100 Years Of Jobs Daughters and The Gavel - “ Honor your past for a brighter future.”

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Michael Laidlaw, 32°

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Jobs Daughters. Founded in 1920 by Mrs. Ethel T. Wead Mick in Omaha, Nebraska. They take their teaching from the story of Job and his trials. And in particular to a reference in the 42nd Chapter that says, "And in all the land were no women found so fair as the Daughters of Job." I had the pleasure of serving as the Master of Ceremonies for my Daughter as she took the Chair of Honored Queen. With that comes a speech, and it is a custom to acquire a gavel. Sending out a few requests, one Brother stepped up and had a gavel made. Here is the expert from the speech.

"We have an extra special gift prepared for you, and this gift also has a story, a story of Brotherhood and obligation. I had contacted a few Brothers and ask them if they knew anybody who could make a gavel for my Daughter, who is preparing to become Honored Queen. Without hesitation and on the other side of the country, Brother Brandon Hale stepped up and said, "I will take care of it." He asked what type of gavel I had in mind. Although I left it entirely up to him for style, I did request he incorporate some nuances of Jobs Daughters. Brother Brandon lives in Virginia, and he has a message for you regarding the gavel:

"There is a maker's mark on the gavel from the Brother who made it. It's for Job's Daughters. The JD print is his mark. It just hit me that it was meant for him to make it. His name is Joseph DiPietro. He has a heart of gold, and I love him like family. "

Brother Brandon had this gavel made, especially for you. The man who made it, Joseph DiPietro, is a Mason; the man handing it to you, Brother Brandon, is also a mason. A story of obligation, for three men who have never met in person, could come together and produce a gavel for their Masonic daughter. Never look at the Jobs Daughters as "just a club" or say, "it's just a ceremony." This act proves there is a much deeper meaning to our Masonic family than just a club. Just as every Mason is my Brother. Every Jobs Daughter is your sister. "

Just a few years prior, my Daughter was embarking on a journey, walking in the same steps as her great Aunt before her. Luckily our Aunt with us the day she was made a Jobs Daughter. But sadly, she never did get to see her great-niece take the gavel in her hands, but, her Spirit lives on. Through my daughter's theme, "Honor your past for a brighter future," and through the Spirit of Freemasonry. The legacy of not only Craft, jobs daughters, but sisterhood and Brotherhood will forever live in the hearts and minds of those who attended that event. And the gavel will forever be a testament to Brother Love, Relief and Truth

- A Jobie Dad, ML

Michael Laidlaw was raised to the Sublime degree in 2011 and is a plural Member of South Pasadena 290 and Southern California Research Lodge where he is Junior Warden and Pop Culture editor for The Fraternal Review Magazine. He is also serving as Senior Steward for Arcadia 278. Michael is an active council member for Jobs Daughters Bethel 210 Arcadia (where his daughter is serving as Honored Queen) and serves on the Grand Lodge of California Youth Orders Committee. He is a 32° Scottish Rite Mason from the Valley Of Pasadena Orient of California where he has completed all three Master Craftsman Courses. Michael is also a member of San Gabriel Valley Chapter No. 100 RAM, Alhambra Council No. 25 CM, and Foothill Commandery No. 63 KT. He also holds Membership in Cinema Grotto and Order of Eastern Star.

The Living Cross

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Judy Gordon

“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin Franklin

Job’s Daughters have a closing ceremony. It is quite a moving experience.  If you have not seen it, you are missing out. If you have ever seen the movie “Titanic”, the orchestra plays “Nearer my God to thee” as the boat is sinking. These young ladies are not sinking; these wonderful daughters perform the living cross and sing “Nearer My God to Thee”. There is a special ceremony that coincides with the ceremony, it’s called the Cross Talk.

The International Order of Job's Daughters is an organization created for the purpose of banding together young women who believe in God and the teachings of the Holy Bible. Jobs Daughters was founded on the Book of Job with special emphasis on the 42nd Chapter, 15th Verse where we read, "In all the land were no women found so fair As the daughters of Job, and their Father gave them inheritance among their brethren.”.

 The story of Job, as found in our Ritual, can only be given in a closed meeting. However, one very impressive and important part of the closing ceremony, the forming of the living cross, may be given in an open meeting or by special request.

Some of you may be seeing the formation of the living cross by our officers for the first time. As you observe this very solemn and beautiful ceremony, you must realize that a great deal of thought and care has gone into the positioning of the officers within the cross.

The Honored Queen is at the foot or base of the cross. You might think that she is there as a place of honor, but I would rather believe she is there in humbleness to her officers and as a sign of her willingness to accept her lot - whatever it may be - and to share with the Daughters over whom she presides in their joy as well as in their sorrow.

 The Chaplain is at the center of the cross. She is there near the place Jesus' heart was as he hung on the cross.

 At the ends of the arms of the cross are the Junior and Senior Princesses representing the hands of our Blessed Savior. The purple of the three capes represents the blood, which flowed from his hands and feet as they were nailed to that cross.

 Standing outside and behind the cross are the two Custodians. They serve not only as custodians over the property of the Bethel, but also as custodians of the living cross.

 (The Daughters sing the Amen. They rise and begin to exit, bowing to the Honored Queen while the following is spoken)

 As the Daughters exit the cross, they approach the Honored Queen, nod and turn to the right or left. The design made on the floor of the Bethel Is that of a large open Holy Bible. "And in all the land were no women found so fair as the Daughters of Job, and their Father gave them inheritance among their brethren.

This completes our ceremony…

Post by Judy Gordon.

~JAG

Judy Gordon is very active in Job's Daughters. She's the Past Honored Queen, and Past 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 to the Grand Line Illinois Job's Daughters (2015-16). Boaz joined the family in September 2013 and grandmother of 3 wonderful grandsons.