Dealing With Freemasonry's Critics

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Freemasons today spend so much time answering critics.  As a matter of fact, I've spent a couple painful weeks writing an article right in that same vein before deciding against it.  The Fraternity has always had critics, going back centuries.  Do you know how Freemasonry has traditionally answered those who criticize the Fraternity?

They don't.  And that was a very wise strategy.  

We learned a long time ago that a lot of time and energy that should be devoted to better uses can be easily wasted answering those who are critical of the things we do.  Time is one thing you just can't get back.  We also know that those who criticize our Fraternity frequently do so without an abundance of facts, or an interest in fairness.  And we know that no matter how eloquent our defenses are of our Fraternity, those who would criticize us will not be swayed from believing any differently than they already do.  It's just wasted energy.

It is important to know when to speak, and it is important to know when to remain silent.  Churchill was correct.  Let the dogs nip at our heels if they must, but lets focus our energies on the reasons we joined to begin with, and the important work that we do.

~TEC 

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and continues to be a regular contributor. He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), and currently serves as Secretary.  He's also a member of Homer Lodge No. 199.  He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL), and a Fellow of the Missouri Lodge of Research.  He was recently awarded the 2014 Illinois Secretary of the Year Award by the Illinois Masonic Secretaries Association.  You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Freemasonry's Better Half

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Todd E. Creason



Todd and Valerie Creason at a Scottish Rite luncheon (2011)

"My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me."

~Winston Churchill

Studholme Lodge No. 1591, England

In my part of the world, we have a practice when it comes to investigating a petitioner that from what I understand, isn't that widespread.  When our investigating committee calls to arrange a time to meet with a petitioner, if he's a married man--we invite his wife to join us!

It's true.  And there's good reasons for it.  It's a good place to ask questions.  It's a good chance to introduce his wife to who we are, what we do (and don't do), and the things that are important to us.  And of course the most important reason is obvious.  It's unlikely he's going to ever be very involved in Freemasonry if his wife doesn't support his decision to join the Lodge.


Valerie (with helper) managing our trail run

My wife, Valerie, wasn't that thrilled when I brought up the idea of joining the Masonic Lodge.  We'd been down that road before.  I'd briefly been active in another organization some years earlier (I won't say which one).  My friend and I went to the meeting every month for awhile.  The meeting started at 7, the bar opened at 7:30, and I'd wind up walking home at some hour well after Midnight.  I was a little younger then, but it caused problems in the marriage to say the least.  I still pay my dues, but it's been a decade since I've attended a meeting.

But it was pretty clear to her that this was different when three Masons arrived at our house and talked to us about Freemasonry.  They had a few questions for me, and we had a lot of questions for them.  When they finally left, Valerie was almost as excited at the prospect of me being involved in the Fraternity as I was. 

I'm gone quite a bit, and when I'm not attending something Freemasonry related, I'm writing something Freemasonry related.  It's a very involving hobby of mine.  Oddly enough, there's never been one argument in my house about me leaving to go to a meeting--in fact, she'll look at me some evenings and say "isn't there a meeting you could go to?"  She told me one time she doesn't mind me going to meetings and events, because she realizes she has benefited from Freemasonry as much as I have--she's wound up with a better product than the one she married.

My story isn't unique.  It would be impossible for our Fraternity to thrive without the support of our wives.  They don't just let us go to the meeting, most of our wives are right there doing a lot of the work. 

Those two have obviously grown pretty comfortable in a lodge room

I've very fortunate in that department.  I sometimes wonder how many hours Valerie and I have sat at the kitchen table folding, stamping and addressing newsletters.  Or writing out invitations and thank you cards.  I wonder how many tables and chairs she's helped set up and take down.  I wonder how many events she's helped me organize and plan.  She's designed posters, printed event tickets, helped me organize two Masonic Charity Trail Runs, and then gotten up the day of the event and manned the registration trailer herself.  And when our Lodge orders polo shirts from the Secretary (me) to wear at our events, and when they arrive and everyone has the right size and color--well, I'm not the genius behind that miracle.  Thank Valerie for sorting out that mess.  On top of that, I wonder how many hours she's spent reading my blog posts, articles, and book chapters long before anyone else sees them.


A rare occasion when I actually remembered to thank my wife . . .

And guess who we always manage to forget to thank at these events?  You guessed it--our spouses.
 
Always remember that behind any successful Lodge, there's often a collection of very dedicated and hardworking spouses that rarely receive the recognition and thanks they deserve.  So let me just say to all of you right here . . . thank you!  There's no way we could do the things we do without you.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and continues to be a regular contributor. He is the author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is member of Homer Lodge No. 199, and a Past Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL). He is a member the Scottish Rite Valley of Danville, the York Rite Bodies of Champaign/Urbana (IL), the Ansar Shrine (IL), Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, and Charter President of the Illini High Twelve in Champaign-Urbana (IL).

"Settle Matters" Churchill's Toughest Decision

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, PM, FMLR

It is difficult to think of Winston Churchill, considered one of World War II's great leaders, as a green and untested Prime Minister, but that is exactly what he was on May 10, 1940, the day he took office. 

Winston Churchill

He didn't have to wait long for that first test, however.  On the same day, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, Holland and France.  Churchill immediately realized that if, more likely when, the Germans controlled France, they would also control the French navy, second only in power in Europe to Britain's.  He also knew the combined power of Hitler's navy with the French fleet would most likely spell defeat for his country.

Churchill immediately appealed to US President Franklin Roosevelt, a fellow Freemason and fellow navy man, for help.  He warned Roosevelt if the Germans controlled the French fleet they would pose a serious threat to England, and if they defeated England they would control that navy and pose an even greater threat to the US.  He asked Roosevelt for 50 of the older US destroyers to help bolster the British navy.  

In spite of what the two men had in common, President Roosevelt did not know Churchill and assumed the Nazis could roll over Britain as easily as they did France.  He also had pledged to keep the US out of war.  He flatly denied the request and subsequent requests Churchill made.

On June 22, Germany took over most of France and Hitler ordered all French vessels to sail home.  Although François Darlan, commander of the French navy, had vowed he would never surrender his fleet to Germany and would scuttle every ship in the event of a takeover, Churchill did not trust him and feared the Nazis' control of the French navy was imminent.

His back against the wall, Churchill drew up a plan to secure the French navy, dubbed Operation Catapult. Churchill sent a fleet of ships to offer the French three options: They could 1) Sail all their ships into British ports 2) Sail their ships alongside British ships as part of an allied force 3) Send their entire navy to the West Indies or United States...  and what if the French did not comply?  Churchill knew he would have to make the most agonizing decision of his life: to launch a military attack on a country that was England’s ally and friend.

The French Battleship Bretagne 

explodes during the British 

attack on Mers-el-Kébir.

The British navy's main fleet sailed to Mers-el-Kébir, a Mediterranean port near Oman, Algeria, where it intercepted the strongest part of the French fleet still moored there.  Admiral James Somerville issued orders to mine the port to prevent escape and dispatched Captain Cedric Holland to board the French destroyer Dunkerque to deliver Churchill’s ultimatum to French Admiral Marcel-Bruno Gensoul.

Admiral Darlan, meanwhile, received word of the crisis and dispatched French ships to Mers-el-Kébir for backup.  Admiral Gensoul attempted to stall for time while the French ships approached but Somerville contacted Churchill with a full report.

Churchill's reply was ominous and direct: "Settle matters."

The French were sitting ducks.  On July 3, 1940, at 5:54PM, Admiral Somerville ordered a broadside attack on the French fleet in the harbor.  Ten minutes later, every French ship was disabled or destroyed.  The attack killed 1,297 French sailors and wounded 350, a greater toll than France suffered during any campaign against the Germans.  Two British sailors also died.

French officials were livid.  They attempted a weak retaliation on the British fleet at Gibraltar, but nothing came of it. Operation Catapult saw no additional incidents, as the British boarded French ships in other ports, or the French willingly sailed with them.  France broke off diplomatic relations with England but in a strange and awkward relationship, the countries remained allies against the Germans during the war.

Churchill was haunted by the decision he had made.  He was certain he would be ostracized for attacking a friendly country, but when he reported his actions to Parliament, he was shocked to see the news received with wild cheering.  As tragic as the incident was, he had likely saved many more British lives than the number lost by the French.

As for President Roosevelt, there is some indication he knew what Churchill planned in advance of the action.  Still, he was awestruck by Churchill's resolve and decisiveness.  He responded by sending Churchill the 50 destroyers Churchill had requested.  In the long run he came to realize the agonizing decision Churchill had to make prevented Hitler from dominating the seas.  It isn't an exaggeration to conclude Operation Catapult ultimately was a major factor in the allied victory in World War II.

~SLH

Steve Harrison, 32° KCCH, 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 Senior Warden. He is a dual member of Kearney Lodge #311, St. Joseph Missouri Valley of the Scottish Rite, Liberty York Rite, Moila Shrine and is a member of the DeMolay Legion of Honor.

The Words And Wisdom of Winston Churchill

by Midnight Freemasons contributor

Michael Shirley

Winston Churchill quotations never seem to lose popularity, whether he said them or not. Certainly, a man who wrote for a living for over sixty years, whose political speeches fill many bound volumes, and who won the Nobel Prize for Literature seems likely to have said a few things worth savoring, including “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.” I enjoy many of them, from the serious (“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”) to the humorous (“He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire”). The reader can learn something from all of them, if only how to write a proper English sentence. Of all of them, however, I find one to be the most useful: “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” He was right. To do otherwise is to make the choice to believe that nothing will ever improve, and that one might as well just sit down in the flames and roast.

Churchill faced that choice in May 1940 when he became Prime Minister. Some of his ministers, Lord Halifax chief among them, argued that Britain ought to pursue a peace treaty with Hitler. Churchill did not believe that, for he understood that a deal with the Devil never leads to Heaven. Appropriately, it was his rhetoric that won the day, as he inspired the nation and the Parliament to continue the fight. Let an excerpt from perhaps his most famous speech, delivered to the House of Commons on June 18, 1940, serve to illustrate:

"What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us now. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age, made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say, "This was their finest hour."

So mote it be.

~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.

The Other Club

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Michael Shirley

F. E. Smith & Winston Churchill founded the Other Club in 1911

F. E. Smith (Vanity Fair)

Winston Churchill was an unusual politician, for he bore no grudges. As the historian Paul Johnson wrote, “Churchill wasted an extraordinarily small amount of his time and emotional energy on the meannesses of life: recrimination, shifting the blame onto others, malice, revenge seeking, dirty tricks, spreading rumors, harboring grudges, waging vendettas.”[1] His founding of the Other Club reflects that attitude. With his friend F.E. Smith (later Lord Birkenhead), Churchill formed a dining club in 1911, limiting it to no fewer than thirty-six members (twelve Conservatives, twelve Liberals, and twelve from outside party politics) and no more than fifty. The requirements for membership were two: a man had to be both estimable and entertaining. There were initially eleven club rules, but Churchill added a twelfth: “Nothing in the rules or intercourse of the Club shall interfere with the rancour or asperity of party politics.” Members could disagree, but were not to be disagreeable about it. Churchill’s abiding willingness to forgive others’ trespasses carried with it the demand that others forgive his. Members of the Other Club ably met that demand.

Winston Churchill (Vanity Fair)

At meetings of the Other Club, Churchill and Smith were able to indulge their appetite for conversation in the best elite English tradition: witty, insulting, well informed, and wide-ranging. Smith attended regularly until his untimely death in 1930 (Churchill broke an unstated club rule against speeches by delivering an extended eulogy at the next meeting). Churchill himself last dined there on December 10, 1964, little more than a month before he died.

As his son Randolph noted, Winston Churchill had no small talk, and preferred to talk about himself.[2] At meetings of the Other Club he was able to listen as well.

[1] Paul Johnson, Churchill (New York: Penguin Books, 2010), 162.

[2] Randolph S. Churchill, Winston S. Churchill: Young Statesman, 1901-1914 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1967), 241.

~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.

---

Winston Churchill: Operative or Speculative?

by Midnight Freemasons Contributor

Michael H. Shirley

Freemasons rightly claim Winston Churchill as one of their own. He was initiated as an Entered Apprentice in Studholme Lodge 1591 on May 24, 1901, passed to the degree of Fellowcraft on July 19, 1901, and raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason on March 5, 1902. And that was that. Like many other men, Churchill’s involvement in the Craft effectively ended with his raising. He continued to identify himself as a Freemason when asked or when it seemed warranted, but he was too busy to do more than see it as a social membership, much like his membership in the National Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in the Ancient Order of Druids. 

He took much greater pride in being a card-carrying member of the Amalgamated Union of Building Workers as a bricklayer. As any visitor to his home at Chartwell can testify, Churchill was a dab hand at laying bricks. He appears to have preferred operative to speculative masonry. Either way, he was a Mason.

~WHS

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.

Freemason Wisdom: Winston Churchill On Life

by Midnight Freemason Contributor
Judy Gordon
(and Todd E. Creason) 

 "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

Sir Winston Churchill

Studholme Lodge No. 1591, England

Most Freemasons, like Winston Churchill, have learned that life isn't about what you take out of it, it's measured by what you put into it. Everyone, no matter how rich or how poor, has something to give.Whether it's donating your time, your muscle and sweat, your blood, or writing a check--we all have the ability to make a difference.

How can you contribute to the greater good this week? 

Judy Gordon is 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) Ray and Judy have two (soon to be three) grandkids.

Judy is taking over one of my most popular weekly posts on The Midnight Freemason--"Freemason Wisdom."   I learned early on that people love a good quote--in fact I put together a whole book of them called A Freemason Said That?  She'll also be writing feature articles.  And I'm very happy to have her as a regular Contributor--she seemed like a natural choice.  She grew up in our fraternity, and her and her husband Ray Gordon are very active in the fraternity.  I asked her to do this because I thought she'd bring a unique perspective.  And she loves quotes, and posts them frequently on her Facebook page (often from my book)--and she knows how to pick them.  Her choices often lead to spirited discussions.  Welcome Judy!

~TEC 

Freemason Wisdom: Winston Churchill On Discretion

"We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out."

~Winston Churchill

Studholme Lodge No. 1591, England

We've all done it at one time or another--hopefully not too often. We say something we shouldn't have and later regret it.  The first thing we think isn't always the best thing to say.  I don't remember how many times growing up I was reminded of the importance of learning to engage that clutch between brain and mouth.  It was good advice then, and it still is.

Sometimes it's necessary to be blunt, but those occasions are few and far between.  More often than not, it's more important to think before you speak, and master those words that cause more harm than good.  Tact is a virtue.

Of course, Winston Churchill sounded very wise when he said these words, however, he didn't always practice what he preached.  He was hardly known as a man who held his tongue.  Another of the quotes he is attributed to having said is:

"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

That one isn't quite as eloquent . . .

~TEC

Joseph Stalin: Freemason Or Not?

All Freemasons???

I ran across this photo with the caption "Churchill, Roosevelt, & Stalin: Freemasons." It is well known and accepted that both Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt were Freemasons.  Churchill was a member of Studholme Lodge No. 1591, England and Roosevelt was a member of Holland Lodge No. 8, New York.  So the question is whether Joseph Stalin, the Premier of the Soviet Union who allied with the United States and Great Britain during World War II was also a member of the fraternity. 

Since the 1950s, Stalin has frequently been cited as a Freemason. However, there is no record that Stalin was a Mason. It would not have been possible for Stalin to join a regular lodge even if he had desired admission. As a condition for membership, Masons must profess a belief in a Supreme Being, and Joseph Stalin was an avowed athiest.  

~TEC

Freemason Wisdom To End Your Week: Winston Churchill

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiam."

~Winston Churchill

Studholme Alliance Lodge No. 1591

It's often said that there is more to be learned from failure than from success.  But it seems we've become so afraid of failure, we scarcely admit it even exists.  We have all kinds of clever phrases we use in place of "failure" today.  When we screw up these days it's a "teachable moment."  When we say it that way, it almost sounds like we meant to do it.

But there is great value in taking risks.  There is great value in learning through trial and error.  The object of the game of life is not getting to the end of it without having made any mistakes, it's about learning from those mistakes, and then trying something else when you fail, and keep trying until you succeed.

Everything in life is a risk.  Don't miss out on life by being afraid to stick your neck out.  Don't live a timid, safe life, but live adventurously, and be willing to make lots of mistakes.  Don't watch life from the sidelines--get in the game!  So you fall on your face a few times?  Did it ever occur to you that the only person that is bothered by that possibility--is you?  It's you that is holding you back.  It's your fears that keep you from living your best life.

One of my best friends, and an old-school retail manager, explained to me his philosophy of life years ago.  It was good advice.  He said:

"Knock and the door shall open.  If it doesn't, kick it in!"

~Jack Babey

Jack was right.  Life is short.  Live it boldy. If you don't you'll never learn what is truly possible. 

Friends and Brothers: Roosevelt & Churchill

Winston Churchhill
Prime Minister of England

“If Hitler invaded hell I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”

~Sir Winston Churchill

Studholme Lodge No. 1591, England

Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States

Just a few days after Adolph Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote a brief message to Winston Churchill. These two men recognized the ominous threat Hitler represented, and that formed the basis for one of the most important friendships in history.

FDR had his own problems—as strongly as he felt about the German threat, Americans strongly believed they should stay out of the war. As Hitler turned his attention to England, FDR was forced to make some difficult choices—stand by and watch as the Luftwaffe bombed the island nation as it struggled to defend itself or give the British at least a fighting chance, regardless of the consequences. Roosevelt openly violated the 1935 Neutrality Act by providing the British with 50 destroyers. It was FDR’s policy to offer “all aid short of war.” But that would soon change. After Pearl Harbor, the American sentiment changed overnight, and America prepared to go to war.

Freemasons Churchill and Roosevelt

FDR and Churchill, along with Joseph Stalin, joined forces against Hitler, and the tide began to turn. D-Day marked the beginning of Hitler’s end. But sadly, Franklin D. Roosevelt died shortly before the end of the war, and he was unable to celebrate the Allied victory with his friend and brother Mason, Winston Churchill.

Excerpted from A Freemason Said That: Great Quotes of Famous Freemasons, by Todd E. Creason (2009)

~TEC

Freemason Wisdom to Begin the Year

Marion McDaniel Lodge No. 56
Tuscon, Arizona

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes to us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday."

~John Wayne

 

"I hold it within my power to do things differently today than I did yesterday."

~Benjamin Franklin

 

"You create your own universe as you go along."

~Winston Churchill

The great promise of the New Year is this idea that each year we have an opportunity to start over again, with a clean slate, and do things differently than we did in the year previous.  But what we often miss is the idea that we have that same opportunity each day.  That we hold it within our power each moment to begin to build our own world the way we want it to be, and that there are no limitations to what we might do. 

But New Year's Eve seems to be the only day when most people even consider the idea that they have that power within them.  That in the stream of life, we can either choose to paddle our own canoe and pick our own direction, or be content to drift in the current.  That is isn't the fickle finger of fate that determines the course of your life--that we make our own luck, and we pick our own path.  But it is a lesson that is soon lost until the next December 31st, because it's so much easier to drift, than to paddle.  So much easier to make excuses for an unfulfilled life than accept the fact that we are where we are in life because of the choices we've made along the way, and if we truly want change, all we have to do is make different choices.  And next thing you know, we're looking at that blank slate before us again, so full of promise and potential, and so little changed from the previous year. 

Ask yourself this question as you look at beginning the new year--are you going to drift this year, or are you going to paddle?

~TEC