“[. . . ] and neither are you to suffer your zeal for the institute to lead you into arguments with those who, through ignorance, may ridicule it.” From Cectic - The Comic First, I want to thank my hosts Greg Stewart and Dean Kennedy of Masonic Central for having me as a guest. It was fun, [...]

The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania's program to provide telephone long distance calling cards for US troops got some good coverage in the Wilkes-Barre paper today.

The program, called "Change For The Troops," began in January and, as of June 30, has raised more than $87,000, purchasing more than 1,500 phone cards, in increments of 300 minutes.

The plan was instituted by Grand Master Stephen Gardner, whose son Peter is serving in the Air Force. According to the Change For The Troops website, its implementation is simple for any lodge to accomplish:

This is a true grass roots effort. Lodge funds are NOT to be used for this. The source of the funding is intentional; it is to be the pocket change you otherwise would have carried out of lodge and taken home with you. This is deliberate. Each donation is to be given directly from the hands of the individual brothers at our lodges to our troops in harm's way in the combat theaters of Afghanistan and Iraq. Cards will only be sent to our men and women in those two areas of operation - nowhere else. It is to be a conscious reminder of the price our men and women in the armed forces pay every day.

Each month, no matter what the amount of the collected funds may be, the Lodge Secretary is to send a check, issued by the lodge for that exact amount payable to the "Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania Change for our Troops Fund," to the Office of the R.W. Grand Treasurer in Philadelphia. By sending the contributions in each month, this will help to provide a constant and even flow of funding. The funds collected are to be part of the minutes to be read at the next Stated Meeting of the lodge.

Upon receipt in Philadelphia, the donations will be deposited into that fund reserved for that purpose. Records will be kept so each lodge has the full assurance that an individual accounting of their contributions occurs. These records will be updated upon receipt of the contributions, with acknowledgement being sent from the Office of the R.W. Grand Treasurer to the Lodge Secretary via e-mail.

Once a month, calling cards will be purchased in increments of 300 minutes; this amount has been chosen with consideration for the time it often takes for calls to be placed from our military men and women in these remote areas. The volume of cards purchased will be a direct function of the funds collected and sent to the Grand Treasurer. The cards will be placed in individual sleeves, (shown above) and transported into both Iraq and Afghanistan. Once on site, the cards will methodically be distributed to the servicemen and servicewomen of all branches of service.

Brother Peter Renzland who keeps very careful track of these stories, is reporting, on Wednesday July 16 , 2008, the Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario has voted to recognize the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Province of Ontario and Jurisdiction, at their 153rd Annual Communication in Toronto.

That leaves the Grand Lodge of Newfoundland & Labrador as the last Canadian GL that does not recognize their PHA counterpart.

Unfortunately, eleven U.S. mainstream GLs remain that currently do not recognize Prince Hall brethren: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Twenty-three days ago, Google/Blogger locked me out of this blog because their robots determined The Burning Taper "might be a spam blog."

Without notification or apology, or ever once responding to my many attempts to contact them, Blogger unlocked the blog today, thus fulfilling the Law of Fives (23 = 2 + 3 = 5).

During those 23 days, I experimented with using two different versions of Wordpress blogging software. While I found good aspects to both versions, I found they both had limitations, and I spent more time tweaking code and "the look" than I did writing and publishing content. Maybe you can't teach old dogs new tricks, or something, but I found both versions a bit clunky and difficult to use for "blogging on the fly," perhaps simply because I've been using Blogger for so long that I know where all the buttons are.

So for now, I'm returning to blogging here on the original Burning Taper, hosted by Blogger. Maybe I should create a t-shirt that says "I Survived the Blogger Lockout." I'll probably be regularly backing up this blog on the "in exile" version I've worked on this past month.

So, if I still have any readers left, I'm back, and hopefully will get back to writing instead of pretending to be a php and css genius, which I'm not.

Look for The Taper to resume "normality" (Ha! Normal?) within a week or so, if I find I still have something to say.

Thanks for reading!


— W.S.

Masons | Blogger | Blogging | Freemasonry | Spam Blog Lockout | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com

In my previous posts The Pen is Mightier... and Royal Arch Masons Secretly control Gmail I outlined some of the benefits of using Email for lodge business. Those two posts are full of reasons why lodges should be using email, but they do not touch on the how. As with all social interactions, email is part of a greater culture and carries with it certain social expectations. Users of email expect that the people they communicate with will adhere to certain acceptable email behaviors and will have adopted the proper etiquette of the internet.

While some people still hold to the belief that the internet is some lawless wasteland where typically social behavior is not necessary, they are most certainly incorrect. The computers, the internet and email are all just tools. If you are not willing to do something in the "real" world, then you should not do it on the internet, especially in regards to interpersonal communication. A simple rule of thumb is "you should never send an email that you would not say to the person's face or send through the normal postal service."

Another key factor in email etiquette is recognizing that the shear volume of email that the average person receives is orders of magnitude larger than that which a person receives via the normal postal service. In a February 2007 article, Information Week reported that the average email user receives 20 emails a day of which %70 is junk mail. Since the rate of email transfer nearly doubles every year, that means that the average internet user receives nearly 60 emails a day now with approximately 18 of them being real emails. For those of us in the technology field, this number can get much, much larger. I receive between 30-60 work related, non-junk emails a day, in addition to the 20-40 personal, non-junk emails I receive each day. This is compounded by hundreds of pieces of spam, bacn (email lists that you subscribed to) and forwards. That is a huge amount of information to process everyday!

Why do I bring up the volume of email that people receive? Because by filling people's inboxes with junk, you're wasting their time and energy, which could be better spent on Masonry! For brothers in the technology field, they could spend hours a day working with their email. By not following simple internet etiquette (or netiquette), you could waste not only his time, but his employer's time.

Now, I can quickly imagine my readers saying to themselves, "Masons always act like gentlemen and would never waste someone's time or send them something they shouldn't!" This is simply not the case. I have been bombarded with garbage email from friends, family and Masons alike. In fact, I have received huge amounts of garbage mail from the brothers of my lodge.

To help combat this ever growing problem of poor email etiquette, I will list ten "don't's" and ten "do's" for proper email etiquette. If a brother is bombarding you with garbage mail, please feel free to send them a link to this post and hopefully he'll realize the errors of his ways. Here we go!

First and Foremost! Remember Rule 0 - "you should never send an email that you would not say to the person's face or send through the normal postal service"

Email Etiquette - Don't's!

1. Do not forward junk mail, chain letters, spam, jokes, pictures - "Fwd" is the most hated abbreviation in an email subject line. 99% of the time, "Fwd" means complete garbage. By forwarding every cute/funny/perverse/spiritual piece of junk mail that passes into your inbox, you undermine your e-credibility in the eyes of the receiver and he will be less likely to open anything of yours in the future, because all you send is junk. There are people that I know, who I never read their emails anymore, because they send so much junk. They are then puzzled when I don't read the occasional real email they send. Publisher's Clearinghouse could send me a very important letter today, but I would never read it, because I know that all they send is junk. Don't be like Publisher's Clearinghouse!
2. Do not send material that is Not Safe For Work without a warning - First of all, I would say that you should never send pornography or any other offensive material through email. This usually falls under Rule 0 and Don't #1, but if you are going to send potentially offensive material via email anyway, please put a warning on it. Most people sending offensive material will add the acronym NSFW (Not Safe For Work) to the subject of an email to warn someone not to open it at work. Not only can offensive material insult people, it can potentially get them in serious trouble at their place of work. The bottomline is don't send offensive material, but if you're going to anyway, Warn The Recipient!
3. Do not send political or religious material - This should go without saying. These two topics are not allowed in lodge, because they divide rather then unite. So, why send them via email to your brothers? It makes people uncomfortable and potentially angry.
4. Do not type in all Caps - WHEN SOMEONE WRITES LIKE THIS ON THE INTERNET IT MEANS THEY ARE YELLING!!!!! This is considered very rude and can make people annoyed even if the content or tone is friendly.
5. Don't overuse acronyms, emotions, abbreviations - BTW, FYI acr, emo & abb can mk emails hrd to rd :( Once again, emails do not have to be filled with flowery prose and unnecessary verbiage, but it must be readable and understandable. An email recipient should not have to have an advanced degree in cryptography or logic to decode your message about the "pot-luck dinner next Thursday." It should be short and to the point, but easy to read and understand. Typing on a cell phone isn't an excuse for sending an undecipherable message. Check out my post about Jott for a great tool for writing large emails via a cell service.
6. Do not send files of unknown origin - The single greatest factor in the spread of computer viruses is email attachments. Many viruses, spyware, trojan horses, malware, etc. are spread via email attachments, like photos, movies, word processing documents and spreadsheets. If you didn't create it, don't forward it to someone else. Cutesy/funny photos and movies will be the downfall of not only your computer, but the other poor recipients you send them to.
7. Do not deliver bad news via email - If you must send a message about a death, divorce, financial hardship or some other piece of bad news, make it personal and call the brother or tell him face to face. Email is quick, handy and efficient, but it is a poor substitute for delivering information that requires a personal touch. When in doubt, pick up the phone and call!
8. Do not send an email when you are angry - If you're upset about a vote in lodge or the actions of a brother, do not express it through email. People are much more likely to take offensive when they are reading via email. Furthermore, an angry email can be easily forwarded and cause a rapid escalation of a confrontation, while drawing others into the conflict. Many bitter arguments have been resolved over a cup of coffee, but very few have been resolved while staring at a computer monitor.
   
9. Do not send important personal information via email - We must be very careful with what is sent via email. Email is not secure and can be easily read while in transit from one server to another. Account numbers, social security numbers, credit card numbers, scans of IDs, etc. should not be sent via email. There are Secure Email Services that will allow you to send secure messages, if both users have accounts with the service. Check out 4securemail as an example of such a service.
10. Do not send sensitive lodge business or private Masonic ritual via email - Like what was said in Don't #9, email is not secure. Lodge business and Masonic secrets should not be sent via email for the same reason.

The next post on Email Etiquette will list 10 Do's for writing good emails. If you have any Don't's that you think I should have listed, please post them in the comments sections of this post. I hope to hear from you!

I would like to thank Brother Ken Russ for contributing this poem to the website. He received it via e-mail from another Brother and it's a touching poem that I would like to further share with you.

Bro Ken

UPDATE: (July 15, 2008)
Please see the original website for this poem, I mistakenly posted it without knowing the copyright owner of this poem.

Please visit this website to read the poem.


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California brother Mark Sandstrom reports that tonight's program "Ancient Ink" on the History Channel features Brother Zulu of www.zulutattoo.com and Senior Warden of North Hollywood Lodge #542 in North Hollywood California.

Brother Zulu and the brethren of North Hollywood lodge were the subject of a Los Angeles Times article last month.

The show airs tonight 7/14 at 9PM ET, Tuesday morning 7/15 at 1AM ET, and again Saturday 7/19 at 5PM.

(Photo by David Plummer)

A story in the Boston Herald today reports that somebody within the "secretive" Grand Lodge of Massachusetts is being investigated for funny money business—even though it appears that the "secretive" Masons were the ones who reported the matter to authorities.

The local DA's office is investigating the potential embezzlement of about $1.5 million over the last 8 years. But the story is vague enough to leave some question as to just who they are zeroing in upon. It seems investment house UBS is being questioned as well. Neither organization needs this kind of news. The GL of Massachusetts was bilked out of $10 million a few years back by former money-manager, radio-station owner, and former Mason Brad Bleidt. And UBS' stock has plummeted from over $60 a year ago to less than $20 today.


A favorite game of annoyance around our house that can send Alice screaming from the room after about three minutes is my deep-rooted desire to play a courtroom judge in a major motion picture. Any time a courtroom drama pops up on Turner Classic Movies or Lifetime (Where All Men Are Pigs™), it is my mission to second guess the lines about to come out of the mouths of movie judges. I know them all.

"One more outburst like that and I'll clear this courtroom!"
"Counsellor, you are trying the Court's patience."
"Overruled!"
"Sustained!"
"I will allow it this time, but I caution you Counsellor."
"I'll see both attorneys in my chambers!"

And my favorite, usually after a witness blurts out "I'll kill you, you little rat!"
"The jury is admonished to ignore this previous testimony."

I'm really good at it. Which is what qualifies me to speak to real-life legal cases, even though I have as much legal background as Percy Kilbride.

So it seems that our Prince Hall brethren are no more immune to hauling internal Masonic episodes into court as some mainstream brothers, as this story reveals. Apparently, brother Norwood Diggs of Norfolk, Virginia was suspended by Gidwood W. Sutton Jr., Grand High Priest, King Cyrus Grand Chapter Holy Royal Arch Masons of Virginia and Jurisdiction. Diggs, who was secretary of the Chapter, is suing, claiming Sutton doesn't have the right to suspend him.

And based upon my carefully considered movie-judge opinion, I suspect this case will fall under the heading of "Take your little spat the hell out of my courtroom."

Brother Russ Spice in Detroit wrote, noting that I hadn't blogged in a week. Of course, his flattering claims of addiction to this site were tempered with the above cartoon from the Sunday funnies.

Been a busy week.

New developments on the personal front concerning our business. Hopefully good ones. Can't talk about it. But I really want to.

Alice had major dental work over a couple of days.

We had to first handle crumbling chimneys and a hail damaged roof last summer, so a crew of painters has at last transformed our formerly white house to a far more pleasing color. And I backed the Dummkopfwägon into one of their cars.

And I walked out of Wal-Mart with eight prescriptions on Wednesday. Eight. So, this is what being in my 50s will be like, eh? Can watching the Weather Channel and obsessing on what time the mail arrives be far behind?


I went to Broad Ripple Lodge's July meeting on Thursday, the first stated meeting I've been to since something like February. In that short time there are new faces on the sidelines, and I continue to be so proud of that lodge and her officers that i could just bust. There are young and old faces, including two older PMs who have had a longstanding feud with each other ever since I've known them. WM Will Saylor and his officers have worked some kind of magic over the place, because the two of them sat side by side quietly chatting and joking all evening.

I even took up my pipe again.


Looking forward to hitting the road next week. I'll be sharing the stage in Alexandria, Virginia next Saturday July 19th with W:.B:. S. Brent Morris (seen with me here at Masonic Weekn in 2007) and W:.B:. W. Kirk MacNulty at the Scottish Rite Center for the Grand Lodge of Virginia's 2nd Masonic Education Seminar. I'm filling in for W;.B:.Mark Tabbert (who WILL be at the 3rd seminar in Roanoke on August 23rd).


From Alexandria, we head south to Georgia. My father, who recently turned 90, has had his own share of health issues (like father, like son—whatta year THIS has been). Two weeks ago, he fell and cracked his hip—one of those injuries that in times past had the same sort of prescription horses had: send the vet in with a shotgun. But through the combination of medical science, his own stubbornness, and a trip to the hardware store, docs drove three screws into his hip and managed to repair it with remarkably little pain to him. So, we'll be headed for the suburbs of Savannah to spend a few days with him.

If there are any brethren in the area that know of any Masonic activity going on in the area from the 21st through perhaps the 23rd, please contact me.

If nothing else, I want to spin by Solomon's Lodge No. 1 in Savannah.

Never heard of Solomon's Lodge No. 1? Read its historical marker:

"Organized as a Masonic Lodge, February 21, 1734. Its first worshipful Master was General James Edward Oglethorpe, English Soldier, Statesman, Humanitarian, and founder of Georgia, who raised the flag of England at Savannah on February 12, 1733.

Chartered by the Grand Lodge of England in 1735 as "the Lodge at Savannah in ye province of Georgia," Solomon's is the oldest continuously operating English constituted Lodge in the Western Hemisphere. In 1786 the Independent Grand Lodge of Georgia, F. & A.M., was created and proclaimed by concerted action of Solomon's and the one other Lodge then existing in the state, Solomon's was chartered as the first Lodge of Georgia.

From its beginning in 1734 brethren of Solomon's Lodge have served with distinction in vital positions of leadership in public and fraternal affairs of city, colony, state and nation. The Lodge produced the first Grand Master of Georgia, F. & A.M., William Stephens, who governed the Georgia craft from 1786-1788 and 1793-1813."


Brother "Widow's Son" over at The Burning Taper has been sabotaged by the powers that be at Google/Blogger. It seems that his site has been flagged as a "spam blog", whatever that is. He can't seem to find out either. In the meantime, he requests fans and foes alike to direct their browsers to his new, possibly permanent, home: http://www.burningtaper.com


No, I didn't miss the "news" that the Grand Orient of the United States has received a patent from the Grand Orient of France entitling them to use the GOoF's rituals in this country. I figured with all of the self-congratulatory backslapping their online spokespeople were doing on forums and blog sites, it needed no further promotion from me. Best of luck to GOofUS Grand Master John Slifko and his brethren. Perhaps now that they have this document in hand they will go to work proving they can build a better Masonry instead of talking about it. I hope they find the Freemasonry they are seeking.



In spite of health challenges, technical issues, and my own inability to stop tinkering with the look of the magazine, The Journal of The Masonic Society's first issue will go to press before the end of the month. I think everyone will agree that it is unlike any other Masonic publication, with an incredible array of talent, and a wide range of topics.


That ought to hold Russ for a while. :-)

Yesterday, I was presented with a pleasant surprise. As I was wrapping up my day's work, I was instant messaged by Brother Simon R. LaPlace, Right Worshipful Grand Junior Deacon of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Connecticut. R:.W:. Brother Simon and I have chatted from time to time via the tangled web of electronic tubes that connect these mechanical thinking machines. I consider him to be the premier techno-enlightened grand lodge officer and most of our conversations have focused on new technology and how the Grand Lodge intends to use it. Readers of the Movable Jewel may remember Brother Simon from this interview, where Brother Movable Jewel and Brother Simon had a great conversation about what it's like being a Grand Lodge officer and the future of the craft.

After our typical pleasantries, R:.W:. Brother Simon asked me if I had a webcam. Luckily they come standard on all MacBook Pros, however my camera has rarely seen use except for the occasional funny faced photo or software avatar (see the right side-panel for an example). The purpose of Simon's IM session was to test drive his video-chatting capabilities. So, he had me quickly download Skype and we ventured off into the world of video conferencing.

In the past, I have used screen sharing software at work to troubleshoot and train clients with my company software. However, I have only used video-conferencing on a few occasions, but never with a Brother mason. We spent about half an hour testing the capabilities and working through some of the minor technical problems that we encountered. We then spent some time discussing Masonic Tech and how video-conferencing would help Masons.

Simon plans on inviting the Grand Master to a meeting of the legal affairs committee being held this morning in Wallingford, CT. However, he is fully aware that the Grand Master will be in Massachusetts on other fraternal business and will be unable to travel the several hours back to Grand Lodge for this committee meeting. Brother Simon then plans to surprise the Grand Master with a technical solution, using Skype to telecommute to the meeting! This could be the Grand Lodge of Connecticut's first foray into telecommuting.

As a clarification, I in no way condone using this technology as a replacement for the social or ritual aspect of Freemasonry. Webcams have no place at our Stated Communications or at our social events. Freemasonry is a personal organization and will stay this way. However, there is a lot of administrative overhead in Masonry. Brothers, especially Grand Lodge officers, have to continually go to committee meetings and planning meetings. This can be a huge burden.

Quite simply, there are two main benefits of telecommuting to certain types of Masonic meetings; time and money. First, if it takes you an hour to drive to and from a half-an-hour meeting, it's extremely inefficient. Many lodge and Grand Lodge officers encounter this problem quite frequently. Huge amounts of time are spent traveling for planning and committee meetings, which rarely require a physical presence. This is time away from family and friends. Furthermore, it's time that could be spent on more Masonry. If a brother could save two hours of traveling several times a month, that time could be spent on a plethora of other worthwhile activities, like Masonic education, communicating with other brothers, charity, blogging, etc.

This brings us to the second point; money. Transportation costs money and these prices are sky-rocketing. Freemasonry is a volunteer organization. Lodge officers and Grand Lodge officers do not get gas stipends. R:.W:. Brother Simon uses 70 gallons of gas every month on Grand Lodge activities. With gas prices at $4.50 per gallon in Connecticut, Brother Simon spends approximately $315 a month. That's almost $4000 a year, which he spends out of pocket. Now, if each of the 18 primary Grand Lodge officers in Connecticut use a comparable amount of gas, that is $72,000 a year in gas used by the primary Grand Lodge Officers. This amount does not include the District Deputies, District Grand Lecturers or Associate Grand Marshals. If we include these approximately 50 brothers at half the gas usage of the primary Grand Lodge officers, it is another $100,000 a year. Therefore, the Grand total of approximate volunteered gas costs for the entire Grand Lodge is $172,000. Wouldn't this money be better spent on our lodge buildings or our charities? Telecommuting can help limit some of this unnecessary expenditure. If these officers telecommuted to %25 of their required duties, there would be $43,000 extra for other expenses.

Video-conferencing is far from perfect. Simon and I experienced some lagging and syncing issues that we're trying to rectify with different protocols. However, for many meetings, only audio is needed, which works perfectly. Some brothers will feel uncomfortable about talking with a brother via the internet, but this discomfort quickly subsides as the user gets used to the software and experience.

Although I name Skype as the Masonic Tech in this post, this is just one of hundreds of audio and video conferencing applications available. One of the benefits of many of these pieces of software, including Skype, is that they are free. Brother Simon and I plan on trying some of the other ones for ease of use and compatibility issues. If there is one that you can recommend, please drop a comment onto this post.

I'd like to thank R:.W:. Brother Simon for his hard work with modernizing the Grand Lodge. He has been a major force for technology in Masonry, as the editor of our state-wide publication, e-forum moderator, website designer and promoter of us crazy bloggers. It's great to see a Grand Lodge officer embracing technology. Yesterday, Brother Simon told me via AIM that "we have to get everyone 'connected'." When it comes down to it, that's what Masonry is all about: connections. We connect to our family, our friends, our brothers and God. The aim of the internet is also about making connections, so Masonry should strive to continue using this valuable tool to help with bringing people together in new, interesting and efficient ways.

The initial question that I proposed, "do we have too many meetings?", is intentionally a simplistic question. Answering this simplistic question will in no way describe the problems that Masonic lodges are facing. It does not propose a solution to these problems. Nor does it suggest what alternatives a lodge may have to remedy the opinions of meeting-weary and exhausted brothers.

However, this simplistic question serves a purpose. At times, a simplistic question needs to be asked to allow for further probing questions to be formulated. When the source of an issue is not readily apparent, it is sometimes beneficial to pose an open-ended question with the expressed objective of generating further inquiry and to develop ideas. This was precisely the intention of my proposal. I don’t have an answer to if we have too many meetings. However, I do have some further questions.

Are our meetings fulfilling and exciting? If a brother feels that we have too many meetings, perhaps he’s not enjoying himself at the meetings that are being held. Will having fewer meetings make the meetings we do have more interesting? Some brothers hold the old axiom, “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, to be true and that meeting less will naturally make the meetings that we do have more meaningful. Other brothers counter that if someone doesn’t enjoy 20 meetings, he won’t enjoy 10 meetings. It’s not quantity; it’s quality, according the counterargument.

What are the aspects of a Masonic lodge meeting that makes a brother want to attend? Is it possible for a lodge with a diverse membership to implement a schedule of events that will be pleasing to all brothers? Some brothers enjoy ritual, while others enjoy fellowship. Some brothers enjoy family events, while others enjoy brothers-only events. Some brothers enjoy presentations, while others enjoy interactive activities. It is impossible to please everyone all of the time.

When a brother states that he would attend more meetings if they weren’t as frequent, is he being sincere? Is this just an excuse for not attending? If the lodge meets less frequently, would he continue his same level of inactivity? Brothers have many different reasons why they do not attend meetings; work, family, personality conflicts, boredom, sickness, etc. A brother may just be using the time commitment of lodge as an excuse.

Do we have a membership problem or do we have a problem with our membership? Is having 10-15 brothers at a stated communication and 20-25 brothers at a degree a failure? How many brothers should attend a stated communication or a degree for it to be considered a success? My lodge has approximately 150 members. If only 15 members show up for a meeting, that means we have a 10% turn out. Is this a problem? Should Masonry be an organization where nearly all the brothers of a lodge are present for all of its meetings? Or should Masonry be more passive, where the important aspect of the Fraternity is that a brother lives our excellent tenants, rather than spending most of his time at lodge meetings? If you have 20 members at a meeting and enjoy yourself and feel fulfilled, isn’t this a success?

These are just a few of the questions that have come to mind regarding the “problem” of too many meetings. If more questions on this subject come to mind, please post them in the comments section below. With this set of questions as a suitable foundation, a more thorough analysis of my lodge’s meeting frequency can be performed. In my next post, I will attempt to analyze the meeting situation of my lodge as an example. It is important to note that the purpose of this series of posts is not to solve the “problem” of too many meetings for all lodges. The important aspect of this series is to assist brothers to analyze if their lodge has a problem and how to develop a suitable solution. My forth and final post on this subject will be a proposal that I hope to present to my lodge in the early fall.

Here's another great web tool that can be used by the members of a Masonic Lodge. Timetoast has produced the ability to quickly and easily create online timelines. These timelines can then be shared in a blog, a social networking site, a lodge website and many other web technologies.

As an example, I created a small timeline of my lodge's history. Altogether, the timeline took about twenty minutes to create, including the five minute sign-up period. Each event can include a short description, a long description, the date and an image. Embedding a timeline into a blog is extremely easy. Just click the embed button on your timeline and copy the html directly into a blog post.

The applications of this tool for a Masonic Lodge are numerous. A lodge could create an historical timeline, like the example below, to assist in teaching their members about their history. A lodge could use a timeline to plan the events for the upcoming year, listing important events and dates for its members and officers. A timeline can be developed for long-range planning purposes and be included in the lodge's strategic plan. Individual timelines can be created for members of the lodge who have had prominent Masonic careers, mapping the important events in their lives.

These are just a few of the ideas for using this timeline website. If you have any other ideas for how this technology can be applied to a Masonic lodge, please drop a comment on this post.

There is a movement afoot in this country.  You see it everywhere.  From HBO’s recent program about John Adams to the resurgence of “Enlightenment” ideas creeping into the mainstream lexicon.  People are starting to devalue the over-inflated goodness of our ‘Ashton Kutcher - Paris Hilton’ culture, our worship of ‘Celebutantes’, the legitimation of idiots, liars and [...]

The Conclusion - Observations and Opinions

Author: Bro. Richard Hunker
July 2008

I returned to the U.S. in early June and brought with me a treasure trove of Masonic memories which I hope will just be the beginning of my Masonic travels. My Masonic adventure was extremely rewarding. I met many brothers and made new friends.

In concluding, I offer my personal observations and opinions in the hope that the above and the following may be of some use for any brother who is considering foreign Masonic travel. You'll be richly rewarded if you do.

I was welcomed "as a brother" in every lodge. I was greeted upon arrival, introduced to everyone. Although I took public transportation to the lodge, I was not allowed to take it back home.

Lodges and ritual are different, but they're the same. In Amsterdam, although everyone spoke English, lodge was conducted in Dutch. I didn't understand a word. It didn't matter I understood the EA degree at Loge Le Bien Aimee and the Master Mason degree at Loge Nos Vinxit Libertas. And although the layout of the lodge and the signs were different, I was advised to either follow the lead of the other brothers or use the signs I was used to.

Black tie is the norm. In some cases, white tie and tails. However, a black or dark suit is appropriate. Bring white gloves and your apron.

I could wear my own apron. I would have liked to have worn my own lambskin apron. I didn't take it because I thought after receiving my MM I couldn't wear it until I met the GAOU. I wore a German apron in Amsterdam and England and an English apron in Prague. I've since been told that I could have worn my apron. Next time I'll take my own.

Ritual is different and lectures were read. During degrees a podium was set up in the west and the lectures were read. Also, the opening and closing of lodge is fast compared to the U.S... and no prayer or pledge to the flag.

Table lodges/festive boards. I had heard about table lodges/festive boards have but never experienced one and I'm not sure if there is a difference. In any case, these were formally informal. A high degree of fellowship, recognition of brothers and visitors and toasts to the Queen, Grand Lodge/Lodge Officers and visitors. Although alcohol is served, all was in moderation and was convivial.

Alms collection. Unlike my experience in the U.S., a collection is taken at the end of lodge to assist needy brothers and/or Masonic charity.

It's all on the internet. I could not have begun to prepare for my trip without the benefit of the internet. I was able to research lodges in the areas I wanted to visit. I contacted the secretaries of the respective lodges and without exception received a welcome response. And most importantly, I received a lot of worthwhile information from numerous Masonic blogs and bloggers. Too many to mention explicitly. I thank you all.


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Hiram Lodge No.12 – Installation of Officers

Author: Bro. Richard Hunker
July 2008

Hiram Lodge No.12 – Installation of Officers
Prague, Czech Republic

My international Masonic journey concluded at Hiram Lodge No.12 in Prague on Saturday, May 24th. Hiram Lodge is the only English speaking lodge in the Czech Republic. It was consecrated in 1909 and re-consecrated in 2004. It's a small lodge that is reaching out to English speaking brothers of all nationalities. As an American, I felt right at home. Upon arrival I was greeted at the door by a brother who grew up 30 miles from my hometown in Ohio. We not only had masonry in common we had geography in common.

I have attended the installation of officers in the U.S. but this installation was to be different. In retrospect, I think this was because the ritual was different and the officers were from all over the world.

Lodge was opened in the EA degree and officers were installed in each degree. When the EA installation was finished, EA's were asked to leave the lodge, then FC's and then MM's as the WM was installed in each degree. The installation was concluded with only PM's in attendance. Not being a PM, I waited outside the lodge room with other brothers until we were invited back to the ceremony. When the installation was completed we went from labor to refreshment in the lounge bar which was incorporated within the lodge building. Many toasts were made at the dinner following the installation. I was sorry to see the evening come to an end.

The installed officers and those in attendance represented many nationalities – Czech Republic, England, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Argentina, U.S.A., and Scotland as I recall. Interesting to me were the three Scotsmen who wore kilts. I must say however, that I spent an enjoyable amount of time with a couple of them and still don't know half or what they said =) .

Also of interest to me is the painting that hangs in the Hiram Lodge room. I was told it was painted by Alphonse Mucha. He was a renowned Czech Art Nouveau artist who lived during the late 1800's and early 1900's. I was a little familiar with his work, but I wasn't aware that he was the Father of Czech Freemasonry. This Masonic painting was hidden during the Nazi regime and now proudly hangs in the lodge room.




Check back tomorrow for the Conclusion of this series!

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The second degree conferred tonight summoned a ghost, not in any spectral sense, although I could, perhaps, be wrong. He was a friend and brother, dead this long last year. He had been J:.W:. when I came in and the work, or much of it, still rings with his voice in my mind's ear. He was killed in a car accident - minding his own business, wearing his seat belt and driving the speed limit, but it didn't matter, and before the dust settled he was dead. It crushed his family, and it tore the heart out of our Lodge.

His particular ritualistic specialty was the FC lecture, and he would take his charges on that long, winding walk - he took me, when I passed that way - and he imparted something particularly, but elusively, meaningful to it. Hard to define, musical, more chord than chorus. He was first to admit, and he often did, that he was by no means a polished public speaker. Actually he was not fond of speaking in public at all. Nor was he required to do so by his profession, as he was, unbelievably in this day and age, an honest-to-God cowboy. From 6 to 5, but sometimes from 6 to 11.30 p.m., he rode a horse, minding cattle, and he would not infrequently arrive in Lodge with spurs on, which would announce his arrival halfway down the hall. He had a Kansas twang to his voice, which produces hard endings to words that stop on t or r, but which coddles the middle syllables languidly. All of this was keyed in a gentle rhythm that gave the lecture an honesty that flourish or polish could never achieve. Jerry just did the work because he loved it.

"...this triflin' defect," he would say slowly, "proved them Ephraimites, and cost them... their laives."

No one in our lodge knew the lecture, we didn't have to. It was his. Since his death we had to ask other lodges to fill the gap. Maybe no one wanted to learn it, forestalling the acknowledgment that he wasn't coming back. Maybe not. But it crossed my mind a time or two. But tonight was different; one of our own, W:. Bro. Blaine, had it, and this was his debut. It was well and truly done, a thing of great beauty. It wasn't Jerry's work, but it wasn't meant to be either. I was fortunate to sit in the South tonight, and in our jurisdiction, the lecturer interacts with the J:.W:. - it is to him that the explanation of the trifling defect is given, and as Blaine came to that line, a line we both had remarked upon earlier as a signature of Jerry, I saw him well up just a bit as he delivered it. I understood why.

At my interaction with him, I smiled broadly, realizing that we, he and I, and I suppose the Lodge as well, had crossed the river that for so long stood in flood.

Recently a good Brother was kind enough to return my copy of the first volume of The History of Freemasonry by Mackey.

By the standards of today's scholarship, there are some flaws to be found with the historical accuracy of the work, but in so far as the book deals with the objects, lessons, and teachings of the Fraternity, it is an inspiring work.

Truth to tell, I could use some inspiring right about now. As I outlined in my last post, I find myself with very little time on my hands and far too much to do. I suppose I should be grateful that my days are full and the passage of time doesn't drag. It would be nice to have a bit of time for myself.

As it stands now, I find some of my designs frustrated and my plans put on hold. My doctor's office called today and I will have to wait another two weeks for my consultation. Ah well, the Fraternity is supposed to teach one patience. In spite of this, I find that I do not wait well.

And that brings me to the initial quotation at the begining of The History of Freemasonry:

"There seems no human thought so primitive as to have lost its bearing on our own thought, nor so ancient as to have broken its connection with our own life." Tylor. Primitve Culture

Perhaps that then is one of the keys. Freemasonry remains relevant because on some level it retains thoughts and ideas that have fallen out of common currency. The ability to wait, to think, to absorb one's surroundings and apply our rational faculties before acting. To remain connected, and yes - patient.

Stay tuned, or not, it's up to you.

Cultural Masonic Centre ‘Prins Frederik'

Author: Bro. Richard Hunker
July 2008

Cultural Masonic Centre ‘Prins Frederik'
Den Haag (The Hague)

During my trip preparation, several brothers strongly suggested that I visit the Cultural Masonic Center in The Hague. I was advised that no appointment was necessary and I was even provided a contact by a brother I met at Le Bien Aimee.

On May 21st my wife and I boarded the train to The Hague. The CMC is located within easy walking distance from the train station. It's located in the carriage house of an old mansion that is also the home of the Grand East of the Netherlands. Upon arrival, I was greeted by my contact who was, unfortunately, on his way out. Luckily, he introduced my wife and I to the CMC curator who provided a fabulous tour of both the mansion and the CMC.

According to the literature I received, the CMC accommodates archives, a library and a museum. It's sometimes called the ‘Treasury of the Royal Art' by connoisseurs, since it is one of the most impressive collections of Masonic material brought together anywhere in the world.

Equally impressive was the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands facility. The WGM was traveling so we were able to spend time in the historic offices.

A visit to the CMC should be on anyone's itinerary who is interested in Freemasonry, just be sure to make an advance appointment. Otherwise you may not be able to tour. We were lucky that the curator made herself available.


Check back tomorrow for Part 6!

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Frederick Gustavus Burnaby (1842-1885) was an English army officer, an inveterate wanderer, an intrepid adventurer, and quite probably a Freemason. I have no absolute proof of his membership in the Craft, but Burnaby himself (shown here at right) provides us with clues as to his affiliation in his writings. He is most famous for his exploration of 19th Century Central Asia which he documented in A Ride to Khiva, (1876) a Khanate (in what is now Uzbekistan) not known for its hospitality to non-Muslims, and for the equally fascinating On Horseback Through Asia Minor (1878) which details his five month's travel in Ottoman Turkey on the eve of war with Russia. Both of these locales figured prominently in the struggle for dominance in Asia by both Russia and Great Britain -- a struggle that predated our own Cold War by a hundred years. Termed "The Great Game" by its participants, and Burnaby certainly was one, it was not played on battlefields by armies and generals, but rather, it was a covert war of intelligence, counter-intelligence, and subterfuge.

In Asia Minor, Burnaby's avowed intent was to explore Turkey first-hand, to get a feel for its people and customs, while keeping an eye on the Russian frontier, of course. But the narrative notes so many fortifications, fords, defiles, and roads capable of carrying artillery that it must surely have found a place on the shelves of the Foreign Office before the ink was dry. There is a Masonic cadence to some of his writing as well, with many phrases interspersed that have a familiar ring to a Mason's ear, and which I assume are indicative of membership. One passage, however, comes tantalizingly close to eliminating my doubts on the subject. In the town of Ardahan, Burnaby came across a compatriot -- an English officer in the employ of the Sultan as an artillerist who had been in Turkey nearly twenty years -- and their conversation soon turned to military matters.

"Would the Kurds help the Russians?" [Burnaby inquired]
"The Kurds would probably join the strongest side. I have been a great deal in the mountains, and I know the Kurds well. There are freemasons among them," added the Colonel. "Their freemasonry dates back from the time of the ancient Assyrians."

On Horseback Through Asia Minor, New York: Cosimo Publications (reprint), 2007, p. 337.


This has a certain Man Who Would be King ring to it, something which heretofore, I would have dismissed as pure fancy. But this account suggests that perhaps it is deserving of more scrutiny.

As for Burnaby, to those of us who cast our eyes back longingly to the 19th Century, he is an icon. Presumably bored to tears and averse to indolence, he was the first man to solo across the Channel in a balloon (1882), but he missed seeing active service in the Egyptian campaign of that same year. Undeterred, he went a.w.o.l. to participate in the Suakin campaign (1884), and was wounded at El Teb while acting as an intelligence officer under Baker Pasha. Shaking off his wounds, he was quick to join a punitive expedition up the Nile and was appointed to fresh military and political duties by Lord Wolseley. He joined the Gordon Relief Expedition and died as a result of a Mahdist spear wound in hand-to-hand fighting at the battle of Abu Klea (17 January 1885).

Kipling, who had an eye for such things, penned this;

When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it -- lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew!

Perhaps he was equally correct about Freemasonry in Central Asia.