It Is Time To Clean Up Our Act

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

"Anger is an acid that  can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured."

~Mark Twain

Polar Star Lodge No. 79, St. Louis, MO.

We’ve all heard the old axiom “you are what you eat.”  It’s very true.  Our health is very reliant on how we nourish it.  Bad food leads to bad health eventually.  We ignore that fact at our own peril. The same is true with what we consume in other ways.

We live in a very angry world right now.  We’re buffeted on all sides with it—it’s on social media, it’s all over the news, we’re exposed to it from our friends, we’re exposed to it from our co-workers.  Sadly, I’ve seen a few instances where this anger that is consuming our culture is being dragged into our Lodges as well.  I gave an example I witnessed of that in this article.

I’ve had enough.  I get tired of hearing people complain.  I get tired of being attacked as I work to improve the world in my own way because somebody doesn’t agree with my beliefs.  I get tired of losing friends over elections.  I get tired of the incivility of the whole thing--it’s not enough for some people to believe a certain way, but they feel they have to go that one step further and demean and ridicule what other people believe.  

This seething anger that seems to be everywhere is poisoning us all.  

I took action.  I decided a change was in order.  I went through all my social media accounts.  I unfollowed, I unfriended, and I blocked hundreds of individuals that not only post that anger, but can’t seem to be civil when they’re posting comments on other people’s posts.  I don’t see that garbage anymore, and when I do I toss them out.  

I’ve done the same with the media.  There’s no positive story and no negative story that’s going to change the way I believe, the way I live, or the way I’m going to vote.  I can’t think of one thing that could come out in the news between now and the next election that would make me change my mind on a number of issues I think are important.  Most people are that way.  So why am I following it every single day?  I didn’t have a good answer, so I turned off the daily dose of fighting, and name calling, and the nasty back and forth in Washington D.C. that has fascinated me for decades.  Until our political parties are less hostile towards each other, I’m done wasting my time listing to the most recent round of partisan bickering. 

As Masons, we’re supposed to be examples.  Too many of us aren’t being good examples at all.  We contribute to this hostile environment by the things we post, the things we say, and the way in which we treat each others.  And we don’t help by giving negative people on social media (I hesitate to use the word trolls) an audience.  They post outrageous opinions or memes so you’ll be angry about it, and then you fall right into the trap hook, line and sinker.  Next thing you know, you’re part of the problem.  You're helping them draw attention to themselves while they’re leaning back enjoying the show.  Just say no.  Or better yet, stop following those individuals.  

And why in the world aren’t we pulling our Brothers aside after a Lodge meeting and saying to them, “Hey, I saw what you posted on Facebook the other night.  That was really offensive.  Why are you posting that?  As a Mason you represent us all.”  That’s exactly what we should be doing.

And we're just as guilty when we let those fights happen on our own forums without intervening.  We have the ability to delete comments, we have the ability to say that conduct is not going to be permitted on our forums, and we have the ability to block people from our forums that can't be respectful and considerate to others.  I couldn't name the number of times I've been attacked on a friend's Facebook page while they've sat back and said or done nothing to stop it.  That's wrong.

Now I can already hear the Brethren saying they have a right to have an opinion.  They have a right to express their beliefs.  Of course you do.  It’s how you do it that matters.  It’s about being civil, demanding civility in return from others, and being willing to separate yourselves from individuals that demonstrate an inability to do that.  Remember what George Washington said, “It’s better to be alone than in bad company.” 

George Washington was right.  

I’ve noticed a few things since I made these positive changes a couple weeks ago.  I feel better being rid of all that negativity.  My Facebook feed now is full of pictures of dogs, humor, inspirational quotes, and photos of my friends and their families--like it used to be.  I listen to music in my car--and I turn it up really loud, too.  I’ve filled that time I usually spend at home watching the news with reading, or catching up on missed episodes of RWB Johnson’s excellent Whence Came You? podcast.  The time I was wasting on social media I’ve been using to write a new book with fellow Midnight Freemasons contributor Greg Knott—it’s going to be a good one, too.  There are more productive ways to spend our time. 

We’re not going to change the world spouting our opinions on social media—it’s our actions in the real world that make a difference.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor.  He is the award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog.  He is the Worshipful Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754.  He is a Past Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees.  He is a Fellow at the Missouri Lodge of Research. (FMLR) and a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D.  He recently joined the Tuscola Odd Fellows Lodge No. 316.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

The Reports of My Death

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro Bill Hosler, PM

There is an old story (which may or not be true) about Brother Samuel Langhorne Clemens who is more commonly known by his pen name, Mark Twain. Clemens was raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason in Polar Star Lodge 79 in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1861. 

In May of 1897 Brother Mark Twain was approached by reporters in London. Twain was abroad on a world speaking tour and a rumor was started in the United States that the author had grown ill and had sadly passed away. It has been said that the rumor had grown to such proportion that a newspaper published Twain’s obituary.  

When reporters approached Brother Twain about the rumor and asked the humorist for a quote. Twain told the assembled group of reporters, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

When I first asked a friend of mine for a petition to become a Freemason, I was invited to attend dinner with the Brethren of my future Mother Lodge. The members of the lodge were hosting the Brethren of our sister lodge in Canada. Each year the two lodges gathered together, one year in the United States and the next year in Canada, to spread the cement of Brotherly love. 

As I sat down to a wonderful meal of Hoosier style beef and noodles, one of the Brethren, an outspoken Past Master, piped up and said, “I don't know why you are joining the Masons. The Fraternity will be dead in five years anyway.” 

Of course, his statement shocked me. At that moment of my life, I knew absolutely nothing about the organization. For my entire adult life, I had seen the windowless high-rise building downtown, the one I was currently eating dinner in, and never given a moment of thought to the possibility that the organization may have had membership problems. I ignored the man’s declaration and progressed through the degrees to become a Master Mason. 

That dinner I attended is now thirteen years in the past, and our beloved Craft is still at labor many years after my Brother's prediction. Recently while reading social media I've seen many Brothers who, in their frustration with the direction of Masonry, have been making the same declaration: “Masonry is dead!”

As a member who has been fighting with the establishment since my raising, I truly understand the frustration these Brothers are laboring under; the slow progress of change (please pardon my use of that dirty word) can be quite frustrating. But I truly believe, as in the case of the reports of Brother Twain’s demise, the reports of our beloved fraternity’s death have been “greatly exaggerated”.

The year I became a Mason (2002), many lodges were merging with other lodges, or just surrendering their charters to their Grand Lodges.  Buildings were being sold to developers or given to local municipalities.  It was a sad time for our gentle Craft. There was one lodge in the Masonic Temple where my lodge met that had to call a Past Master of the lodge to come from his home to sign the book in order to have the minimum number of members to open a lodge in our jurisdiction. It was looking dim for the members of most lodges. 

Since those dark days, many young men have discovered Freemasonry through the writings of Dan Brown. Brown made us look cool and relevant, not just a bunch of old men arguing over fish fries and pancakes.

Even though I still get frustrated myself with the glacier-like slowness that our fraternity moves in, I can say without hesitation that even though the movement is slow, we are still moving. 

Today, more lodges are including Masonic Education into their meetings, and more Grand Lodges have voted to allow subordinate lodges to open on the Entered Apprentice degree. We have even seen some lodges vote to raise dues to common sense amounts (no elderly Brethren on fixed incomes were harmed during this staggeringly significant event). Although we still have a way to go, the fact is that we are making progress.

As long as we have men who are willing to stand their ground and not waiver in their beliefs in this institution, it will never die. This beloved group has, for three hundred years, withstood wars, economic depressions, anti-Masonic movements, and dictators who wished to erase it from the Earth. We stood our ground and we practiced our beliefs.  The only way we will see it cease is if we allow it to, through apathy, through hopelessness, and through quitting. 

I often wonder what would have happened if all of the Brothers who threw their hands up in frustration, picked up their apron and went home had instead stayed and, with other like-minded brethren, banded together and worked as a group to make Freemasonry what they wanted it to be?  I have a feeling that many of the issues these men were having with the craft would have gone away! 

We all have to work together Brethren. Instead of giving up, try finding Brothers who feel the same way you do and make a difference! With all of us working together, we will soon see Freemasonry awake from its slumber and rise to become vibrant again. None of us can do this alone. Come and help us show that the reports of Freemasonry’s death are greatly exaggerated! 

~BH

WB Bill Hosler was made a Master Mason in 2002 in Three Rivers Lodge #733 in Indiana. He served as Worshipful Master in 2007 and became a member of the internet committee for Indiana's Grand Lodge. Bill is currently a member of Roff Lodge No. 169 in Roff Oklahoma and Lebanon Lodge No. 837 in Frisco,Texas. Bill is also a member of the Valley of Fort Wayne Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Indiana. A typical active Freemason, Bill also served as the High Priest of Fort Wayne's Chapter of the York Rite No. 19 and was commander of of the Fort Wayne Commandery No. 4 of the Knight Templar. During all this he also served as the webmaster and magazine editor for the Mizpah Shrine in Fort Wayne Indiana.

The Original Roast

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

"It's no coincidence George Hamilton loves the sun. They were born in the same year. The difference is the sun is actually a star." ~Lisa Lampanelli

"What's with all the surgery, Kathy (Griffin)? You've been stitched up thousands of times but you're still sad to look at. You're like the AIDS quilt." ~Greg Giraldo

"Justin’s fans are called Beliebers because it’s politically incorrect to use the word retards." ~Natasha Legerro

"My good friend Snoop Dogg said Jeff Ross' book was unreadable, but that's because Snoop can't read." ~Larry King

“Bill (Shatner), you were supposed to explore the galaxy, not fill it”- Betty White

Don't you just love a good roast? You know they're those events where people get up and destroy their friends in what is allegedly good-natured fun.

Modern comedy roasts date back to the Friar's Club events of the late 1940s and have progressed (if you can call it progress) to today's televised productions that seemingly make a science of mean-spirited nastiness.

What may be the original comedy roast, however, dates well before the Friars thought of presenting organized evenings of vitriol. That honor goes to a gala event the Atlantic Monthly held in Boston the evening of December 17, 1877, celebrating poet John Greenleaf Whittier's 70th birthday.

People today revere Brother Mark Twain as an American treasure. During his lifetime he was in demand as a speaker and it seemed no one was more well-suited to deliver the keynote address on that auspicious occasion.

Ever the mischievous humorist, Twain decided to go over-the-top and take a few friendly jabs at some of the impressive guests in attendance, specifically Henry Wadsdworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

He launched into a story about stumbling upon a miner's shack. The miner told him, "You're the fourth... literary man that has been here in twenty-four hours — I'm going to move. [The others were] Mr. Longfellow, Mr. Emerson, and Mr. Oliver Wendell Holmes — confound the lot!"

"Mr. Emerson was a seedy little bit of a chap, red-headed. Mr. Holmes was as fat as a balloon; he weighed as much as three hundred, and had double chins all the way down to his stomach. Mr. Longfellow was built like a prize-fighter. His head was cropped and bristly, like as if he had a wig made of hair-brushes. His nose lay straight down his face, like a finger with the end joint tilted up. They had been drinking, I could see that. And what queer talk they used…"

…And on and on it went. Expecting laughter by this point, Twain found himself speaking to a hushed crowd.*

Writing about the event later, Twain said he knew things weren't right, "Now, then, the house's attention continued, but the expression of interest in the faces turned to a sort of black frost. I wondered what the trouble was. I didn't know. I went on, but with difficulty… In the end, I didn't know enough just to give up and sit down.”

Following the speech, newspapers across the country erupted with stories of Twain's rude remarks and bad taste. His book sales dropped off as did, understandably, invitations to speak.

Today we think of Brother Samuel Clemens in his Mark Twain persona as having had the "Midas Touch" when it came to writing, a sense of humor and popularity. It was not so. At the time of the speech, Twain was in some degree of financial distress, and counted on speaking fees and book sales to carry him through. After what author William Dean Howells called "the amazing mistake, the bewildering blunder, the cruel catastrophe" Twain had trouble making ends meet. With no prospect of financial success in the US, he was forced to undertake a grueling European speaking tour.

Twain never completely recovered — financially or emotionally — from his faux pas. Near the end of his life, he wrote about it in an apologetic letter to a friend, "It seems as if I must have been insane when I wrote that speech and saw no harm in it, no disrespect toward those men whom I reverenced so much."

Maybe Brother Twain was just ahead of his time; or maybe we today have become a little too desensitized to what was one time regarded as rude.

____________________________

*Although at the end of the speech Twain called the men in the story representing Emerson, Holmes and Longfellow "imposters," it was a question of too-little-too-late. The full text of the speech is available at http://bit.ly/2ibRsU7

~SLH

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33° is 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 Worshipful Master. He is a dual member of Kearney Lodge #311, St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite, Moila Shrine and a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. His latest book, Freemasons: Tales From the Craft & Freemasons at Oak Island. Both are available on amazon.com.

The Meeting

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

**Editors Note* This was run in The Working Tools Magazine in May of 2015**

The bar was a magnificent stream of mahogany extending the width of the room. Behind it, a gold-embossed mirror reflected a piano player. He thrashed around the keys, pumping out a new ragtime tune — not so loud as to drown out the constant din and not so well as to make it recognizable.  To his right, six men played poker at a table beneath a picture of a reclining, half naked, painted woman imagined to be of dubious moral character.  Other women, more fully clothed, no less painted and of moral character unknown, circulated through the room encouraging men to order another drink.

There were a few Freemasons in the crowd, even in this obscure saloon in western Missouri... or maybe it was eastern Kansas.  Most in the crowded room hadn't given that much thought and most weren't sober enough to care.  Drunk or sober, however, the Masons, along with everyone else in the crowd, were certainly aware of the presence of a very famous Brother that evening.

In the back of the room, Samuel Clemens — better known as Mark Twain — held court surrounded by several amused patrons.  It was long before the 18^th Amendment ushered in prohibition in the U.S., but even at the turn of the century, the battle lines were drawn and the debate was heated.  Given the setting, Twain had selected that as his topic for the evening.  

"I don't think prohibition is practical," he began. "The Germans, you see, prevent it. Look at them. I am sorry to learn that they have just invented a method of making brandy out of Sawdust. Now, what chance will prohibition have when a man can take a rip saw and go out and get drunk with a fence rail? What is the good of prohibition if a man is able to make brandy smashed out of the shingles of his roof, or if he can get delirium tremens by drinking the legs off his kitchen table?" 

As the crowd roared, Twain stoked the fire, "Temperate temperance is best. Intemperate temperance injures the cause of temperance, while temperate temperance helps it in its fight against intemperate intemperance. Fanatics will never learn that, though it be written in letters of gold across the sky.  What marriage is to morality, a properly conducted licensed liquor traffic is to sobriety. In fact, the more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.  It is the prohibition that makes anything precious..."

The mirror behind the bar suddenly shattered as if someone had thrown a bomb at it.  The piano playing stopped and the hushed crowd watched in horror as an angry woman smashed bottles, tables and chairs with a small menacing ax.  Ranting about the evils of demon rum, she turned the mahogany bar into splinters.

Furious, Twain stomped to the bar.   The two glared at each other, nearly breathing fire.  For a few seconds each said nothing; they just stood, meeting for the first and only time in their lives, face to face —  Mark Twain and Carrie Nation.

"Madam," hissed Twain, "This is insanity."

She shot back, "Drinking is insanity."

"Women like you drive men to drink as the only way to be sane," he sneered.

"I married a fine man... a doctor," she wailed, "He was a pillar of the community, until he started drinking. It ruined him and led him to an early grave."

Twain asked, "A doctor married you?"

"Yes," she replied.

"He must have been looking for a cadaver."

Their meeting was short, but auspicious.  As usually happened during Carrie Nation's escapades, the authorities came and took her away, screaming about the alcohol-flooded road to ruination.

"And exhibiting," thought Twain, "exactly the same ugly behavior you might expect from some poor sot who was falling down drunk."

Disclaimer: Accounts of Brother Twain's encounter with famed teetotaler Carrie Nation are, at best, sketchy.  All reports of the incident appear to have the same source, making corroboration difficult.  It is likely a meeting of this nature took place.  While Twain's words about prohibition are his own, the remaining details above are... enhanced... under the authority of liberal use of the doctrine of  licentia poetica.

Bro. Steve Harrison, 33°, is 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 Worshipful Master. He is a dual member of Kearney Lodge #311, St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite, Moila Shrine and a member and Past Dean of the DeMolay Legion of Honor. Brother Harrison is a regular contributor to the Midnight Freemasons blog as well as several other Masonic publications. His latest book, Freemasons: Tales From the Craft, is available on amazon.com.

Mark Twain's Christmas Hope

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Robert Johnson 32°

There are many things which have been invented and praised because of the relief they provide society; the television, the computer and the telephone are all examples. Despite the great things these inventions have given us, there are always those among us who carry a disdain for them. For instance, Groucho Marx hated the television. But this post isn't about Marx, its about a Brother, to be specific, Brother Sam Clemons or Mark Twain as he was better known to the world. Here is what he said regarding his hope for Christmas...

"It is my heart-warmed and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man and brother of us all throughout the whole earth), may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone."

Mark Twain always did have a sense of humor and a general mater-of-fact way of speaking. He did say that the telephone was an incredible invention but I do believe if he were alive today, he would have some interesting things to say, especially about cellular phones, telemarketing and everything else that comes with telecommunications in general. I am sure that Bro. Mark was a man who enjoyed the art of letter writing and face to face communications rather than the rather bothersome and then at the time, cumbersome use of the telephone. Remember to write out some cards this holiday season, it means much more than a phone call to a great many people.  Merry Christmas everyone!

~RHJ

Bro. Robert Johnson, 32° is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He 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, Knights Templar, AMD, The Illinois Lodge of Research and a member of the Scottish Rite Valley of Chicago as well as a charter member of the Society of King Solomon, a charity organization run by the Grand Lodge of Illinois. 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 currently working on a book of Masonic essays.

A Fine Paradox: Christianity and Freemasonry

by Guest Contributor

Steve Harrison 

Editor Missouri Freemason Magazine

Masonic altar with three books of faith

I am a Christian.    It's none of your business, mind you, but it probably is pertinent to any slant I might put on what I'm about to say.  And apparently, the jury is still out on my belief system anyway.  Why?  Well, I've been personally told, "You're not really a Christian because you're a __________ (insert any Christian denomination which is not your own)."  And we've all heard this one: "You can't be a Christian because you're a Freemason."

I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who has ever told me those things for clarifying to me what I think and believe.  There was a time in my life when I thought that was between God and me, but I'm so grateful you have set me straight.  Sarcasm aside, some Christians, it seems, want me to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ but get really upset when I keep it personal.

Having said all that, let me drop the bombshell: Freemasonry is not a Christian organization.  When the cries of "heathen" die down in response to that I'll continue to say there are many reading this who would think, "Well, that's so obvious I don't even know why he would say it." The rest of you are probably the ones shouting "heathen."

What a fine paradox. Some think we can't be Christians if we are Freemasons and some think Freemasonry should promote Christianity.

Without dropping some dry statistics, let me just acknowledge I live in an area which is predominately Christian.  Many even include it in the so-called "Bible Belt."  So being a part of an organization that requires a belief in God and living where I do, it's not much of a surprise to see many of my Brothers emphasize the Christian influences in our fraternity; not just in our ritual, but also in our activities.  How many times have you been to a Lodge dinner when someone wraps up a prayer "in the name of Christ?"  This happens so often in my area that a couple of years ago two former Grand Masters (one a minister in a Christian denomination, one Jewish) along with an eminent RWB asked me to reprint a Masonic Service Association "Short Talk" article about its inappropriateness. The gist of the article was, "Stop praying Christian prayers in our Lodges... it embarrasses and perhaps even humiliates our Brethren of other faiths."

Another  piece from the Masonic Service Association of North America puts it concisely: "Freemasonry is not a religion, nor is it a substitute for religion. It requires of its members a belief in God as part of the obligation of every responsible adult, but advocates no sectarian faith or practice. Masonic ceremonies include prayers, both traditional and extempore, to reaffirm each individual's dependence on God and to seek divine guidance. Freemasonry is open to men of any faith, but religion may not be discussed at Masonic meetings."

The same, I might add, is true for the publications I edit: No discussion or promotion of religion.  And if you're sitting there thinking, "He just said we shouldn't talk about religion but wrote a whole column about it," respectfully, you missed the point... that point being Freemasonry certainly includes Christianity, but it is an ecumenical group.  Those among us who have a hard time with that should heed this observation from one of our most famous Brothers, especially when sitting in Lodge:

 "So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: 'Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is.'  Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code." 

 ~Samuel Clemens

 ~S.H.

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.  He also posts regularly to his blog The One Minute Mason which is a collection of short scenarios about items of interest to Masons, and has frequently been featured on The Midnight Freemason.

About The Mark Twain Masonic Awareness Award

"We are all alike, on the inside."

~Mark Twain

Polar Star Lodge No. 79, St. Louis, MO

Bro. Christopher Hodapp posted an excellent piece this week about this years Mark Twain Masonic Awareness Award winners on his blog Freemasons For Dummies this week.  It's an interesting article about the history of the award, and the criteria for winning it.  Be sure to check it out.

I know I mentioned it before HERE, but Illinois had its first winning lodge in 2011--St. Joseph Lodge No. 970.  It's a lodge I'm very familiar with, so I want to congratulate them again, and all the 2011 winners for a job well done:

Alabama - Rising Sun Lodge #29 Decatur, Alabama

Alaska - Matanuska Lodge #7 Palmer, Alaska

Arkansas - Key Lodge #7 Siloam Springs, Arkansas

Arizona - Oasis Lodge #52 Tucson, Arizona

Illinois - St. Joseph Lodge #970 St. Joseph, Illinois (Go Illinois!)

Michigan - Byron Lodge #80 Byron, Michigan

Minnesota - Red Wing Lodge #8 Red Wing, Minnesota

Nevada - St. John Lodge #18 Pioche, Nevada

New Hampshire - Benevolent Lodge #7 Milford, New Hampshire

New Mexico - Chapman Lodge #2 Las Vegas, New Mexico

Ohio - North Bend Lodge #346 Cleves, Ohio

Ohio - Oxford Lodge #67 Oxford, Ohio

Pennsylvania - Manoquesy Lodge #413 Bath, Pennsylvania

South Carolina - Mariner Lodge #2 Charleston, South Carolina

Utah - Damascus Lodge #10 Provo, Utah

Virginia - Herndon Lodge #264 Herndon, Virginia

Virginia - Fredericksburg Lodge #4 Fredericksburg, Virginia

Washington - Daylight Lodge #232 Seattle, Washington

~TEC

 

Happy Birthday Bro. Mark Twain!

"There are basically two types of people. People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded."

~Mark Twain

Polar Star Lodge No. 79

St. Louis, MO 

We all know that blowhard that never stops bragging about the things he does.  How much money he makes.  How many good works he does.  How much he donates to charity.  They are all over the internet.  He's the guy the spends more time talking about the volunteer work he does than actually doing any. 

I grew up being taught that true charity was something you didn't brag about.  It was something that should be done quietly because it's not really about you.  It's one thing to bring attention to an important cause (I do that all the time), but it is quite another to use that cause to advertise what a wonderful person you are. 

Every year around this time, we read about gold coins found in Salvation Army buckets.  We read about some anonymous secret Santa that gives away thousands of dollars, a hundred dollar bill at a time, to needy people.  We don't know who those people are because they don't do it for themselves, they do those things because its something they believe in.  I think that's what I like about Freemasonry--the fact much of the work Fremasons do nobody ever sees.  That's the true spirit of giving--not that jerk that posts on his Facebook "Hope you all enjoyed the football game while I just spent three hours serving meals to the homeless."  Oh, brother.

Yesterday marked what would have been Mark Twain's 176th birthday.  It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that he's one of my favorite authors as much as I quote him on The Midnight Freemason.  There are three great sources of American wisdom when it comes to finding quotes--there's Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, and Will Rogers.  Those are my "go-to" guys when I need a good one.  And of course, all three of those men were Freemasons.

~TEC

Famous Freemason: Dan Beard

I've got to thank the One Minute Mason again for the idea.  If you haven't checked out Steve Harris' blog, click on the link.  It's a great collection of short pieces that make you stop, scratch your head, and say "Huh, I didn't know that."

Dan Beard was a very interesting man, and he's been on the periphery of my research for years--his name has come up again and again, in fact, he's on the list for inclusion in the last volume of the Famous American Freemasons series.  He's best known for organizing the Boy Scouts of America.  Known to the scouts as "Uncle Dan," he also wrote a very popular monthly column in Boys Life Magazine for many years.

But long before he was involved with scouting, he was a noted author and illustrator--not to mention he had a lot of very interesting friends.  He knew men like publisher James Gordon Bennet, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Billy the Kid.  But his friendship with Mark Twain was one he is most remembered for.  It wasn't long before Twain called upon his friend's talents and asked him to illustrate his book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.  Dan Beard went to work on the illustrations immediately, and did more than 200 for the book over the period of a single week--and Twain's book, along with Beard's illustrations, has never been out of print.

Uncle Dan Beard was a member of  Mariners Lodge 67 in New York City and later, he joined Cornucopia Lodge 563, Flushing, New York.

~TEC

Famous Freemason: Mark Twain On Procrastinating

"Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

~Mark Twain

Polar Star Lodge No. 79

St. Louis, Missouri

It's easy to do--put off those unpleasant tasks we either don't like to do, or just don't want to do.  A day becomes a week, a month, a year?  But Mark Twain had a good point--instead of putting those things off as we tend to do, why not just tackle them first thing and get them over with?  Is it ever really as bad as you think it's going to be?  Do we wind up spending more time dreading things than it actually takes to do them?  Wouldn't it feel great just to get it over with and move on to something you enjoy?

This weekend, take a couple minutes and write down a few of those things you've been meaning to do.  See if by the time the weekend is over you can't just eat a few of those frogs.  You may just discover the relief you feel was well worth the effort of slogging through those tedious tasks--whatever they might be. 

Try it, and see if you don't get back to work on Monday feeling as if you've actually accomplished something.

~TEC

Freemason Wisdom: Mark Twain On Aging

"When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old."

~Mark Twain

Polar Star Lodge No. 79

St. Louis, Missouri

We all get there, don't we? We wake up one morning and realize we're not as young as we once was.  Maybe it's that gray hair we find unexpectedly, or that high school reunion invitation in the mailbox that makes us stop and "do the math" to make sure it's really been that many years.  But it's a fact of life, and you either accept it, or begin a long struggle that you can't win.

Mark Twain knew something about growing older, but he also knew something about staying young.  It's all in your head.  If you start to think you're getting old, you are.  The fountain of youth springs between your two ears.  Getting old isn't about gray hair and aches and pains, it's about thinking yourself into the rocking chair.  

Those that live life the most fully are the ones that don't accept a number as an indication of how they should act or feel.  Uncle Joe Cannon lived a long life, and often concerned his friends and family by not acting his age--like learning to ride a bicycle at an advanced age.  Ben Franklin said "Some men die at 25 and aren't buried until 75."

The secret to staying young?  Don't stop living.   

~TEC

Quote excerpted from A Freemason Said That? edited by Todd E. Creason (2010) and available at online booksellers everywhere.

Freemason Wisdom: Mark Twain

"It is better to deserve honors and not have them than have them and not deserve them."

~Mark Twain

Polar Star Lodge No. 79

St. Louis, Missouri



Freemason Quote: Mark Twain

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."

~Mark Twain

Answer to Thursday's Trivia Question: Who Said It?

This is the answer to Trivia Question: Who Said It? posted on Thursday

"If you tell the truth you don't have

to remember anything."

~ Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

Judge Judy

It was Mark Twain that said that originally.  I'd have to admit, I thought it was Judge Judy.  If you've ever watched her show, you've probably heard her say this before.  It seems to be one of her favorite catch-phrases. 

It's a great quote, and if you've ever been caught telling a story, you'll recognize there is great wisdom in the remark. 

Trivia Question: Who Said It?

Pull out your thinking caps!  Who said:

"If you tell the truth you don't have

to remember anything."

Was it?

a.) Abraham Lincoln

b.) Judge Judy

c.) Voltaire

d.) Mark Twain

I thought I knew the answer to this question--imagine my surprise when I was reading along tonight and found out I was wrong.  You learn something new every day, and today was a slow dy.  This was all I got.

I'll post the answer on Sunday.


~TEC