Harry Truman's Prayer

by Midnight Freemasons contributor

Michael Shirley

Harry Truman was not an overtly religious man. He was a Baptist and read the Bible a good deal, but credited Freemasonry rather than his church for prompting him to do so. He was far more concerned with making his way in this world than with speculating on his place in the next. But he was a man of prayer, and of one prayer in particular, which he recorded in his diary on August 15, 1950:

"The prayer on this page has been said by me--by Harry S. Truman--from high school days, as a window washer, bottle duster, floor scrubber in an Independence, Mo., drugstore, as a timekeeper on a railroad contract gang, as an employee of a newspaper, as a bank clerk, as a farmer riding a gang plow behind four horses and mules, as a fraternity official learning to say nothing at all if good could not be said of a man, as public official judging the weaknesses and shortcomings of constituents, and as President of the United States of America."

Oh! Almighty and Everlasting God, Creator of Heaven, Earth and the Universe:

Help me to be, to think, to act what is right, because it is right; make me truthful, honest and honorable in all things; make me intellectually honest for the sake of right and honor and without thought of reward to me. Give me the ability to be charitable, forgiving and patient with my fellowmen - help me to understand their motives and their shortcomings -- even as Thou understandest mine!

Amen, Amen, Amen

And Amen.

~MHS

W.B. Michael H. Shirley is Past Master of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and Leadership Development Chairman for the Grand Lodge of Illinois. He's also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. He's also a member of the newly-chartered, Illini High Twelve No. 768 in Urbana-Champaign. The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.

Keeping My Focus In Check

by Midnight Freemasons guest contributor

Steven A. McBeth

I will do what I can to participate in Lodge, charity and events thereof when and where I am able.  I also hope I will maintain my attendance and good will, well after I am raised a MM, do my best to give (albeit quietly, and humbly) to charity, be it measured in monetary, or voluntary notes, and become a better man. 

I also, perhaps ignorantly, have a great appreciation for those of us who all though do not attend Lodge or functions on a regular or even sporadic basis, still pay their dues and remain Fraternally loyal.  You too my Brethren are doing your part.  As for me I will keep tightly locked lips on the actions or lack thereof on the part of my peers, and choose instead to transform any potential, future discord into affirmative, altruistic action, where I am able. 

My point is....  Complaining about the petty things others are or are not doing serves no good purpose.  It is dark, destructive and can be viewed as nothing more than an attention grab (Look at me and all the good that I do).  In turn, may I suggest, that we concern ourselves more of our own actions or lack thereof.  

I would put out this challenge to any Brother or Brethren who feel that others can, could, or should be doing more;  I challenge you to make that extra phone call, show up for Lodge once in awhile (as a newbie the better the attendance, the more attractive) , spread warm and welcoming Light to all who attend, and just be the best that you can be.  I assure you if you do this, they will come, or in this case, come back.  

Undeniably your inner Light will shine so bright, so attractively to the right people, they too will want what you have, and if they are curious enough to ask, and you are able to humbly inform them you did nothing more then what you know others could, should, or wished they would do, and you oppose despairing complaints and prefer instead constructive action, then you just might be surprised at how powerful are the good and altruistic actions, over the destructive and despairing word.  

I’m not saying go out and be an empty do-gooder, not at all.  I feel that most good deeds performed under pressure or obligation are no better than no good deed at all, and sometimes even worse.  Have you ever heard the saying “Let no good deed go unpunished”  Well I have, and through some discernment and unintentional experimentation I have found that any good deed I performed, especially when I was doing it more for myself then for others, simply backfired and caused damage, or more damage than if I had not.  

Like I have heard my Mother say many times; “Leave well enough alone”.

So I would like encourage myself and the rest of you, if you feel that something needs to be done, and it is a good thing, then don’t wait for permission, or someone else to do it, just do it.  If you have something good and nice to say, then say it, but do it for the sake of doing it, and say it for the sake of saying it, not because you have something to gain, rather because it just needs to be done, and I assure you, gain you will. 

The important thing is, when performing a good deed, we do so quietly, humbly, and altruistically otherwise it is no longer a good deed.  If I have read correctly, no spiritual brownie points will be added for such vain and proud attempts, rather deductions will be made.

One thing I love and cherish about our Great Fraternity is how little people actually know of all our good works, unless they choose to go looking for them or have been direct or indirect benefactors thereof.  This, my friends is a trait which God himself adores.  I have always felt that if caught in the act, and others find out, not by my mouth, but by others, this is a blessing, however if I do a deed and boast about, this serves only one purpose, vanity and pride, ok that’s two, but I am sure you get the point... 

“Do well to do well, not to do well”

~Steven A. McBeth

A Craftsman's Journey: Part VI

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Michael Shirley

Mandolin outline

Top cut out

One of the problems with having an instrument built for you is waiting for it. I’ve never been very good at waiting. Procrastinating, yes, but waiting is different. It requires patience rather than laziness. But this mandolin building process has shown me something new. Joe has been posting pictures as he completes each new step, and they’ve made me eager for more. I’ve found myself hitting “refresh” several times every day in the hope that something new will appear. 

Building the sides

That impatience just demonstrates to me that I’m not an operative craftsman and why Joe is: he has the patience required to plan a job thoroughly and to do it right at each stage, and to do the extra little things required for a piece of work to be great. His brother Rick said to me the other day that Joe got all the patience in the family, and that’s why he’s so good at building instruments. Carving a mandolin is different than framing a house. Both require precision, intelligence, and attention to detail, as all good crafts do. Carving a mandolin also requires an appreciation for the musical and visual qualities of different kinds of wood, and, like all good music, a sense of when to stop; Joe says that when he’s carving he can feel the wood vibrate, and when it starts singing through his fingers he knows it’s where he wants it to be. 

Adding bars to top

That’s when he can start putting the pieces together. I understand how it works (I managed to pass physics in college by doing a term paper on the physics of tone production in an arch-top mandolin), but seeing it happen and talking about it with the maker has been a joyful and humbling experience. The craft of it is one thing; the art of it is something else entirely. When he told me he was satisfied with the tap tone of the top and bottom, had bent the sides, and was ready to start making it look like a mandolin, I was eager to see what it would look like. He already had the image in his mind. 

http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/4956756

This is the sixth installment in Michael Shirley's Mandolin Series.

W.B. Michael H. Shirley is Past Master of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and Leadership Development Chairman for the Grand Lodge of Illinois. He's also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon. He's also a member of the newly-chartered, Illini High Twelve No. 768 in Urbana-Champaign. The author of several articles on British history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.

REPOST: Neil Armstrong: Freemason Or Not?

by Midnight Freemasons contributor

Todd E. Creason

I thought I'd repost this today.  It's with a heavy heart we mark the passing of a true American hero.  Neil Armstrong died today at the age of 82.  He made history on July 29, 1969.  He was literally, a man that went where no man had gone before . . .
  

Neil Armstrong's footprint on the moon


 

"Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand."

~Neil Armstrong

As the first man to ever set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong has become perhaps one of the most well-known NASA astronauts.  Long before he was an astronaut, he was a pilot during the Korean War and flew seventy-eight combat missions.

Neil Armstrong was an early pioneer of high speed flight and was a test project pilot for many types of air experimental crafts--he flew over two hundred different types of air crafts which made him an excellent candidate when NASA began searching for qualified astronauts.

He is often included on lists of famous Freemason, however, Neil Armstrong, Jr. is not a Freemason.  There's a little confusion with the name.  His father, Stephen Armstrong, was a very active member.

The eagle has landed . . .
The Scottish Rite Flag Buzz Aldrin took to the moon.

Not to say there weren't a lot Freemasons amongst NASA astronauts--members of the craft were well represented.  Freemason astronauts include Buzz Aldrin, Leroy Gordon Cooper, Donn Eisle, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, James Irwin, Edgar Mitchell, Walter Schirra, Thomas Stafford, and Paul Weitz.  

As a matter of fact, Buzz Aldrin took a personal item on the Apollo 11 mission--a hand embroidered flag of the Scottish Rite Southern jurisdiction.

~TEC

Into A Place Of Darkness: A Past Master's Trip Of A Lifetime

by Midnight Freemasons contributor

SK Robert Johnson 
 

I arrived at my lodge about 5:30 in the evening. It was overcast and I was sitting in my car going over some interview notes. A homeless man came up to me and asked for some change, I obliged and after writing a few questions down, I became stumped. What was I going to ask? How was I going to get the information I needed?

I guess I should set the stage a bit. When I was initiated, passed and then raised, there were few faces the same each time, other than the officers of course. But there definitely had been a few that were there through each degree. One of them was this “Harley Davidson guy”. Always showed up in his Tebala Shriner’s coat and under that was always, and I mean always, a Harley Davidson shirt. In fact for this interview he was wearing one. He spoke rough and if you hadn’t seen the guy smile, you might think he was a drill sergeant. The truth is, this Past Master, Harley aficionado, Vietnam Veteran, and Shriner was a wealth of knowledge and experience. He taught me what I needed to know about floor work, whether I wanted to know or not!

PM Behling became a Master Mason in 2000. And the year before that he started riding his Motorcycles. He explained to me that his father told him that “It will do you good”, and the second time his dad said it, he thought he ought to do it, and he did. His father hailed from Boulevard Lodge in Chicago Illinois, and his mother is a lifelong Eastern Star. The Motorcycles came into play because “It was my midlife crisis, I couldn’t afford a Corvette, so I bought a motorcycle” he told me. I don’t think he knew how far it was going to take him at that point in time.

A year after being raised, PM Behling joined the Shrine, something he had always wanted to do since visiting his cousin in a Shriner’s hospital when he was a kid, something that never left him. I’m sure that the Tebala Shrine’s Dresser Shrine Club had something to do with it as well. In 2002 PM Behling’s father passed to the Grand Lodge on high. Behling was a JR. Warden at the time and told me “Somehow, I’ve never let that go” speaking about the fact his father never got to see him become Master of his lodge. His mother however, placed his hat on the day he became Master, something that was very special indeed.

PM Behling has had a few bikes in his time, I asked “What’s the deal with Harleys and Freemasonry?” He told me “It probably has much to do with the Shrine.” In Fact his bike right now is a Shrine bike made by Harley Davidson. The serial number has a distinctive “S” in it to denote Shriners.

Before the interview we talked about atomic bombs and World War 2. We also talked about his first degree and how the worshipful master at the time had a voice like James Earl Jones. He said “When I heard Clampit (The WM at the time) tell me the penalty of my obligation, well, I almost lost it in my pants (Laughs). I had to agree with Past Master Behling, Worshipful Brother Clampit had done the Paul Revere charge at our installations and it was intense. PM Behling then told me that after his first degree he heard nothing from the lodge all summer. He thought perhaps he did something wrong. But later he found out through his mentor, Worshipful Brother Carmen, that the lodge was dark in the summer time. He also told me that that, was the last time they were ever dark for summer (Waukegan Lodge 78, Waukegan Illinois).

PM Behling 63 years old, had planned a trip to Alaska with his friend, Mikey, a Marine of 68 years old, and if thats not cool enough, then think about doing it on a Harley Davidson.

RJ: So how long had you been thinking about making this Trip?

PMB: I think I initially planned it about 8 months in advance. At first it was a straight route, but then after looking into it, I started adding sights to see along the way and by the time I was done, we had a handful of things [to see].

RJ: What made you want to go to Alaska on your Bike? Isn't that a bit insane?

MB: Well it was the only state I hadn’t ridden in. Before that I had ridden my bike in 48 states and 8 provinces in Canada, I wasn’t going to ship my bike over to Hawaii because of the obvious expense, so when I got there I rented a bike and put 900 miles on it in 3 days. I don’t think they were happy about it. One of the cool sights I went to see was the training ground for Camp Tarawa, where we trained the Marines for Iwo Jima. Interestingly enough, that’s also where I experienced a good earthquake. We were on the 18th floor of a hotel in Honolulu. It was in 2006, and my wife and I were there before going into the time share. I was about to take a shower when I saw hangers start to sway in the closest. I looked out the window, straight down and the building was swaying about a foot in each direction. When it was over I decided to take my shower and then the second quake hit. Then we hauled all our stuff by stairway to the 3rd floor. That was a nightmare.

RJ: That's crazy, so you had been everywhere but Alaska.

PMB: Yeah a friend of mine gave me this book, called "The Milepost" which has what to expect for each mile marker on the Alaska Highway. Gas stations, motels and anything else you could imagine. That book showed the way, but from there, I altered routes to get to national parks and other cool sights along the way.

RJ: How old is that highway?

PMB: It was built in 1942. It was quite the venture, a ton of history behind it as well.

RJ: What was your main route?

PMB: Well we started in Gurnee Illinois and ended the first day in Sioux Falls South Dakota. From there we went to Sturgis, Cody, Wy, Edmonton AB, British Columbia, Yukon Territory to Fairbanks AK.

RJ: The Arctic Circle on a motorcycle...

PMB: That was the plan. When we got to Fairbanks we stopped in for some service at the local Harley dealer. I reconfirmed that the Arctic Circle was ahead, the guy said, “yeah 120 miles. But that's going to take you 8 hours each way.” The road is a mix of asphalt, rock and dirt. We thought better of the idea after hearing that, and opted not to attempt it.

RJ: How long did this trip take? How many miles was it round trip?

PMB: 28 days on the road. 9,183.8 miles. 9 of those days were spent riding just in Alaska.

RJ: So what were some of the sights?

PMB: The Black Hills, Badlands National Park, the Rockies in Northern British Columbia and Denali National Park. It was great because we found out you can get a lifetime National Parks Pass for $10.00 if you're over 62. So that was a great deal. We tried to take advantage of it. The landscape was littered with local wildlife, black bears, grizzlies, moose, deer and bison. British Columbia was particularly heavy with roadside wildlife.

RJ: The amount of wildlife sounds incredible.

PMB: It was. Like I said British Columbia was great for bear, big horn, bison and moose. At one point we saw a grizzly with two cubs just walking along. Then not long after that we spotted two black bears together, so mamma bear must have just recently let them go off on their own because they don't usually travel together. When we went through the Kenai Peninsula, south of Anchorage, the road was littered, and I mean littered with rows of Bald Eagles. Just hanging out. Alaska is just one giant postcard. We stopped in Wasilla and we visited a reindeer farm. I even had some reindeer sausage. It was good but a little spicy. I thought about taking a picture of it then having a friend photoshop in a red nose to mess with the grandkids. (Laughs). Somebody once told me, that up there you're at the bottom of the food chain. You gotta worry about what's hunting you.

RJ: How did you guys protect yourself from those animals? I mean, you could have been attacked right?

PMB: We had nothing. You can't bring anything up through the Canadian border as far as guns go.

RJ: How did that go over? Did you find that out when you got there? Had you brought any guns?

PMB: It was fine, I found out a long time ago what you can and can't bring into Canada. I also learned you can't be a smart ass about anything either.

RJ: Do tell...

PMB: I was coming back into the States from Canada. I pulled into Madawaska Maine. It was July 2008. The customs agent asked if I had anything to declare and I replied yeah, it's good to be back where we use gallons, miles per hour and have real money. The agent didn't look amused and asked me to pull around to the side. They checked me out pretty good.

RJ: So this wasn't the first time out of the USA on the bike?

PMB: No, I had been out several times. I do the Iron Butt Association rides.

RJ: What on Earth is that?

PMB: They are like challenge rides. When I was searched by border patrol in 08' I was coming back into the states to start the "Four Corners" ride. You travel the four corners of the states. I have also done the "Saddle Sore" 1000, which is 1000 miles in 24 hours, the "Bun Burner" 1500 which is 1500 miles in 36 hours and the "Great Lakes Challenge" which is where you drive around the Great Lakes in 100 hours or less. In fact I got this license plate cover for the bike. It has the buttons of completion on three corners.

RJ: So that leaves a fourth corner.

PMB: (Laughs) Exactly. I have been thinking about doing this for a while now, but I just don’t know, I mean I’m 63. But you know the reason I want to do it? The real reason? It really is that fourth corner. (Laughs again).The ride is called “50CC”. Which is coast to coast, Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego California in 50 hours or less. I think I can do it. But every gas stop, food stop etc. has to be meticulously documented.

RJ: So it really sounds like this isn’t a trip, but a journey.

PMB: We ran into some rough spots. There were a ton of roads under construction and up there, if it’s under construction it means dirt and loose gravel. In fact when we got to Glacier National Park, it wasn’t open. Denali was looking good but the weather was going to catch us so we avoided that one. We did get to see the Watson Lake Sign Post Forest.

RJ: Is that what it sounds like?

PMB: It is. It’s a forest made of sign posts. I don’t know when it started, but it’s awesome. People just bring signs that say where they are from, like my buddy who planted one up there that says Gurnee Illinois. When we found it Mikey and I both wrote on the sign, “Miss you Pat” (PMB’s wife) and Mikey wrote that he missed his wife, then we wrote “Thanks for the sign Joe”

RJ: Did you see one for Chicago?

PMB: No, I’m sure it’s there though. I think it would be cool if it was full of bullet holes. (Laughs)

RJ: Did you meet any Brothers along the way?

PMB: I did, there were a bunch. I wear my H.O.G. Chapter vest. On it, there are 2 patches, one for the blue lodge and another for the Shriners. People definitely recognized them. One fellow I met although not a Freemason, was a CMA...

RJ: Sorry to interupt, but what is a CMA?

PMB: Oh sorry, that’s the Christian Motorcycle Association. My wife is a member and she is actually the treasurer for the Ambassador chapter. Anyway, I met this guy and we exchanged formalities, I told him about my wife. I noticed a patch on his vest, it said “prison team”. It was comical. So then this guy finds my wifes chapter website and sends her an email to let her know he ran across me in Edmonton.

RJ: (Laughs) That's hysterical. So how are the accommodations on the Alaska Highway? I can’t imagine they’re luxurious.

PMB: Far from it. But when it comes to these kinds of trips you really have to plan ahead.

RJ: How so?

PMB: Well the stretch on the Alaska Highway is interesting. I made reservations at hotels months in advance. While we were riding we kept playing catch up and tag with these other two fellas. We got to this place called “The Air Force Lodge” and talk about amenities, this place was like barracks. Each room had a single bed, a nightstand with a lamp, community shower and community bathroom. I called it a German Youth Hostel. That’s what it felt like (Laughs). Not to mention it was run by this German guy who made you take your shoes off. Anyway, as we're cruising into the place, the two guys that we had been playing tag with were turned away and leaving. No reservations.

RJ: So they had to find somewhere else to stay then.

PMB: Exactly. We made our arrangements well in advance. We weren't going to get stuck riding at night out there. We’d probably hit that big hole in the middle of the road AKA a moose. Problem with moose is the eyes don't reflect light because they’re so tall. Yeah, they say if you're going to hit an animal try to aim for the back end, but you know what? If I knew I was going to hit a moose, I’d hit the throttle and hug the gas tank. Riding at night up there is not a great idea. There’s a story of a moose dismantling an 18 wheeler. It was crossing the bridge and the driver honks the horn. The moose didn't take kindly. He literally destroyed an 18 wheeler.

RJ: Dangerous things happen on bikes.

PMB: Yeah they do. I hit 100 miles per hour once on the interstate. I was on my way to a bike blessing in Kenosha Wisconsin. I looked down and saw the 100 and just took my hand off the throttle. I figure at that speed anything could lay it down. Hell, I’d probably stop sliding about Milwaukee.

RJ: (Laughs) So what's next Brother? Where is the next adventure?

PMB: Well, I’m not sure. That “50CC” sounds good, but I did promise my wife we’d drive up to Maine for a lobster dinner. You know it’s only five bucks a pound up there. Also I may go out to DC for Memorial Day. Of course there is the Bonneville Salt Flats, that would be a fun trip. That's where they do the land speed records. Maybe even do some volunteer work at Wendover, Utah.

Past Master Behling is an active member of Waukegan 78 and the Tebala Shrine. He is active in training young masons in proper ritual and floor work. He is indeed a just and upright Mason.

~RJ

Sir Knight Robert Johnson is a Freemason out of the First North-East District of Illinois. He belongs to Waukegan Lodge No. 78. He is also a member of the York Rite bodies Royal Arch, Cryptic Council and Knights Templar. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts a weekly Podcast (internet radio program) Whence Came You? which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. In addition, he produces video shorts focusing on driving interest in the Fraternity and writes original Masonic papers from time to time. He is a husband and father of three. He works full time in the safety industry and is also a photographer on the side as well as an avid home brewer. He is also working on two books, one is of a Masonic nature. 

Judy's Review: Favorite Books

by Midnight Freemasons contributor

Judy Gordon  

 

"I cannot live without books."

~Thomas Jefferson

I know three authors who have written three plus books--each of the three completely different.  In one, Will the terrorists kill all 7 knights?.  In another, Will a man dance in his underwear? And in yet another, Will there be a life-and-death hunt for a killer who has returned after nearly forty years to silence the last witnesses in a decades old bank robbery? Stay tuned….

I have been an avid reader since my childhood, and my house is overflowing with books. I constantly move from books to books, enjoying the wisdom and fantasies that come with them. But lately, with the age of electronics, I can download my books on my Kindle Fire.

Yes, I do enjoy a good hard back or paperback novel, but with this electronic age, I can store them or delete them. But there are three plus books I cannot delete…

7 Knights-A Novel by Brian Cox.  

Dancing in my Underwear, The Soundtrack of my Life by Mike Morsch

A Shot After Midnight by Todd E. Creason. 

If you  haven’t heard of these authors, that’s ok…look them up on the electronic device that you have. These novels are worth your time. 

Oh, and by the way, I did download A Shot After Midnight by Todd E. Creason…but it’s in storage..not to be deleted…

Enjoy the books.

~JAG

Judy Gordon is very active in Job's Daughters. She's the Past Honored Queen, and Bethel Guardian of Bethel No. 55, Pekin (IL). She received the Cryptic Masons Masonic Youth Leadership Award along with her husband, Ray Gordon in July 2007. She's also Past Matron of the Morton Chapter No. 974 (IL) of the Order of the Eastern Star and Historian of the Emblem Club No. 424 of Pekin (IL) Judy is the recipient of the Degree of Royal Purple (2012) and elected as the Grand Marshal for Illinois Job's Daughters (2015-16). Ray and Judy have three grandkids, and a very spoiled dog, Reggie (who incidentally volunteers as a Therapy Dog at local hospitals and nursing homes.)

Two Types OF Freemasons

by Midnight Freemasons Guest Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, PM, FMLR

There are, they say, two types of motorcyclists: those who have been down and those who are going down.  In the same vein, there are two types of Freemasons: Those who have been disappointed by a Brother and those who will be disappointed by a Brother. 

It happens.  We're not perfect.  We're human.  Those aren't exactly earthshaking revelations are they?  When the anti-Masonic party courted him as a potential presidential candidate, Most Worshipful Brother Henry Clay acknowledged the imperfections of the craft, "It does not practically effect all that it theoretically promises."  However, he added, "But it must not be said that I concur in the denunciation of Masonry...  I would not denounce and formally renounce it to be made President of the United States."

Still, when we feel a Brother does not live up to Freemasonry's standards, we're surprised and hurt.  When it happens it's best to think it through in light of those theoretical promises Brother Clay mentioned.

A ray of hope is there in such situations in that within the fraternity, we are always dealing with the issue on a higher level.  That is, the Brother whom we perceive to have wronged us has knelt at an altar, his hands on his Volume of Sacred Law and sworn before God Almighty that he will not cheat, wrong or defraud another Brother. 

There is also another side to the coin.  It bears asking, "Does that Brother think I have disappointed him? Am I doing everything I can to 'subdue my passions and improve myself in Freemasonry?'"  And remember, that other Brother should be asking the same.

There are no easy answers and never will be; but we should have a leg up on solving our differences because we are, in fact, Brothers.

As far as that motorcycle thing goes, I happen to be a biker who has been down.  I have the crushed leg to prove it.  In my own particular case, I upgraded my ride to a Harley Trike.  That third wheel helps to keep me a bit more stable. It would be great to have a third wheel to help steady our Masonic relationships, too, wouldn't it? 

Come to think of it, we do.  We call it an obligation.

W.B. Steve Harrison is a Past Master of Liberty Lodge #31, Liberty, Missouri.  He is the editor of the Missouri Freemason Magazine, author of the book Freemasonry Crosses the Mississippi, a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research and also its Junior Warden.