The Point of the Lost Word

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Ken JP Stuczynski 

I was extremely gratified when I was introduced to the Lost Word in the completion of my Degrees. Whereas it might seem like unfulfilled suspense to some, it was a palpable representation of a concept I recognized from my own spiritual journeys long before I was a Mason.

"The way that can be told is not the Way."

Absolute Truth lay beyond both senses and conceptualization, in the realm of the Mystical. To give something a name is to kill it, or at least separate its reality from our knowledge of it. This linguistic mirage becomes a label, a placeholder, or "substitute" for the real thing at best. In a world of fingers pointing to the moon, we cannot help but err to fixate on the fingers, not the moon.

It's also why some faith traditions do not give G-d a name or even spell that word out fully. When Moses was asked who he shall say sent him, the Answer became a sacred acronym, the tetragrammaton. And yet, regardless of such answers that may be given in other degree systems, it is still a placeholder. It is a few steps forward toward an infinitely distant horizon. (I have to admit, the pretense of a definitive answer for the Lost Word in further rituals disappoints me, as it takes away the purpose I suggest here.)

This is why I have said you could not impart the secrets of Freemasonry even if you wanted to. They are not in the words and grips themselves. Knowing them does not make you a Mason. They are like a key to a door you do not know, and yet can pass simply by knocking, as it will be opened onto you. It is the Gateless Gate.

So how can a secret society impart such a secret to life, the universe, and everything? I have heard ritual wonderfully described as using inadequate words and symbols to show and say what cannot be shown or said. Our whole craft is a language designed to transcend not just operative, literal interpretations, but even themselves. The objects in our rooms and hands draw us beyond "this crude matter" to a thought-form. That much is easy, though many may not have an awareness of even that at first. But perhaps if we let go a little, it can be realized as an ungraspable truth. In a moment of timelessness and everywhere-ness, we catch a glimpse of light, not as seer and subject, but as an object — the Light itself.

And so we cannot be given the True Word, less we kill it, or worse yet, deceive ourselves to think we know, missing the transformation of true Knowing. We give ourselves titles and certificates and other accolades, all of which point to things that may or may not exist. We corporal beings are distracted by such things or derailed altogether.

Even the anchor of ritual, meant to steady oneself against moral relativity and nihilistic libertine-ness, can sink us under the water. A disciple of John was once admonished, "Scripture is like the messenger sent by the Rabbi; do not mistaken the messenger for the Rabbi." Such it is with ritual. Like a name or even a conceptualization, it does not exist for its own sake.

The loss of the Word is about the fall of Adam, and the search for it,  the desire for redemption. It is the perfect ashlar we expend tremendous effort to become, even aware it can only be completed by transcending that horizon, that Level of Time through the profundity of mortal transformation. If we possess the Real Word, even a glimpse of it, our Perfect Ashlar awaits us.

If we get caught up in the idea, the concept, the knowledge, and intellectual prowess we achieve and are not willing to let go of it in favor of the Real Word, we are like those who reach the other shore but refuse to get out of the boat once its usefulness passes. And yet these are the things of this World. These are the tools we must work with because they are the things we CAN work with.

So when does one receive the Real World? Perhaps this is neither the time nor place, and the trials of being human are nothing more than the impetuousness of those who can't bear to wait until their Temple is finished. Perhaps that is the nature of suffering, and Masonry leads us out of it, to that Mystery which cannot be told.

~JP

Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org, he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a “Masonic Feminist”.

As a masonic speaker throughout New York State, he has also given presentations at town hall meetings regarding the use of technology in the Craft. His numerous Empire State Mason articles have been republished in Arizona and New Jersey. To aid in his outreach on these topics, he authored “Webmastering the Craft: Fraternity in a Digital World”, available worldwide in softcover and eBook.

Having lifelong interests far and wide across philosophy, world religions, and all the natural sciences, his degree is in Philosophy with a concentration in Ethics and a minor In Psychology. He has written articles and essays on the topics of science and religion, culture and politics, business and economics, technology and futurism, as well as various aspects of social psychology. Usually, with interdisciplinary contexts, many of these focus on the ideals of intellectual honesty and tolerance in all forms. Having edited and contributed to Books of Transactions by the Western New York Lodge of Research of which he is a member, he plans to formally publish some of his larger works, starting with the upcoming book, “Contemplations on Astronomy”, and a special Masonic edition will contain his “Astronomical Tour of the Lodge”.

He runs his primary business, Kentropolis Internet, from home where he lives with his wife and plenty of pets. In addition to various community service projects, he teaches Tai Chi to veterans at the VA Recovery Center. He is also an independent interfaith minister with hospital chaplain credentials who does weddings, funerals, memorials, and other services. His personal project is the “Earth 2 Mouth” program which connects farms, volunteers, and soup kitchens. He also enjoys carpentry and keeps bees with his daughter at an organic farm in East Otto, NY."

A Promise Kept

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Brian Schimian

*Editors Note: This post was Originally supposed to be run on May 2nd*

How do you judge the character of a person?  Be it a with someone you have a proposed  business transaction with, someone you happened to sit next to at a bar and struck up a conversation, a coworker or neighbor…

There are multiple ways and things that all weigh somewhat on that decision making process.  Much of it has to do with your perception of their actions, mannerisms and how you see them interact with others.  My Pops used to take potential business partners out to the Country Club and play a round of golf with them.  He would let them keep score and by the end of the day they checked the score card over a cocktail.  If he kept an honest card, he was in.  If Pop’s caught him cheating on the score, he would tell him sorry, it just isn’t going to work out, pay for the drinks and walk out.  No explanation, nothing.  Just, done.  If you can’t trust a person at their word, what could you trust them with?

I came across this story on a FaceBook page for Lebanon Lodge #837 AF & AM that some good Brothers I happen to know frequent.  I want to share this with the world, as a beaming example of what Freemasonry is.  What it is about.  Why the Men of the Craft are so dedicated to it. 

“May 2nd, 2015 Lebanon lodge will once again fulfill it’s promise to a grieving mother who lost her young child so long ago.

Over 100 years ago, settlers still headed west in covered wagons as the “Old West” wound down its wild heydey. In 1908, the family of Walter M. Hagood, Jr. made a stop on Preston Ridge near the current Bethel Cemetery just north of Eldorado Parkway on its journey to more prosperous times in California. Little Walter was born on October 21, 1908 and died only four days later.

Frisco resident Nancy Higginbotham told the distraught mother, who feared leaving her deceased newborn behind, that she would tend to the grave so the mother wouldn’t have to worry that the infant would be forgotten.

True to her word, she tended the grave and placed flowers at the grave marker every year on Decoration Day, until her death in 1930. Her daughter, Minnie Fisher stepped in and continued the Promise until her death in 1964. Minnie’s daughter-in-law Wilma Fisher, a beloved Frisco school teacher, then accepted the role. Wilma continued the duty until her health began to fail in 2006.

That’s when members of this Lodge told Wilma that since she and her late husband Donald had served the Masons so well in their lives, that the Masons would assume the honor of decorating the grave. Miss Wilma died in 2008 and Lebanon Lodge #837 continues over 100 years later to keep that Promise that Nancy Higginbotham gave to that distraught mother on that fateful Autumn day.

In fact, the Lodge has written the Promise into its charter, ensuring that the grave will be decorated every year in perpetuity. Please join us on Decoration Day to honor Walter M. Hagood, Jr., as well as those who served “the Promise.”

I suppose that there is really no reason to continue with these actions.  Anyone associated with this child is long passed on from this existence.  The original promise had nothing to even do with the Masons, Freemasonry or the Craft in any way.  If they stopped and allowed time to go on without this burden, nobody would really know.  Nobody on the outside anyway…  To the outside world, Lebanon Lodge would be just another building that every once in a while shells out spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts.  To those that fill the chairs every month though, they would know.  They would know that their Lodge, not one Brother, or two.  But the Lodge in its entirety, gave their word to continue a promise that is now 107 years old.  If you doubt my perception of the situation, just reread that last paragraph I quoted, the Promise is written into their Charter.  Why?  Why go to such lengths for nobody important?

Let me tell you why.  A promise was made that comforted a Lady that had just lost her child.  One of the worst things a mother go through, during one of the most difficult times mind you,   in the history of this country.  That promise was felt by others as sincere and noble and the burden taken upon themselves, over and over again until the burden was assumed by someone from the Craft.  The word of a Mason is not something that should be received lightly.  We give our word as a token of our character to those that are worthy, be they Brethren, Ladies, Relatives...anyone.  What better example of keeping your word than to keep the word of your Brother and enshrine that promise in the very paper that your Lodge is built upon?

We often hear people say, “Be The Example”.  If anyone had any questions about what that means, show them this article about the lengths a Mason goes to keep his word and that of his Brother.

What a different world this would be if people had even a fraction of the Love for a stranger that Nancy Higginbotham showed that tragic day.  Truly saints, all that have taken and carried this Promise to this day, 107 years later.

~BJS

Bro. Brian Schimian is Life of Member A.O. Fay #676 in Highland Park Illinois and the Medinah Shriners - Lake County Shrine Club. He was also the Past Master Counselor of DeMolay - Lakes Chapter in 1995. Most recently, Brian became a Companion of the York Rite, joining Waukegan Chapter #41 R.A.M. Brian is a father of two children. You can follow his blog "It is. In God. I do." where he publishes even more excellent content. "Start Square, Finish Level"