masonic matters
The Characteristics of a True Mason
by Ed Halpaus
Grand Lodge Education Officer
Grand Lodge of A. F. & A. M. of Minnesota
"If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so
in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans; in my heart
he put other and different desires. Each man is good in the sight of the Great
Spirit. It is not necessary, that eagles should be crows."
Sitting Bull (Teton Sioux)
"Together we live our values." Brother Norm Coleman
It is with sadness that I need to report to you that our Good Brother Joe
Seltzer, PGM of Masons in Minnesota, died March 25, 2004 just 23 days shy of his
100th Birthday. Brother Joe had been looking forward to his 100th Birthday
celebration. He had been planning it for over a year, and many were privileged
to receive an invitation to his party. I attended the funeral service for
Brother Joe at Temple Israel in Minneapolis, and while it is sad to see such a
man leave us, the service was a celebration of Joe's life, and those that knew
him celebrate that Joe was a part of their life, that's for sure. Joe was the
kind of man anyone would be proud to call a friend. At the funeral it was
mentioned what Joe's mother used to have as a saying, and Joe adopted it into
his own life: titled by Joe as "My Mother's words;"
"Money is round - it goes from this person to the next - it goes around. But a
good name is the most valuable possession you own. Never let it go." Esther
Seltzer
Our Brother Benjamin Franklin wrote what I believe is a beautiful letter to Miss
E. Hubbard, his Brother's step-daughter, upon the passing of Franklin's Brother.
When, our Past Grand Master, M.W Brother Terry Tilton was our Grand Chaplain he
read this letter to the members of our Grand Lodge as part of his Necrology
report. I think it is something Masons would like to keep in mind when death
enters our Lodge.
Brother Franklin's letter is dated February 23, 1756 at Philadelphia, "in which
he succinctly reminds us of God's eternal plan."
"I condole with you. We have lost a dear and valuable relation. But it is the
will of God and nature, that these mortal bodies be laid aside, when the soul is
to enter into real life. This rather an embryo state, a preparation for living.
A man is not completely born until he is dead. Why then should we grieve, that a
new child is born among the immortals, a new member added to their happy
society?
We are spirits; that bodies should be lent to us, while they can afford us
pleasure, assist us in acquiring knowledge, or in doing good to our fellow
creatures, is a kind and benevolent act of God. When they become unfit for these
purposes, and afford us pain instead of pleasure, instead of an aid become an
encumbrance, and answer none of the intentions for which they were given, it is
equally kind and benevolent that a way is provided by which we may get rid of
them. Death is that way.
We ourselves in some cases, prudently choose a partial death. A mangled painful
limb, which cannot be restored, we willingly cut off. He who plucks out a tooth
parts with it freely, since the pain goes with it; and he, who quits the whole
body, parts at once with all the pains and the possibilities of pains and
diseases which it was liable to, or capable of making him suffer.
Our friend and we are invited abroad to a party of pleasure, which is to last
forever. His chair was ready first, and he has gone before us. We could not all
conveniently start together; and why should you and I be grieved at this, since
we are soon to follow, and know where to find him?" Adieu, B. Franklin
"Birth is a beginning; Life is a journey; Death is the destination."
The Rabbi at M.W. Brother Joe's Funeral
"People cannot change truth - but truth can change people." Omar Gaffney
The Characteristics of a True Mason
By Brother Albert Mackey
"A Mason is a man whose conduct should be squared by strict rectitude and
justice towards his fellow creatures; his demeanor should be marked by the level
of courtesy and kindness; while uprightness of heart and integrity of action,
symbolized by the plumb, should be his distinguishing characteristic; and thus
guided by the moveable jewels of Masonry, he may descend the vale of life with
joy, in the hope of being accepted by the most high, as a successful candidate
for admission into the Grand Lodge above."
"Responsibility only sees goals; Failure to take responsibility sees
scapegoats."
Brother Dave M. Daugherty
When does your Lodge hold its Stated Communications? Both Lodges I belong to
meet at night. At one of my Lodges we always have an excellent supper prepared
by the Brother who volunteered to cook for that Communication, and then after
supper we open Lodge.
It seems that in the early days of Freemasonry both before and after 1717, (the
beginning of the Grand Lodge era,) there were many Lodges that met during the
daylight hours. Here is the reason: Many times Lodges met at the convenience of
most members, which often was in the daytime.ii
In the writings of Elias Ashmole he tells us the Lodge he was initiated in met
at 4 P.M. and his other Lodge, which met at the Masons Company in 1682 met about
the noon hour. Many times in large cities over the centuries, where men were
working nights, there were Daylight Lodges for the Masons who worked nights and
also for those Masons who preferred not to go out at night.
In the Twin Cities in Minnesota we currently have one Daylight Lodge, which
meets in a suburb of St. Paul, but there appears to be interest in forming
another Daylight Lodge in Minneapolis in the fall of 2004. If Lodges today were
to meet at the convenience of most of its members we might see more Lodges
meeting at times different than the night time hours.
"Neither distance nor death can truly separate those who love." John Muir
A Creed
Bt Brother Edwin Markham
There is a destiny that makes us Brothers:
None goes his way alone:
All that we send into the lives of others
Comes back into our own.
I care not what his temples or his creeds,
One thing holds firm and fast -
That into his fateful heap of days and deeds
The soul of man is cast.
"We have committed the golden rule to memory; let us now commit it to life."
Brother Edwin Markham
When is a man a Mason? Is it when he is a member of a Lodge, or is it after he
receives his first degree of Freemasonry? When does a man become a member of our
Fraternity? When does he become a member of a Lodge?
That's a lot of questions, I know, but they are questions a new Mason will ask
sometimes. In Minnesota a man becomes a Mason when he receives his First Degree,
but he is not a member of a Lodge at that time. To me it's interesting because
at the beginning of the degree when the candidate is told in part; "this
institution of which you are about to become a member," is thought sometimes as
meaning he is about to join the Lodge, but in fact, it means he is about to join
the fraternity, not the Lodge.
As a member of the fraternity he is expected to conduct himself properly and not
to violate any Masonic rules, regulations, or customs. In order to do this he
needs to be informed, and that is the job of his Mentor. An Entered Apprentice
should not be left on his own between his degrees. If he is left alone, if he is
ignored, he may never learn what he wanted to learn from us, and he may never
take the next degree.
In Minnesota a Mason can only become a member of a Lodge after he has taken his
Third Degree, but he is not a member of a Lodge until he has signed the by-laws
of the Lodge. This is true also of a Mason who has been elected by a Lodge to
membership in the Lodge; he is not yet a member until he has signed the by-laws
of the Lodge.
What about a Mason who only takes his first or second degree or what about a
Mason who demits from his Lodge, what's our attitude towards them? None of them
are members of a Lodge, but they all are members of our fraternity. They are all
subject to Masonic responsibilities and discipline, but when we are speaking of
the Masons in our town do we include these Masons, and do we include them in our
Masonic activities that do not include Lodge Communications? In other words do
we treat them as Masonic Brothers? Or are they just kind of forgotten by the
rest of us who are members of the Lodge?
We like to quote sayings and point with pride that a famous person was a
Freemason. Masons such as Voltaire, and Samuel Clemens, (Mark Twain,) for
instance, but Brother Voltaireiii was only initiated shortly before his death,
(only receiving the first degree,) and Brother Clemens demitted from his Lodge,
and was really only a member of it for relatively short time.iv There are other
similar situations, and a look through 10,000 Famous Freemasons will bring them
to mind. My point is, whether Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, or demitted
Master Mason they are Brothers, and we should treat them as such. They should
know we regard them as Brothers, and are willing to pass on Masonic Information
to them, and help them when they need it. They are our Brothers and possibly
when they know this, by what we say and do, they might become members of the
Lodge. "Let the world observe how Mason's love one another."
"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can read."
Brother Samuel Clemens
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