Heaven and Earth Will Pass Away

 

"Geometry, the first and noblest of sciences is the basis on which the superstructure of Freemasonry is erected.  By Geometry, we may curiously trace nature through her various windings to her most concealed recesses.  By it, we discover the wisdom, power and goodness of the Grand Architect of the Universe and view with delight the proportions which connect this vast machine.  By it we discover how the planets move in their respective orbits and demonstrate their various revolutions."

We, as Freemasons, see a close and direct relationship between the functioning of the physical universe and God. After all, we do, in fact, refer to Him as "the Grand Architect of the Universe." He created it, constructed it, runs it, and that's all there is to it. In fact, you don't have to be a Freemason to hold that belief. We are so in awe of this creation that we ask, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?"

This belief doesn't just come out of thin air. We see so many things around us that tend to confirm there is something intelligent – perhaps divine – that is in control. In the classic "double slit" experiment, for example, we find electrons that behave one way if someone is watching and differently without an observer. Or, any scientist will tell you we know there is a "force" holding galaxies together. We have no idea about its nature and call it "dark matter."

If we draw a line in the sand, as some do, and say those paranoid electrons behaving that way indicate a form of divine intelligence, or buy into the common claim "dark matter" is in fact God holding the universe together, we set ourselves up.

There are plenty of examples where those lines have been drawn only to be erased by scientific discoveries. In the 17th century people saw the heavenly bodies moving around the earth and said they do that because God put the earth and mankind at the center of everything. Then a couple of guys named Galileo and Copernicus came along and burst that bubble. If we think those electrons and "dark matter" prove God exists, what will we do when a modern-day Copernicus finds a scientific causation? It's easy to fall into that trap.

If we keep doing that, and then back off on our definition and understanding of God with every scientific discovery, we seemingly wind up with what astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson calls "an ever-receding God."

Maybe it should be the other way around.

In other words, if we discover some phenomenon is not caused by a mysterious action of God, does that not also teach us a little more about what God is? The Second Degree lecture teaches us we should embrace the sciences. As those discoveries come to light the fact is God isn't receding. With each new discovery we learn more, not less, about the true nature of God: the spiritual, not the physical is what's important. Read our ritual carefully. It says By Geometry... science... we discover God's wisdom, power and goodness, not that we use it to discover God Himself.

Scientists have proven the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. This has led to a theory about its end which says it will just keep expanding until the stars all burn out and the universe will die a dark and cold death. If you're looking for an area where science and religion… or spirituality… are in agreement, look to Matthew 24:35: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." Don't get hung up about the physical universe. Both God and the scientists say it won't be around forever; but God's words – those spiritual lessons – will be.

Let's not worry over the fact that God didn't put the Earth at the center of the universe, or he may or may not be manifest in a bunch of shy electrons. Let's use His spiritual teachings to learn how to live our lives, improve them, and the lives of others.

Peggy Sue and the Freemasons

 

In the 1986 movie Peggy Sue Got Married, Kathleen Turner plays an adult who attends her high school reunion, suffers from a major case of the vapors, and is transported back in time. She lands back in 1960, when she was a high school senior, with a chance to start anew, correct old mistakes, and perhaps make a few new ones.

During the ensuing do-wop-laced couple of hours, Peggy Sue reassesses her early relationship with her boyfriend-become-husband/ex-husband Charlie, played by Nicholas Cage. She forms a friendship with an ostracized high school geek and plants his turbocharged brain with coming attractions like the moon landing and gizmos such as microwave ovens, pocket calculators, and digital watches he could invent to become rich and famous. Then, as an inspired young inventor herself, she manufactures the world's first pair of pantyhose.

After her requisite fling with a laconic motorcycle-riding rebel-with-a-cause-poet, she runs off to visit her time-warp resurrected grandparents. There, she comes clean about her time-traveling escapade.

"Grandma… Grandpa… I want to tell you something. Somehow, I've traveled back in time from my late 30s, when I'm married with two children… And I miss my kids and want to go back."

The understanding Gram and Gramps believe her. So, what's a gal to do in order to time-hop back to the future without a DeLorean? I'm glad you asked. Grandpa has the solution. He'll hustle her off to his Lodge where they have just the ceremony for that.

They arrive at the Lodge building which on the outside is a conical structure resembling a Crazy Cup Ice Cream stand, but on the inside is almost certainly a genuine Masonic Lodge, replete with dozens of grayscale portraits of real-life Past Masters… just like the ones in your Lodge. The wide-eyed Peggy Sue has a question for Granddad.

"What does Grandma think you do at these meetings?"

"Stag parties and poker games," quips Gramps. Well, there goes one of our secrets.

The Brothers are suited in royal-purple robes with gold-colored fringe and embroidery. Accessories include a cornucopia of hats. What appear to be more lower-ranking Brothers wear black drooping Renaissance hats while others have elaborate royal-purple pyramid shaped headgear. Gramps, probably being something like a Past Poo-Bah, has a purple rectangular block-shaped headpiece with what appear to be four doorknobs on the top corners.

Peggy Sue gasps, "Grandpa, do you have to wear that hat?"

Gramps adjusts the hat moving it to the perfect position, "Wouldn't be a Lodge without hats." Another secret revealed.

Inside the Lodge room, the head Muckety-Muck sits in a familiar setting behind a podium elevated to a level three steps up. Opposite him, we see the customary sight of two columns. Not surprisingly, an altar stands in the center of the room.

A Brother informs Peggy Sue the Lodge was founded by a time-traveler (as was my own Lodge, but I digress). The ceremony begins with the resident musician playing Beautiful Dreamer on a mandolin. A Brother steps to the altar, breaks an egg into a chalice, and completes the concoction with an elixir of red goop. He follows this with the sign of the degree which is thus made: the hands are crossed palm-inward in front of the face with the thumbs touching the nose. The hands are then flapped vigorously with the Brother staring upward, symbolic of a prospective time-traveler flying off to a new epoch. The gesture draws a snicker from Peggy Sue – a reaction we may all have seen from our wives during open ceremonies. Three raps from the symbolic East brings the already standing Brothers to order as he enjoins the "Lord of the Universe, Ruler of Light, King of the Sun" to guide Peggy Sue, clad in a gold robe, forward in time.

Peggy Sue has doubts, "This is not going to work." Grandpa reassures her.

Chaos reigns as the scene fills with thunder and lightning. The Lodge goes dark, Peggy Sue disappears and when the light returns a Brother yells, "Let's play cards!"

Any well-educated Mason would recognize the faults in this particular rendition of our Time Travel Ceremony – which is so secret it's something I cannot discuss in this public forum. Of course due to those faults, it did not work. Instead, when the Lodge was dark Charlie (remember Charlie?) swept in, grabbed Peggy Sue, and whisked her away into the stormy night.

I suppose this could morph into a discussion of how the outside world views Freemasonry, but we'll leave that analysis for another time.

Anyway, Charlie drags Peggy into a greenhouse where they are out of the rain, tells her he's a changed guy and begs her to marry him.

Peggy Sue is furious, "What the hell do you think you're doing? I have to go back into the Lodge… My grandfather is in there. And you were never there for me and the children so I'm not crazy enough to marry you twice."

Charlie convinces her things will be different and we fade back to 1986, as Charlie wonders, "What children?"

The adventure culminates with Peggy Sue waking up from her fainting spell, securely back to the future, There, Peggy and her ex-husband reconcile. [aaaawwwwwwwwww] This leaves the door open for Charlie… a.k.a. Nick Cage… a.k.a. Benjamin Franklin Gates… to go off on his own quest where he discovers the Freemasons are the stewards of a great National Treasure.

Freemasonry's Black Hole

 

You have made your journey to the East. Planning for this milestone consumed you. It saturated your life. Thoughts of budgets and programs bloated your brain until there was room for nothing else; and, oh yes, there was that big part you had to memorize. Then you got there. You brought those programs to life. You managed the budget. You were gut-punched by the unexpected. You punched back. You won.

Now your year is coming to an end. Where, you wonder, did the time go? It all went by so quickly. Suddenly you realize you are traveling near lightspeed toward the event horizon… that point of no return… of the great black hole of Freemasonry: life after being Master of your Lodge.

Maybe it doesn't hit you right away. Oh, those first few weeks after your term is over… that sweet era when the responsibility void hits, when the burdens of leadership rest on someone else's shoulders, when you get to go to meetings, plan nothing, do nothing, and wear that sporty new Past Master's apron… is a nirvana reserved for a precious few… the newly minted junior Past Master.

But it's an illusion. You eventually realize you've been sucked into the great void. Oblivion awaits. You can't sit on the north heckling the ritual performance forever. You can only take so much listening to debates about the menu at the next dinner, reading of the minutes and grousing about the outrageous bill to fix the air conditioner. You realize they can do all of this without you. Weeks ago you were the most important guy in the Lodge. Now you are, by your standard, irrelevant. You're not even the top-dog of all the Past Masters. You're at the bottom of the barrel. And like anything that reaches singularity in a black hole, you disappear. Experience shows us it happens to many, possibly the majority of Past Masters. They gradually stop coming to meetings, fade away, and leave us wondering whatever happened to them.

As you try to fight this trend instead of "whence came you," a new question pops up: "whence go you," or more simply, "now what?" The fact is most of us don't want to sit around doing nothing. We need relevance, something to do, a goal, a project, a responsibility, a raison d'être.

Part of your planning as you approach the east should be to figure out what you will do when it's all over. Your Lodge has many needs you can fill: maybe it needs a new Lodge Education Officer, an appointed office filled, a mentor for new initiates, a Lodge historian, someone to take the helm of a civic project or, God forbid, a new Secretary. There are also appendant bodies to consider. The York and Scottish Rites especially offer more opportunities for the Masonic education, fellowship and community service we crave. Grand Lodge committees always need staffing. You might even put together an article for the Midnight Freemasons.

Whatever you do, vow to stay active; and the activities you choose should include those that keep you coming back the foundation of our Fraternity – your Lodge.

The Unfortunate William Dodd

 Born in Lincolnshire in 1729, William Dodd was a vicar's son who became an honor student at the University of Cambridge. He was a man of letters, authoring over 50 books and pamphlets. He subsequently became a doctor of divinity and served as chaplain to King George II as well as a Minister to Magdalene Hospital. Dodd was initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry April 3, 1775 and a month later he became England's first Grand Chaplain.

As an accomplished author and eloquent orator, Brother Dodd became very popular with the people of England and was well connected with the most important people of his time. He enjoyed moving in the circles of the rich and famous and began to favor the trappings of wealth and society.

His immersion in the lifestyle of the gentry became a near obsession and earned him the title, "the Macaroni Minister." That obscure term relates to people of the day who became deeply involved in the extravagant lifestyle and ate Italian pasta, which was rare and expensive at the time. It is the origin of the first verse in the song Yankee Doodle, originally written to disparage American colonists:

Yankee Doodle came to London riding on a pony,

Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni…

Well, the Macaroni Minister was no Yankee but he certainly became a dandy. Piling on the excesses and luxuries of the life of a member of the British nobility finally became too much for his finances. Dodd incurred heavy debt and exacerbated the situation by trying to gamble his way out of it. His gambling losses simply made things worse.

In 1774, he attempted to bribe his way into a high-paying position, but his scheme was discovered and he was fired from all of his existing positions. A few months later when he joined the Masons, it may just have been an attempt to once again become well connected and begin his journey back up the social ladder.

In need of funds, Dodd forged a bond from the Earl of Chesterfield, then borrowed against it to settle his finances. The plan might have worked, but the banker involved saw a blot on the bond document which obscured some of the text. He rewrote the document and when he took it to the Earl for signature, Dodd's plot was discovered.

Dodd confessed to the crime. Since the banker had acted so quickly, Dodd had spent very little of the money, which enabled him to make full restitution.

Brother Dodd went to trial and based his defense on the fact that this had been an act of indiscretion and that the crime was mitigated by the fact he returned all the money. The jury did not see it that way. Its members convicted him of forgery, which at the time was punishable by death. Even so, the jurors recommended clemency for the popular preacher. Notwithstanding, the judge sentenced Dodd to be hanged. Dodd was so popular, 23,000 people petitioned the King for a pardon, but to no avail.

On June 27, 1777, the day of his execution, the 48 year old Dodd rode in a black mourning coach with his father. On the way to the gallows the coach stopped, as dictated by tradition, at a pub, where Dodd was given a beer. This practice is said by some to be the origin of the term, "one for the road." The guards along with him also received a beer, but the driver of the coach could not partake because he was said to be, "on the wagon."

Another tradition of the time was that stewards at the gallows would take up a collection from the bloodthirsty crowd in attendance. If they collected enough money, the condemned man would be given a short drop in order that he would succumb more slowly and give the spectators a longer, more graphic performance. In spite of his popularity, the crowd anted up enough for the gruesome show.

As Dodd dropped from the scaffold, however, the Lord High Executioner ran down the steps, grabbed Dodd by the legs and pulled him downward to prevent flailing and to "speed things along."

In a bit of irony, Dodd had always been a death penalty opponent. Just earlier that year, he had given an inspiring sermon against it. In addition, he was a big supporter of the Humane Society which at the time was advocating the possibility of reviving those who had been hung, drowned or died under similar circumstances, speculating that even though appearing deceased, a bit of life might remain. Even today the Society's motto is lateat scintillula forsan, meaning “a small spark may perhaps lie hid.”

The fact is, some executions were sloppy enough at the time that this is known to have worked on rare occasions. So as soon as Dodd was cut down his friends rushed to claim his body knowing his neck had not been broken by the short drop. They carried him into the mourning coach and tried to go to the home of Dr. John Hunter to attempt a revival. The crowd reportedly rushed the coach and prevented its exit either to view the body or prevent its transfer, and it is unlikely any attempt at revival occurred. However for years rumors persisted that Dodd was revived and went off to live in France.

Dodd's Brother Richard was Rector of Cowley, which is where reports say Dodd's burial took place. Today, no marker exists for his grave, but a wall plaque says he rests within the cemetery. There is no record of his burial there, which has fueled speculation that he may have survived.

Shortly after his hanging, England changed its penalty for forgery and Dodd remains the last person executed for that crime; and while a minute measure of doubt may remain about him surviving the execution, one thing is for certain: upon hearing of his conviction, the Freemasons immediately expelled the unfortunate William Dodd.

The Woz

 

We live in a world steeped in technology. We run around with our smart phones fused to our hands avoiding human interaction in favor of texts, tweets, and Instagram posts that shout to the entire world "it's all about me." We grab our entertainment from streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, Peacock and others that weren't around a decade ago. We order Alexa to turn on and off our lights and we drive cars that brake, steer and parallel park for us. Most of us, though, don't know much about the wizards standing behind the curtain who make this magic work.

You may, for example, have never heard of Tim Berners-Lee but you use his invention every day. We call it the World-Wide-Web. I could list others whose names are even more obscure to the general population. But some of these so-called nerds break through and become household names: Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are known around the world.

In that group, there is at least one other name you will know. He was initiated into the mysteries of Freemasonry in 1979. They call him "The Woz."

Steve Wozniak was raised in Charity Lodge 362, now Mt. Moriah Lodge 292 in California. He and that other famous technology pioneer, Steve Jobs, started and built Apple Computer, today recognized as the world's largest company.

Wozniak provided the technical skills needed for designing the circuitry for the first Apple computer, and together in 1976, he and Jobs personally built about 200 units in in a garage-shop operation. Each of those Apple I computers sold for $666.66, raising some eyebrows, but The Woz always claimed he chose that price because he liked repeating numbers, knowing nothing about its symbolism.

The following year, Wozniak designed and built the Apple II which together with improved models in the 1980s is now regarded as the first truly successful personal computer. For those early machines that launched Apple, Jobs' role was marketing and it was Steve Wozniak who provided the design and innovation. Many of his ideas were born of the fact that he knew what features he personally wanted in a computer and, since those computers didn't exist, he had to invent them. In describing his motivation, he once said, "I had two things going for me: I had no money and no training."

Wozniak married Alice Robertson in 1976. She was a member of the Eastern Star. As the marriage gradually became troubled, Steve thought if he joined the Masons with its associations to the Star, it would provide an opportunity to spend more time with Alice and might help their relationship. He subsequently joined Charity Lodge. The plan didn't work. Just a short time later the relationship fell apart. The couple divorced and with that Wozniak's participation in the Craft ended. It's likely his membership was more a commitment to attempting to save his marriage than to Freemasonry, especially when we factor in the fact that he has on occasion claimed to be an agnostic.

Years ago, when asked about his thoughts on Freemasonry, he had this to say: "A lot of things about me don't get filtered. My wife at the time, in the early Apple days, was in Eastern Star. I thought if I became a Freemason I could go to more events with her. I did become a Freemason and know what it's about but it doesn't really fit my tech/geek personality. Still, I can be polite to others from other walks of life. After our divorce was filed I never attended again but I did contribute enough for a lifetime membership. There is nothing wrong with the Freemasons."

In his personal life, Wozniak supports a multitude of charities, many tech related and aimed at youth development including the Tech Museum, the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, and his local school's technology program. He opened his own home to help start the Dream Camp Foundation for underprivileged youth, now better known as "Camp Woz." He is known as a generous donor who gives with no strings attached. He also, unlike Steve Jobs, remembered early Apple employees who did not stay with the company and lost out on millions of dollars. To that group, in 1980, he personally donated ten million dollars of his own Apple stock.

Later in life, Brother Wozniak went back to school and received a degree in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkley. By the time he enrolled, he was so famous, he registered under an alias that reflected his well-known sense of humor. That alias is now the name that appears on his college degree: Rocky Raccoon Clark.

So, by his own words, he has no opposition to the Craft. In spite of his lack of enthusiasm and uncertain belief in a deity, he does, in fact remain a Brother. We'll leave it at that and without judgment ask, how many other members do you know who have long since become inactive or question their spirituality?

Steve Wozniak has contributed greatly through his inventions and has used his resources to benefit those less privileged than himself. In this amazing world of technology we live in it's safe to say we have all benefited in some small or even significant way from his pioneering work and for those accomplishments we are proud to call him Brother.

Put The Cart Before The Horse

 

I have attended and even spoken at a number of large, auspicious Masonic Meetings. A few of them have been so amazing, educational, well-produced, and fraternal that I will never forget them. Among these are the Masonic Roundtable's 300^th anniversary celebration at the George Washington National Masonic Memorial, a York Rite symposium in Iowa where I had the honor of sharing the program with Harry Truman's grandson Clifton Truman Daniel, the annual Grand Master's breakfast in St. Louis, and my own Missouri Lodge of Research's Truman Lectures. These have all been gargantuan Masonic gatherings sometimes with hundreds… yes hundreds… of Brothers in attendance.

A huge crowd is a wonderful part of sharing Masonic Fellowship. In these large gatherings I've had occasion to visit with Brothers from not just other jurisdictions, but even other countries, providing opportunities to compare and share the precious diversity within our craft. Large crowds of Brothers are uplifting and inspiring but, make no mistake, an audience of dozens, or hundreds, is not a prerequisite, for a great Masonic event.

For example, just a few weeks ago I attended yet another one of those auspicious meetings I will never forget – but only about 23-25 Brothers were there. I was honored to be the guest speaker at Homer Lodge 199 in Homer, Illinois. Homer is a small, rural Lodge and by its member's own admission, attendance is not what it should be. To put it in Senior Warden Darin Lahner's words, "we normally are struggling to make a quorum."

Darin documented the full extent of this meeting from its conception to planning to execution in a thorough account in a recent Midnight Freemasons article. To read the full story, search for "A Night to Remember" on the blog.

Darin outlines the steps he took to create a successful event that more than tripled the attendance in his Lodge. I'd like to share those with you. "The funny thing is," said Darin, "it really wasn't that hard to do. To start with, I heavily advertised on social media. I started an Eventbrite event page to get a count of how many would be coming in." I'll come back to those two items in just a minute.

Darin continued with the steps in what he calls a "simple recipe:"

1. Get your lodge's buy-in. That shouldn't be hard to do, but what you're really looking for is a space for the event. If not your Lodge, there's got to be another one close with suitable space.

2. Arrange a speaker. One of the best places to go is the site masonicinstruction.com, which not only lists available speakers, but gives their biographies and summarizes their speaking topics.

3. Plan the event. Pretty self explanatory. This probably will involve a dinner which can be as elaborate as you want, or maybe just ordering in pizza.

4. Finally, hold the event. According to Darin, if you build it, Brethren will come.

The process sounds a lot like the "old-timey" definition of management: plan, organize, activate, control.

I'd like to expand a little on the first two things Darin did. He said he advertised heavily on social media, and started an Eventbrite page.

I've seen events fail where Brothers swear they promoted the event. What did they do? They posted it on FaceBook. Brothers , that's not enough. The key word Darin used is that he advertised it "heavily." FaceBook posts are a dime a dozen – or actually a dime a million. So however you promote the event, become a promotion Ninja.

The next thing Darin did was to set up an Eventbrite page. If you're not familiar with Eventbrite, learn about it and do it. This will more or less get commitments from people to attend.

And I'd like to add a dash of spice to Darin's recipe: Put the cart before the horse.

I know of a Lodge that practices this and they swear it's a sure thing. They do as much pre-planning as possible and come up with a couple of dates, then find out if Brothers are available on those dates. They then tentatively select a speaker and see when he is available. After a bit of coordination they find a good time for the event. Then, they sell tickets to the event, moderately priced to cover the cost of a meal. And only when they have sold enough tickets do they launch the event. In this lodge's case, they also limit attendance to 25 Brothers, and they sell out every time.

In other words, they sell-out the event, then plan the event. Not the way we usually do things. With the way he used Eventbrite, the is close to what Darin did.

Maybe using that old management definition you might say what they do is plan, organize, control, and activate. It might be something you could try. Follow Darin's advice and plan one of those unforgettable events. But see if it doesn't work better when you put the cart before the horse.

 

I Was Second

Anticipation consumed me as I sat in the large dining area with my father. A voice from a man I did not know came out of the hallway to my right and bellowed, "It's time, let's go." The room, filled with about 40 others, began to clear. Each got up, including Dad, and stood in line in front of a log book on a counter and signed in. Within minutes there were only four of us left in that empty room.

I sat in eerie silence with two other guys I didn't know at the long table where I had eaten breakfast. The fourth guy in the room was, we learned, the Tyler. He introduced himself. He joked, told us stories, and tried to put us at ease. I was not at ease. It wasn't because I was concerned about what I was going to go through, but because I wanted to get right to it. Time drug. In fact, it seemed to stop altogether. What were they doing in that Lodge room that was taking so long?

Finally, a guy stuck his head around the corner to my left and called out, "Randy!"

Rats. I wasn't going to be first. He took Randy away. More joking with the Tyler. More waiting. Eternity came and went. Finally, the same guy appeared at the corner to my left. I said a small prayer: "Make him say my name. Please make him say my name…"

"Steve."

Prayer answered, I leaped up and followed him into a place that was more a closet than a room. The three guys in there helped me put on a pair of… well… pajamas. They took a gold cross I wore on a chain around my neck, replaced it with a cord of some sort, slipped a sandal on me and then in their haste apparently forgot to put on the other one. After they blindfolded me, the main guy, followed by the other two, escorted me to a set of double doors, knocked and announced my presence. After a small wait, I was, for the first time in my life, in an open Masonic Lodge room.

I went through the degree, trying to soak it all in. I learned the lack of a second sandal was not a mistake. I learned why they took the gold chain from me. But it was like drinking from a fire hose. Other things I had experienced… well… I had questions.

They took me back out of the Lodge room, had me put on my street clothes, took me back in and we wrapped things up. It was amazing that the degree that seemed to take so long while I was waiting had passed in a flash. Parts of the degree swirled through my head as I tried to remember everything I had been through.

Then, suddenly, as they sat me on the sidelines, I realized there would be another degree for the poor guy who was still waiting outside, and I would get to see it. I was elated they had called me second, so I could immediately review what I had seen.

There was a knock at the door I had recently passed through. The same three guys walked in with the third candidate. I focused my attention. I hung on every word, every motion, every symbolic allusion. I watched transfixed with my Brothers… my BROTHERS… and tried to absorb it like a dry sponge in water. My Masonic education had begun.