Sock It to Me

As the subtitle of the blog says, a touch of Freemasonry.

My lodge meets the first Wednesday of the month, so last night was it. We initiated a new Brother, and observing or participating in any of the three degrees is always a nice night.

I am frequently asked by non-Masons: "What do Masons do in their meetings?"

I guess the answer is: "Pretty much what any group does, Rotary, Elks, etc." And that is true. We are a club and as such we have formal meetings to keep the thing moving forward. We pay bills, respond to correspondence, almost always have some kind of educational presentation, and go through the process to admit new members. Probably one of the very different things about Freemasonry is that once we admit a new member, that is just the start for that Brother. There are three degrees to go through, the first initiation degree is simply the start. And, much like actual school, he cannot proceed to the next degree without putting considerable work into proving he has learned the lessons of the current degree.

Freemasons are also big on "fellowship" which is our ancient word for "hanging out." Almost every lodge has some kind of meal, either before or after, the meeting. It seems to me that most lodges have the meal after but as it is usually 9-10pm at that time, it's questionable how healthy that is! But it is not about the food, per se. That is just the vehicle that causes us to sit down with each other and talk.

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