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Trestleboard
EDITED BY: VWB JAMES F. RUSSELL,
SECRETARY |
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Home -
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February Trestleboard
February 2009
From the Secrerary's Desk
By
VWB Jim Russell
’ve been working the quarry over
here in the southeast corner of the lodge for several years (12), now,
and from where I look, I see our lodge doing pretty well. Some years
have been better than others, but generally speaking we have been
progressing. Last year, WBro. Jim Wold followed and added to an amazing
year initiated by WBro. Charlie Tupper. We had the advantage of that
year being WBro. Charlie’s third year as Master of a lodge (twice as
Master of Thomas M. Reed No. 225). The programs we sponsor and the
charities we support are successful and come well-recommended.
But I must say, I am concerned
about a couple of things that are happening here at St. John's – or not
happening. One, is the declining crispness of our ritual and floor
work. This can be easily corrected with a renewed commitment to ritual
perfection and willingness to participate in practices. The officers of
St. John's need to look at ourselves and admit we can do better.
More disconcerting is our declining
membership. Unlike the fraternity as a whole, this lodge is
experiencing a large negative growth. (I count twenty-five departed
brothers in just the last 12 months!) Age is always a factor in the
loss of members, but it doesn’t have to be inevitable in the loss
of membership. Why are we not replacing ourselves? Ten years
ago 392 brothers were members of St. John's. Today, our numbers are
267. 35 brothers have affiliated in the past ten years. So what does
this tell us?
We are not raising new Masons!
I’m not sure why this is. The
interest is out there. Lodges in our District and throughout the
Seattle area are raising new brothers. One lodge has so much degree
work that their brothers express frustration that they can hardly find
time for anything else. As a Grand Jurisdiction, we are close to
experiencing positive growth.
We can’t fault our programs. We
can’t fault our lodge meetings. They have been entertaining and
fruitful. WBro. Chris Carney has committed to offering meaningful
Masonic education at each communication. There’s hardly a lodge that
can compare with us for regular attendance. But, we must be more open
to encouraging young men to investigate the advantages of Freemasonry.
Not as a stepping stone to the Scottish or York Rites or the Shrine, but
because Freemasonry at the Blue Lodge level can offer fellowship,
instruction, and support in our moral pathways.
As members of St. John's, we have
an obligation to sustain our Mother Lodge. We are rapidly approaching
our 150th anniversary. Let’s hope to God we’ll be here for
another 150 years.
COMPANY STORE
St. John’s Company Store is stocked with wonderful items to please
both the buyer and to promote Freemasonry and the lodge. WBro. Hans
Wehl has an inventory of jackets, caps, vests, notebooks and note
pads, as well as pens and other assortments. If you want a
beautiful Past Master’s wristwatch, ask for Hans.
To every thing there is a reason
Passwords, handshakes,
grips and signs are likely holdovers from the medieval stonemasons'
guilds from which arose the ‘Free Masons.’
If you were a guild
member, and there was a job available and you had the skills, you were
entitled to it. But how do you prove you're a guild member? You're on a
job site, miles away from home. There are no faxes, no phones. But if
you've been taught a grip, or a word was whispered in your ear, you can
identify yourself.
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CALENDAR |
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February 9 (7-9pm): Ritual instruction classes at Greenwood Masonic
Center
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February 10 (7pm): Officers Meeting – Greenwood Masonic Library
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February 16 (8:30am): laying of wreath at George Washington
Memorial
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February 16 (6pm): Board of Trustees (offsite)
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February 17 (7pm): Masonic Youth Committee meeting at WBro. Mark
Campbell’s home
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February 18 (6:15pm) 7:30pm: St. John’s 9 (dinner) Stated
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February 25 (7pm): District 5 LOMA meeting¬all members invited
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February 28 (8:30am): Washington DeMolay Foundation breakfast at
Greenwood
In January, Worshipful
Master Christopher Carney expressed his desire to elevate the dignity of
the work and actions of St. John's Lodge No. 9 this year. He hopes to
accomplish this by taking a number of actions. He will hold officer
meetings on Tuesday a week before our stated communications for planning
and preparation. He wants to provide greater opportunity for our
younger (or newer) brothers to speak in open lodge. He wants to place a
greater focus on Masonic art, music, and philosophy during the course of
our stated communications. And lastly, he wants to conclude our
meetings as close to the nine o’clock hour as reasonably as possible.
This month the
Worshipful Master will again lead us in the business of the lodge and
has issued another assignment. He has asked each of us to look up the
word “juxtaposition,” and to relate that definition to Freemasonry.
(juxtaposition: an act of comparing two things, especially in a way that
suggests connection between them or to distinguish them.)
In continuing his desire to
provide meaningful Masonic education at each meeting, we anticipate that
WBro. Carney will devote a portion of the February communication to this
end.
A program of interest customarily follows dinner. The dinner and program
are open to anyone, including prospective members - the business meeting
starting at 7:30 is open only to members of the fraternity.
Please
make your 6:15pm dinner reservations with the secretary at stjohns9@seattlemasons.org
or 206 623-0261 by Friday (February 13th) prior to the stated
meeting. Invite a brother to accompany you to lodge.
LUND RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT OF MSB
WBro. Joseph Lund was
re-elected President of the Masonic Service Bureau at its annual meeting
last month. WBro. Lund is a Past Master of St. John’s (2005) and serves as
chairman of our Accelerated Reader Committee. The Service Bureau was
established to provide charitable relief in 1878 under the leadership of St.
John’s and Eureka Lodge No. 20, the only lodges in Seattle at that time. He
has directed the bylaws committee to work at rewriting the bylaws to best
serve the Bureau, as well as address a new Mission Statement that defines
what service the Bureau will provide for the Masonic community.
GEO. WASHINGTON
MEMORIAL
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District
5 Masons and the Daughters of the American Revolution have been saluting the
birthday of our first President and brother Mason George Washington with a
wreath laying ceremony for several years. The celebration on February 16th
starts at 9:30am. It includes a brief ceremony at Kane Hall on the
University of Washington campus; that followed by wreath laying at the
George Washington statue just west of Red Square in front of the theater
named after St. John’s 24th Past Master WBro. Edmund Meany.
We’ll |
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meet at University Lodge at 8:30am for coffee and
donuts and then walk to Kane Hall. Free parking is available under Red
Square.
We will be clothed as
Masons - so be sure to bring your apron. |
PAST MASTER DALTON CASSIN
Past Master
WBro. George Dalton Cassin of Elliot Bay Lodge No. 257, has been called to
that celestial lodge. WBro. Cassin was a custodian at Nathan Hale HS when
he was initiated into Elliot Bay, November 16, 1990. He was passed to a
Fellowcraft Mason, February 15, 1991, and raised a Master Mason, April 19,
1991. He served as Master of Elliot Bay Lodge in 1996. He was a member of
the Order of Eastern Star, and was a Past Patron of Myrtle Chapter. He
passed away with pneumonia, December 2, 2008, at the age of 77 in Portland,
OR. With firm faith in the Supreme Grand Master of the Universe, we
know that we shall meet again.
PLACES TO GO, THINGS TO DO
Joseph Warren Lodge No. 235
in Tacoma invites “Wednesday Night Lodges” to a Table Lodge Celebration,
Wednesday, April 22. Bremerton Lodge No. 117 will be hosting a 50’s theme
Dinner Show featuring Elvis impersonator Danny Vernon on Saturday, February
28.
Greenwood Lodge No. 253
will be raising a brother as a Master Mason, Wednesday, February 11. Dinner
will be served at 6:30pm, with the degree following.
VWBro. Mike Davis invites
the brethren to attend the stated communication for Queen Anne Lodge No. 242
on Thursday, February 12. A second degree to pass four Brothers as
Fellowcrafts will be held. Dinner will be served at 6pm, with the
communication opening at 7:30.
Regional Premiere of
Gee’s Bend
at Taproot Theatre
Greenwood’s
Taproot Theatre will be performing
Gee’s Bend from January 30 -
February 28. This critically - acclaimed play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder
captures the rich story of the women of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, where discarded
rags, scraps and bits of thread are pieced into works of art. Their stories,
like the spirituals they sing and the quilts they create, form a striking
patchwork of the African American journey of the past century.
Until
this year, St. John's has helped sponsor this community theater since 2006.
For more information, visit www.taproottheatre.org. For tickets, call the
box office at (206) 781-9707.
“But there is another method of masonic instruction, and that is
by symbols. No science is more ancient than that of symbolism. At one
time, nearly all the learning of the world was conveyed in symbols. And
although modern philosophy now deals only in abstract propositions,
Freemasonry still cleaves to the ancient method, and has preserved it in
its primitive importance as a means of communicating knowledge.
“According to the derivation of the word from the Greek, "to symbolize"
signifies "to compare one thing with another." Hence a symbol is the
expression of an idea that has been derived from the comparison or
contrast of some object with a moral conception or attribute. Thus we
say that the plumb is a symbol of rectitude of conduct. The physical
qualities of the plumb are here compared or contrasted with the moral
conception of virtue, or rectitude. Then to the Speculative Mason it
becomes, after he has been taught its symbolic meaning, the visible
expression of the idea of moral uprightness.”
From the Symbolism of Freemasonry by Albert G. Mackey [1882]
Someone once said. “If you really want
to know who loves you the most - your wife or your dog, lock them both in
the trunk of your car for an hour and see who is happiest when you let them
out.” The dog won every time I tried it. (That was my first wife.)
MASONIC CRYPTOGRAMS
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In ancient Masonry many of the brethren were illiterate. They were
taught by repetition and by cryptic texts, often through a variety of coded
methods. No study of symbolism would be complete without a section
devoted to the consideration of cryptograms.
The modern world has overlooked the important role played by cryptography in
literature and philosophy. If the art of deciphering cryptograms could be
made popular, it would result in the discovery of hitherto unsuspected
wisdom possessed by both ancient and medieval philosophers. It would prove
that many apparently verbose and rambling authors were wordy for the sake of
concealing words.
Ciphers are hidden in the most subtle manner: they may be concealed in the
watermark of the paper upon which a book is printed; they may be bound into
the covers of ancient books; they
may be extracted from the first letters of words or the first words of
sentences; they may be artfully concealed in mathematical equations or in
apparently unintelligible characters; they may be revealed by heat as
having been written in responsive ink; they
may be word |
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ciphers, letter ciphers, or apparently ambiguous statements whose meaning
could be understood only by repeated careful readings; they may he
discovered in the elaborately illuminated initial letters of early books or
they may be revealed by a process of counting words or letters.
If those interested in Freemasonic research would give serious consideration
to this subject, they might find in books and manuscripts of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries the information necessary to bridge the gap in
Masonic history that now exists between the Mysteries of the ancient world
and the Craft Masonry of the last three centuries. |
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Origin of the word Freemasons
The first-known use of the word Freemasons
- in the form Free Masons
- occurs in City of London Letter-book H on August 9, 1376, though the word
is in fact deleted in favor of Mason. Masons and Freemasons were
interchangeable during the 15th and 16th centuries and Freemasons were
generally meant to denote hewers or setters of freestone; Masons being used
to embrace all stoneworkers. Elias Ashmole in his diary wrote that he was
made a Free Mason and referred in 1686 to the “Fellowship of Free Masons.”
James Anderson when writing his 1723 Constitutions did not use the single
word - Freemasons - once. Whatever the reasons, the 1723 Constitutions
contain approximately 126 references to Masons, 12 to Free Masons, 10 to
Free and Accepted Masons, 9 to Free-Masons, one to Accepted Free Masons and
none to Freemasons. And such is the tenacity of tradition that to this day
the most of the Constitutions are addressed to Free and Accepted Masons and
not to Accepted Freemasons. The earliest-known anti-masonic leaflet, of
1698, warns the public against “those called Free Masons” - almost certainly
what we now know as speculative Freemasons. source
PIETRE-STONES REVIEW OF FREEMASONRY
Presidents Day was originally designated in
honor of George Washington's birthday and is still legally called
"Washington's Birthday." The first president of the United States was born
on February 22, 1732.
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COMPASSES-COMPASS.
From the standpoint of the dictionary, these are two words with totally
different meanings. A compass is a suspended magnet so balanced that
it may turn upon its pivot and orient itself with the North magnetic pole
and thus (with the aid of tables and mathematics), point out the true
North. Compasses is the word used to describe that instrument which
draws circles and/or measures small distances; sometimes
compasses
are called dividers. Like trousers and scissors, in this jurisdiction,
compasses is always plural when meaning the instrument.
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This drawing 'The Raising of the
Master' by Italian painter Giovanni Francesco Barbieri nicknamed Il Guercino
(1591-1666) is in the possession of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of
Scotland.
The original mailed version of the Trestleboard is found in this  MS Word file. Click the link and then choose "open" when prompted. (382,976 bytes)
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