and thinking period of life has now arrived. The rewards of industry are set forth in most impressive emblematic forms, and the candidate is taught that by faithful work in due time he will be entitled to receive wages. The second degree illustrates the power of the human mind. The duty of study and investigation is inculcated. The reasoning faculty is called forth.
But the true beauties and resplendent glories of Masonry are seen in the sublime degree of a Master Mason, which symbolizes the stage of old age after the period of active life has been passed. Those virtues are taught and those hopes inspired which are calculated to comfort our declining days and prepare us for the exalted joys of the future glorious existence. As an Entered Apprentice, the Mason is taught those elementary principles which fit him to confront and grapple with the temptations of opening manhood; as a Fellow Craft he is taught to investigate and patiently to climb the mountain of knowledge, economising the forces of life by concentration instead of expending them by diffusion; as a Master Mason he is taught that truth so hard to learn, which the seasons and the passing years and the tolling bell and the open grave are constantly preaching to us, that he must die and present his work for inspection to the Supreme Builder. The Master Mason represents man after all the labors of life are over; it is the time of fleeting shadows and farewells spoken hopefully and yearnings for a sight of the heavenly temple. The Master Mason is a pilgrim watching for the dawn of the morning to which so many of the emblems among which he has lived, pointed. The working tools are laid aside, and the sprig of acacia is cherished as the eloquent expression of his belief in the immortality of the soul.
Masonry is an attempt to carry over and concentrate the results and victories of the past into the present and the future. It is the vehicle in which the experience of one age is transported into the succeeding age. Nearly all the institutions of man are coeval only with the age in which they are founded. Politics and political parties are constantly changing. They are only the scaffolding with which to construct new apartments in the temple of state, and when these are completed they are torn down. Social customs are born and die with an age. Methods of business—the forms of social and domestic life—the usages and laws of governments—are never uniform or stable. With Masonry, the old man departs and the young man is initiated and a new membership occupies the seats of the lodge; but there has been no change in the institution—Masonry still remains the same old Order of fraternal greetings, of mutual assistance and of social concord.
MASONRY AND LIFE
By William Jack
EVERYTHING good and permanent in this world of ours owes its origin to some necessity of the human soul. No institution can survive long unless it is founded on the actual needs of the race. Our public school system has sprung out of the desire of the human mind for knowledge. Our churches are established on the universally felt necessity of help from Heaven in meeting the temptations and bearing the burdens of life. The printing press and the newspaper were called into existence because the world needed some method of preserving its investigations and circulating its information.
Masonry had four sources of origin in the human mind: (1). Masonry sprang from the demand of the race for the presence of God in human affairs and a revelation of the divine to human hearts. When Masonry was born the number of persons who believed in God as the self-existent Cause of All Things was comparatively small, and it was therefore necessary to stereotype the existence of God and crystallize the eternal truths of morality in some form that would not be affected by the changes of history; (2). Masonry had its origin in the social instincts of man. Some institution was demanded that would stand for the brotherhood of the race, and emphasize the thought that a true development of the moral nature could not be attained in solitude, but by the friction of hearts in social converse; (3). Masonry had its origin in the human love for the secret and mysterious. This is the soil in which our oral and unwritten work has been planted, and out of which has grown the strict secrecy of the Order; (4). Masonry had its origin in the tendency of the human mind towards the concrete. The philosopher loves abstractions, but the human race at large has never been interested in abstractions. Masonry was designed for the common people, the great middle class of the world.
Masonry consists of an almost endless series of pictures so presented to the mind as to leave lasting impressions. Masonry is an album of realistic scenes drawn from actual life covering the journey all the way from the cradle to the grave. This is what is meant by the symbolism of Masonry—human life illustrated. It is very easy to see, therefore, that when we investigate the symbolism of Masonry we are digging in that part of the rich field where the priceless treasure of its true meaning may be found.
All the sciences, all the different steps of learning, all the vast outreaches of the mind are represented in the Masonic lodge room. This, looked at from a material standpoint, has a mighty influence in the formation of character. When a man becomes a Mason, his eyes are opened to see not only this little planet, but other worlds in space above him, and his life must therefore be enlarged, and he must take a sublimer view of human destiny. This is one of the grand results of Masonry, to show the works of creation in their true magnitude. A Mason thus looks through nature up to nature’s God, and devoutly worships him as the Supreme Architect of the Universe whose eye is ever upon him and to whom he is responsible for every thought and act of his life.
When a man enters a Masonic lodge room for the first time he is symbolically taken back to the early days of his youth. He is supposed to be starting out in life. His condition is that of complete ignorance. The outer world from which he would separate himself by the mystic rites of our Order lies behind him in a scene of confusion and turmoil. If he ever gets into a lodge it is because he places his reliance on God and is seeking for light. Every symbol of the Entered Apprentice points to the fact that the candidate desires to make a new start in life. He is represented as being dissatisfied with his past habits, associations and courses, and as having an earnest desire to begin a new career. During the ceremony he is reminded that the serious work of life has now begun. He is provided with working tools. He is taught that on his own efforts depends his future success. A holy ambition is inspired in his soul to excel in all laudable undertakings. The Entered Apprentice degree represents and provides for the period of youth. The follies of idleness, intemperance and sensuality are pictured before him, and he is exhorted to honor the name of God, to act on the square with all men and to avoid any irregularity which might impair his faculties or debase the dignity of his profession.
The second degree of Masonry symbolizes the stage of manhood. The lessons of wisdom and virtue which he received in his youth as an Entered Apprentice are now to produce their active fruits. The working and thinking period of life has now arrived. The rewards of industry are set forth in most impressive emblematic forms, and the candidate is taught that by faithful work in due time he will be entitled to receive wages. The second degree illustrates the power of the human mind. The duty of study and investigation is inculcated. The reasoning faculty is called forth.
But the true beauties and resplendent glories of Masonry are seen in the sublime degree of a Master Mason, which symbolizes the stage of old age after the period of active life has been passed. Those virtues are taught and those hopes inspired which are calculated to comfort our declining days and prepare us for the exalted joys of the future glorious existence. As an Entered Apprentice, the Mason is taught those elementary principles which fit him to confront and grapple with the temptations of opening manhood; as a Fellow Craft he is taught to investigate and patiently to climb the mountain of knowledge, economising the forces of life by concentration instead of expending them by diffusion; as a Master Mason he is taught that truth so hard to learn, which the seasons and the passing years and the tolling bell and the open grave are constantly preaching to us, that he must die and present his work for inspection to the Supreme Builder. The Master Mason represents man after all the labors of life are over; it is the time of fleeting shadows and farewells spoken hopefully and yearnings for a sight of the heavenly temple. The Master Mason is a pilgrim watching for the dawn of the morning to which so many of the emblems among which he has lived, pointed. The working tools are laid aside, and the sprig of acacia is cherished as the eloquent expression of his belief in the immortality of the soul.
Masonry is an attempt to carry over and concentrate the results and victories of the past into the present and the future. It is the vehicle in which the experience of one age is transported into the succeeding age. Nearly all the institutions of man are coeval only with the age in which they are founded. Politics and political parties are constantly changing. They are only the scaffolding with which to construct new apartments in the temple of state, and when these are completed they are torn down. Social customs are born and die with an age. Methods of business—the forms of social and domestic life—the usages and laws of governments—are never uniform or stable. With Masonry, the old man departs and the young man is initiated and a new membership occupies the seats of the lodge; but there has been no change in the institution—Masonry still remains the same old Order of fraternal greetings, of mutual assistance and of social concord.
Monday, 7 July 2008
It’s Vancouver in 2010
No, I’m not talking about the Winter Olympics™, although the games will take place on Canada’s balmy West Coast then. I’m talking about the Grand Conclave meeting of the Order of Secret Monitor. An e-mail’s been sent to me revealing an invitation from my Conclave to host the annual assembly has been accepted.
Most Masons in North America don’t know about the OSM; they think everything in Freemasonry is either York Rite or Scottish Rite because of some chart Jeremy Cross or someone made about 180 years ago. A post about the Secret Monitor can be found HERE for those of you who want more information.
Grand Conclave is held in the same spot as the Grand Council meeting of the Allied Masonic Degrees of Canada so, I presume, Grand Council will be held here, too. The Secret Monitor isn’t under the Allied Degrees in Canada any more but, because many members belong to both, it’s cheaper to have both Grand bodies meet on the same week.
The Allied Degrees is an invitational body open to Royal Arch Masons. I enjoy the AMD. Its purpose is two-fold: to hear papers on Masonic subjects and to keep alive several of the old side-degrees. The side degrees are nice; they’re fairly short and contain little lessons dealing with some Masonic principle. In the Knights of Constantinople Degree, it’s humility. In the St. Lawrence the Martyr Degree, it’s charity and hospitality. More can be learned about the Allied Degrees HERE.
Neither the Secret Monitor nor Allied Degrees meet more than a few times a year, so they don’t take up a lot of time.
This will be the first time either Grand body will have met in annual session west of Winnipeg, so it promises to be an exciting time, as there’ll be a chance to meet some new Freemasons. Though I’m waiting for someone to say to me: “We need someone to do this at Grand Conclave.” I can only hope it’s not something Olympic-sized.
Most Masons in North America don’t know about the OSM; they think everything in Freemasonry is either York Rite or Scottish Rite because of some chart Jeremy Cross or someone made about 180 years ago. A post about the Secret Monitor can be found HERE for those of you who want more information.
Grand Conclave is held in the same spot as the Grand Council meeting of the Allied Masonic Degrees of Canada so, I presume, Grand Council will be held here, too. The Secret Monitor isn’t under the Allied Degrees in Canada any more but, because many members belong to both, it’s cheaper to have both Grand bodies meet on the same week.
The Allied Degrees is an invitational body open to Royal Arch Masons. I enjoy the AMD. Its purpose is two-fold: to hear papers on Masonic subjects and to keep alive several of the old side-degrees. The side degrees are nice; they’re fairly short and contain little lessons dealing with some Masonic principle. In the Knights of Constantinople Degree, it’s humility. In the St. Lawrence the Martyr Degree, it’s charity and hospitality. More can be learned about the Allied Degrees HERE.
Neither the Secret Monitor nor Allied Degrees meet more than a few times a year, so they don’t take up a lot of time.
This will be the first time either Grand body will have met in annual session west of Winnipeg, so it promises to be an exciting time, as there’ll be a chance to meet some new Freemasons. Though I’m waiting for someone to say to me: “We need someone to do this at Grand Conclave.” I can only hope it’s not something Olympic-sized.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Pass The Port, Mr. Sartre
This site seems to talk more about Tom Accuosti than it does your humble blogger. It’s because he’s more interesting than I. After all, I’m a Past Master, a Past Grand Steward, a Past District Deputy and, well, I’m pretty much in the past. But I’m not on the Crop Circle Planning & Zoning Commission like Tom. Or a member of Team Osiris Obelisk Siting and Surveying. However, I do spell “aluminium” properly. And I have a name no one mispronounces.
Tom’s name makes a return to this portion of the Masonic Blogosphere with the revelation our Bro. has made an appearance on Greg Stewart’s podcast at Masonic Central.
Radio talk shows—and that’s what this podcast boils down to—aren’t really my thing. I worked on talk shows at one point of my career. However, I wanted to hear Tom’s voice because we’ve been exchanging notes since he appeared on alt.freemasonry before even joining the Craft.
Naturally, I haven’t listened to the whole programme. I’ve only gotten as far as the first nine minutes because Tom made this statement about what he expected before joining:
Tom said that sounded off the wall.
My questions are..
Why does that sound off the wall?
And why don’t Lodges do this?
Here are some wild guesses.
• For a long period of time, Lodges were so busy conferring degrees that they didn’t have a lot of time for Masonic education of any kind. When the candidate pool dried up about 20, 30 years ago, Lodges had forgotten how to do education.
• As a result of the above drying, guys now join and are shoved into the East so fast, they spend their year trying to figure out basic protocol, how to run a meeting, and what to do (and when) during degree conferrals—sometimes ending their year still not knowing. In other words, Masters don’t “set the Craft to work and give them good and wholesome instruction for their labours.” They don’t know how.
• The endless business of the Lodge gets in the way and takes up precious time. Balloting, minutes, Treasurer’s reports, correspondence, discussions about stuff that should be decided by the Master or organised in committee. And on and on.
• No one ever thought of doing it.
• Maybe philosophical waxing is not a North American thing. After all, some people here actually deem Dancing With the Stars and something called Brangelina’s babies as being worthy of significant amounts of discourse time.
No, Tom, it shouldn’t be off the wall. It should be stupefyingly easy to do. All a Master has to do is, before the start of his year, come up with a philosophical statement/question-of-the-month for every month. And then open it for discussion, either in Lodge or at a point in the Festive Board.
Sure, we’re not all thinkers with a capital T. But Freemasons are supposed to be intelligent people, capable of understanding the principles, symbols and allegories of the fraternity. That being the case, they should be bright—and able—enough to feed off each other during a discussion and raise points or comments that perhaps they never even contemplated before.
It’s worth a try. If it fails, what’s lost? It can’t be any worse than a monotone recitation of bills that need paying.
Oh, and make mine Courvoisier—though I’ll settle for another Grolsch.
Tom’s name makes a return to this portion of the Masonic Blogosphere with the revelation our Bro. has made an appearance on Greg Stewart’s podcast at Masonic Central.
Radio talk shows—and that’s what this podcast boils down to—aren’t really my thing. I worked on talk shows at one point of my career. However, I wanted to hear Tom’s voice because we’ve been exchanging notes since he appeared on alt.freemasonry before even joining the Craft.
Naturally, I haven’t listened to the whole programme. I’ve only gotten as far as the first nine minutes because Tom made this statement about what he expected before joining:
“I had this vague idea in my head that I was going to go into a Lodge, and there were going to be a whole bunch of...real thinkers and movers and we were going to, like, hang around, drinking scotch, smoking cigars and talking about philosophy most of the night.”
Tom said that sounded off the wall.
My questions are..
Why does that sound off the wall?
And why don’t Lodges do this?
Here are some wild guesses.
• For a long period of time, Lodges were so busy conferring degrees that they didn’t have a lot of time for Masonic education of any kind. When the candidate pool dried up about 20, 30 years ago, Lodges had forgotten how to do education.
• As a result of the above drying, guys now join and are shoved into the East so fast, they spend their year trying to figure out basic protocol, how to run a meeting, and what to do (and when) during degree conferrals—sometimes ending their year still not knowing. In other words, Masters don’t “set the Craft to work and give them good and wholesome instruction for their labours.” They don’t know how.
• The endless business of the Lodge gets in the way and takes up precious time. Balloting, minutes, Treasurer’s reports, correspondence, discussions about stuff that should be decided by the Master or organised in committee. And on and on.
• No one ever thought of doing it.
• Maybe philosophical waxing is not a North American thing. After all, some people here actually deem Dancing With the Stars and something called Brangelina’s babies as being worthy of significant amounts of discourse time.
No, Tom, it shouldn’t be off the wall. It should be stupefyingly easy to do. All a Master has to do is, before the start of his year, come up with a philosophical statement/question-of-the-month for every month. And then open it for discussion, either in Lodge or at a point in the Festive Board.
Sure, we’re not all thinkers with a capital T. But Freemasons are supposed to be intelligent people, capable of understanding the principles, symbols and allegories of the fraternity. That being the case, they should be bright—and able—enough to feed off each other during a discussion and raise points or comments that perhaps they never even contemplated before.
It’s worth a try. If it fails, what’s lost? It can’t be any worse than a monotone recitation of bills that need paying.
Oh, and make mine Courvoisier—though I’ll settle for another Grolsch.
Grand Masters of the Past Speak
These were culled from reviews in the Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Idaho, 1888. The written word had such a lovely rhythm back then.
In every degree, in every measure of advancement, in every step of progress, the intelligent Mason is perpetually environed with the ever-increasing light of accumulating intelligence in things good and true until he goes to take his place in that living Temple, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens...What, indeed, is Masonry but as sounding brass and a hollow, ghastly mockery, unless its principles are lived out, not in the empty delusions of signs and ceremonial and ritual, but in the sublime reality of a good and true life.
George S. Hallmark, Florida, 1888.
Freemasonry teaches the things that are true and noble, and offers abundant opportunities for the development of mind and heart. Truths that ennoble, purify, and bless our race are strongly impressed upon us. We are urged in the most forcible manner, by every possible lesson, to the performance of such duties as will make good, true, and noble men and earnest workers for the good of society. It teaches us to be better husbands and fathers, more earnest and zealous citizens, and it charges us to be loyal to the country in which we live; it pledges us to the advancement of the civilization of man and the practice of the cardinal virtues.
Mortimer Nyde, Indiana, 1888.
When you meet, if you have no work, instead of going through the form of opening and closing with a dull routine (and I have seen it done), then hastening home as if a task had been accomplished, discuss some points in Masonry on which your minds are not perfectly clear; get light from others. None are too old to learn. Post yourselves upon the lectures, drill your officers; in short, let each lodge try to be the color-bearer.
Florian H. Nash, Indian Territory, 1887.
The lectures and symbols of Freemasonry are replete with wise and valued truths. The candidate for Masonry, from his entrance as an Entered Apprentice until he stands endowed with all the rights and privileges of a Master Mason, finds along his pathway lessons of wisdom—lessons moralizing, instructing, refining, ennobling and elevating. Human life, with its brevity, will be exemplified by the swiftly-running sands of the hour-glass, and he will be reminded how swiftly the hours speed. Brethren, let us not forget that these short hours make the days; the days, weeks; weeks, months; months; years; and when we stand at the end of even this comparatively lengthy period, how brief seems its span and how narrow the gulf which it has made.
Charles K. Constant, Nebraska, 1887.
In every degree, in every measure of advancement, in every step of progress, the intelligent Mason is perpetually environed with the ever-increasing light of accumulating intelligence in things good and true until he goes to take his place in that living Temple, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens...What, indeed, is Masonry but as sounding brass and a hollow, ghastly mockery, unless its principles are lived out, not in the empty delusions of signs and ceremonial and ritual, but in the sublime reality of a good and true life.
George S. Hallmark, Florida, 1888.
Freemasonry teaches the things that are true and noble, and offers abundant opportunities for the development of mind and heart. Truths that ennoble, purify, and bless our race are strongly impressed upon us. We are urged in the most forcible manner, by every possible lesson, to the performance of such duties as will make good, true, and noble men and earnest workers for the good of society. It teaches us to be better husbands and fathers, more earnest and zealous citizens, and it charges us to be loyal to the country in which we live; it pledges us to the advancement of the civilization of man and the practice of the cardinal virtues.
Mortimer Nyde, Indiana, 1888.
When you meet, if you have no work, instead of going through the form of opening and closing with a dull routine (and I have seen it done), then hastening home as if a task had been accomplished, discuss some points in Masonry on which your minds are not perfectly clear; get light from others. None are too old to learn. Post yourselves upon the lectures, drill your officers; in short, let each lodge try to be the color-bearer.
Florian H. Nash, Indian Territory, 1887.
The lectures and symbols of Freemasonry are replete with wise and valued truths. The candidate for Masonry, from his entrance as an Entered Apprentice until he stands endowed with all the rights and privileges of a Master Mason, finds along his pathway lessons of wisdom—lessons moralizing, instructing, refining, ennobling and elevating. Human life, with its brevity, will be exemplified by the swiftly-running sands of the hour-glass, and he will be reminded how swiftly the hours speed. Brethren, let us not forget that these short hours make the days; the days, weeks; weeks, months; months; years; and when we stand at the end of even this comparatively lengthy period, how brief seems its span and how narrow the gulf which it has made.
Charles K. Constant, Nebraska, 1887.
Friday, 4 July 2008
What Would Noah Do .. And Should We Do It?
There was a time—and we aren’t going back to the days of Noah when most Past Masters were actually young—when one of my Masonic Lodges didn’t have to worry about candidates. That’s because it didn’t have any. The Lodge didn’t raise a single Freemason in seven years. Another one of my Lodges had, I think, four guys in seven years.
However, things turned a few years ago around thanks to a bunch of things unexpectedly falling together for both Lodges and they’ve been busy with degree-work. The first Lodge I mentioned now has four Fellowcrafts as of the end of the Masonic year.
The incoming Master is getting his schedule together for the coming term—the Lodge only meets once a month, eight months a year—and was asking whether we should put the F.C’s through in Noah-like two-by-two fashion or have four raisings at four meetings.
I really don’t know what to suggest to him, other than to explain what the procedure should be (in my opinion) if we raise them in pairs.
One of the advantages of doing it that way is we don’t bore everyone with a bunch of Third Degrees in a row. While members certainly like the ceremony, I’m sure they don’t want to sit through it seemingly every meeting. Another advantage is this would free up two meetings at which the Master could do some education and/or instructional stuff that he’d like to see more often. The Lodge has so busy with degree work (single candidates in many cases), it hasn’t been doing a lot of anything else.
However, the D.C. doesn’t particularly like the idea, and neither do some of the other members. They say the candidate’s experience is diminished when he is paired with someone—he alone should be in the spotlight. As well, the ceremonies are designed for one person, and the floorwork can become awkward with all those people stomping around out there.
It’s hard to say which is better. I received my three Craft degrees on my own; my Mother Lodge was just treading water at that point. But in my Royal Arch Chapter, I went through with someone else. In retrospect, I don’t know if there was much of a difference; I was still left confused by some of what happened either way.
I like the idea of having more meetings available for the education of a Mason, especially something interactive instead of a dry speech. But we should remember our degrees are education, too. How many times is it said someone watching for the biddle-teenth time has learned something new?
The main thing, perhaps, is that the degree is well-conferred and conveys some kind of understanding of what it is about Freemasonry the degree is trying to instruct.
In a way, we’re fortunate we only have four Fellowcrafts. The other Lodge mentioned at the start of this post just initiated four men (with part of the ceremony done in pairs; it didn’t work too badly). It now has six Entered Apprentices with at least one petition on the way. The incoming Master has decided to do only two Masons at a time so it’ll mean some pretty tired officers by the end of next June.
But, as some P.Ms have said, it’s better than having no one. Those fallow days of no petitioners lasted a lot longer than 40 days and 40 nights.
However, things turned a few years ago around thanks to a bunch of things unexpectedly falling together for both Lodges and they’ve been busy with degree-work. The first Lodge I mentioned now has four Fellowcrafts as of the end of the Masonic year.
The incoming Master is getting his schedule together for the coming term—the Lodge only meets once a month, eight months a year—and was asking whether we should put the F.C’s through in Noah-like two-by-two fashion or have four raisings at four meetings.
I really don’t know what to suggest to him, other than to explain what the procedure should be (in my opinion) if we raise them in pairs.
One of the advantages of doing it that way is we don’t bore everyone with a bunch of Third Degrees in a row. While members certainly like the ceremony, I’m sure they don’t want to sit through it seemingly every meeting. Another advantage is this would free up two meetings at which the Master could do some education and/or instructional stuff that he’d like to see more often. The Lodge has so busy with degree work (single candidates in many cases), it hasn’t been doing a lot of anything else.
However, the D.C. doesn’t particularly like the idea, and neither do some of the other members. They say the candidate’s experience is diminished when he is paired with someone—he alone should be in the spotlight. As well, the ceremonies are designed for one person, and the floorwork can become awkward with all those people stomping around out there.
It’s hard to say which is better. I received my three Craft degrees on my own; my Mother Lodge was just treading water at that point. But in my Royal Arch Chapter, I went through with someone else. In retrospect, I don’t know if there was much of a difference; I was still left confused by some of what happened either way.
I like the idea of having more meetings available for the education of a Mason, especially something interactive instead of a dry speech. But we should remember our degrees are education, too. How many times is it said someone watching for the biddle-teenth time has learned something new?
The main thing, perhaps, is that the degree is well-conferred and conveys some kind of understanding of what it is about Freemasonry the degree is trying to instruct.
In a way, we’re fortunate we only have four Fellowcrafts. The other Lodge mentioned at the start of this post just initiated four men (with part of the ceremony done in pairs; it didn’t work too badly). It now has six Entered Apprentices with at least one petition on the way. The incoming Master has decided to do only two Masons at a time so it’ll mean some pretty tired officers by the end of next June.
But, as some P.Ms have said, it’s better than having no one. Those fallow days of no petitioners lasted a lot longer than 40 days and 40 nights.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Trivial in the Past = History Today
There was a day you could go to the movies and see a newsreel and a cartoon before settling in to watch the feature attraction. People laughed at Bugs and Porky, Tom and Jerry, maybe even Heckle and Jeckle. But those little reels weren’t Citizen Kane or The Lost Weekend or even Singing in the Rain, so nobody took them too seriously as film. That changed when kids of the 1960s like me who grew up watching them on TV realised they didn’t know anything about the cartoons’ creators or the studios because no one bothered to document it. So, now you can find countless books of histories and criticisms (some with words so big, Bugs would hit you with an anvil if you used any of them) about the Golden Age of Animation. It’s because someone now deems cartoons Important.
There was a day as well, in the early 1990s, when something existed called a Bulletin Board System. There were dozens of these amateur BBSs around town, and I discovered some of them exchanged posts on something called FidoNet and—better still—some carried the Freemasonry echo. That meant Masons who owned a home computer and a modem—and few I knew then did—could call a BBS phone number and connect to read stuff about Freemasonry. Sure, messages to the echo sometimes took a day to be seen, but it was new. It was novel. Freemasons around the world actually communicating with each other. All at 1200 baud! (I later upgraded to 14,400. I don’t want to tell you how much the modem cost then). There were similar sorts of things going on; CompuServe had a Masonic forum at the same time. But, in that day, most Masons wouldn’t have considered any of this activity worthy of study itself, anymore than film critics watching cartoons in 1944. It wasn’t Important—not compared to a real Masonic meeting with the ever-exciting, always-been-done-that-way droning of the Secretary for the first 45 minutes.
Ah, but as Mighty Mouse would say, “Here I come to save the day!”
The “I” in this case is Trevor McKeown, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. He’s been asked to make a presentation in Lodge Quatuor Coronati in London on a history of Masonic activity online.
In a way, Trevor’s a bit of an odd choice. While he has set up one of the finest Masonic web sites in the world, he’s always had a bit of disdain for other aspects of the internet, such as mailing lists and the Usenet newsgroups which eventually replaced FidoNet. However, he is a thorough researcher and I (not Mighty Mouse in this case, either) am looking forward to reading his paper on what is a rather unwieldy and uncharted subject. And I have no doubt, like the first books on animated cartoon history, others will eventually add and build upon it, filling in blanks.
One of the people doing that may be Jim Tresner. He has had the foresight to review a few blogs (not this effort, it being a very modest one) in the current Scottish Rite Journal, an American publication. It’s good to see someone is recording their existence which future internet historians may study. And who knows? Those historians may very well decide bloggers are Important. Just like Citizen Kane. Or Bugs and Porky. Then again, they might just call us Daffy.
The End. Or as Porky says ... Well, you know the line.
There was a day as well, in the early 1990s, when something existed called a Bulletin Board System. There were dozens of these amateur BBSs around town, and I discovered some of them exchanged posts on something called FidoNet and—better still—some carried the Freemasonry echo. That meant Masons who owned a home computer and a modem—and few I knew then did—could call a BBS phone number and connect to read stuff about Freemasonry. Sure, messages to the echo sometimes took a day to be seen, but it was new. It was novel. Freemasons around the world actually communicating with each other. All at 1200 baud! (I later upgraded to 14,400. I don’t want to tell you how much the modem cost then). There were similar sorts of things going on; CompuServe had a Masonic forum at the same time. But, in that day, most Masons wouldn’t have considered any of this activity worthy of study itself, anymore than film critics watching cartoons in 1944. It wasn’t Important—not compared to a real Masonic meeting with the ever-exciting, always-been-done-that-way droning of the Secretary for the first 45 minutes.
Ah, but as Mighty Mouse would say, “Here I come to save the day!”
The “I” in this case is Trevor McKeown, Grand Historian of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. He’s been asked to make a presentation in Lodge Quatuor Coronati in London on a history of Masonic activity online.
In a way, Trevor’s a bit of an odd choice. While he has set up one of the finest Masonic web sites in the world, he’s always had a bit of disdain for other aspects of the internet, such as mailing lists and the Usenet newsgroups which eventually replaced FidoNet. However, he is a thorough researcher and I (not Mighty Mouse in this case, either) am looking forward to reading his paper on what is a rather unwieldy and uncharted subject. And I have no doubt, like the first books on animated cartoon history, others will eventually add and build upon it, filling in blanks.
One of the people doing that may be Jim Tresner. He has had the foresight to review a few blogs (not this effort, it being a very modest one) in the current Scottish Rite Journal, an American publication. It’s good to see someone is recording their existence which future internet historians may study. And who knows? Those historians may very well decide bloggers are Important. Just like Citizen Kane. Or Bugs and Porky. Then again, they might just call us Daffy.
The End. Or as Porky says ... Well, you know the line.
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