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I'm meeting a man tomorrow to get my lodge petition. However, I'm about to leave the country for a study abroad program. Is it worth it to apply now, when I'm going to be overseas for five months?
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Dec 2, 2014 03:04
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I just had my initial interview last night. I think it went well, and I'm told that I'll likely receive word around mid-December. It's been about a year long process, given that I left the country after submitting my petition, so the fact that things are moving along is pretty exciting.
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Nov 11, 2015 19:02
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Good news! I was accepted, and my initiation is set for December 29th.
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Dec 23, 2015 06:43
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Well, I had my initiation last night. Everything went very well, and after we closed and congratulations were issued, we had a nice drink at the bar that operates right next to our building. I'm very glad I decided to pursue this course in my life. The members of this lodge are very warm and friendly, and even though I'm by far the youngest member at 23, I feel welcomed and respected by everyone.
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Dec 31, 2015 06:28
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jrgnsn_tjf posted:Great to hear mate. What part of the world are you from. Were scattered all over the earths broad surface itt ... USA, specifically Eastern Shore of Maryland.
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Jan 1, 2016 08:01
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jrgnsn_tjf posted:Maryland sounds like a gorgeous place. One of my favourite podcasts features a comedian named Ryan Sickler and he's always talking about its highs and lows in some parts - normally the highs though. Without saying too much, I was appropriately surprised by the goat. Many from Maryland would argue that I come from one of the low parts of Maryland, and I would find it hard to argue. That said, there is beauty to be found here, and it's my home, so I'm inclined to point out the good of the area. What podcast would you be referring to? I'm always looking for more to listen to at the gym or on my commutes.
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Jan 1, 2016 20:38
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GlyphGryph posted:Greetings, new Brothers. I have completed my initiation. Welcome me aboard! Welcome, brother. I'm recently initiated myself, so I'm probably working on the same things you are.
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Jan 13, 2016 23:59
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SylvainMustach posted:http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/26/us/milwaukee-masonic-temple-mass-shooting-planned-charges/ Terrifying... I'm glad this individual was caught before this became a tragedy.
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Jan 27, 2016 03:42
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In better news, I'm told I delivered a perfect EA Catechism tonight. It's a really great feeling, being given such emphatic compliments from men I respect and admire. It really cements for me the fact that I've fallen in to a great group.
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Feb 17, 2016 05:12
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GlyphGryph posted:
This, from my understanding, is correct. One of the Popes made it an ex communicable offense years ago, and it hasn't since been changed. Though, I'm sure its not something the Catholic Church is still actively enforcing. From what I understand, the Knights of Columbus, an organization my Catholic father is a part of, was formed as a result.
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Feb 25, 2016 20:18
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We initiated two new brothers tonight at our lodge! All in all, everything went well. There was a slight hiccup when one candidate, a young man of 20, upon being asked the big question replied with "My Parents". I'm sure they're proud. But it will be nice to have a few guys closer to my age at the dinners.
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Mar 2, 2016 05:41
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Lovable Luciferian posted:Haha that's great. Did anyone laugh? I hope not, since I'd hate to see a candidates' dignity harmed.. Nah, we managed to restrain ourselves. The WM leaned in and gently guided the candidate to the correct answer, and things proceeded smoothly from there.
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Mar 2, 2016 06:35
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Wow, that's absolutely gorgeous. I'm awestruck.
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Mar 4, 2016 18:10
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Lovable Luciferian posted:Well I'll tell you something and you can verify this by looking at my older posts in the thread. I seriously considered demitting because I don't want to directly and willingly associate with homophobes. So this put a personal moral dilemma to rest for me. That's essentially the view I take on the subject. I may be a fairly new brother, but I absolutely wouldn't have petitioned in the first place, if I had the impression I would be associated with homophobia via membership. I'm fortunate in that my state was an early adopter of marriage equality, so I don't think our GL would ever do something like TN or GA. Masonry was presented to me as an organization that sought to make good men better, and I would have found that contradictory, if good men were excluded for reasons such as sexual orientation.
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Mar 10, 2016 02:18
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patentmagus posted:There was racial segregation when and where I was raised. It bothered me a lot. Now I sit in lodge with a black man and call him brother. I wouldn't have this privilege if I'd stormed off at the thought of being associated with racism via membership. I am glad to hear the situation was changed for the better, brother. What influenced your decision to be made a Mason, despite your misgivings on that subject?
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Mar 10, 2016 03:13
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I'm very sorry to hear that, Loomer. Naturally, I don't know all the circumstances, but it seems like, regardless of the reasons for the decision, it's highly unfortunate. In positive news, tonight is my FC degree! I'm looking forward to it, but I'm a little nervous about having to learn another catechism, as my new job has me working twice as many hours as the one I had when I was learning my first one.
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Mar 15, 2016 18:35
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Colonial Air Force posted:Fellow Craft is my favorite. That's definitely a relief. I feel like I know the EA catechism backwards and forwards by now, so it's good to know I won't have too many issues.
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Mar 15, 2016 21:58
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GlyphGryph posted:I just did mine, it was great fun! New stuff is easy as. You think so? I feel like it went too quickly for me to memorize it all as much. It was definitely powerful. A lot to take in. But I'm sure with a few practices I'll have it down. I went through the degree alongside the elderly brother who did the first two pages of our EA catechism. We're likely going to divide this one similarly, as his memory isn't what it once was.
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Mar 16, 2016 03:20
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Loomer posted:Ostensibly, because it's 'more efficient' to move us into a smaller, less safe temple out of town. It's part of a broader strategy of moving freemasonry out of rural areas into centralized urban centers, which is absurd in this case as we happen to be the largest urban center in the region, with the largest temple of the sturdiest design, longest history, and strongest finances. But, the plan is to move us into that smaller temple, which they'll then probably try and shut down as well, because two other major towns in the district are our 'major masonic centres'. This is sound advice, thank you. It's definitely been something I've had to remind myself of, on occasion. Though the things I may hear from some of my elderly brethren may not always sit right with me, I find the lessons learned of great value, and I have hope that, with the aid of my fellow young brothers entering the lodge alongside me, we'll be a positive influence on those around us, and on Masonry as a whole.
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Mar 16, 2016 04:11
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Beerdeer posted:I haven't been to the temple in 6 months. I was having trouble memorizing the EA degree, which this year they started requiring us to memorize in full, and I was getting no help from the active brethren. They'd just leave me in a library while they did prep for other rituals upstairs. I'm sorry to hear that, brother! Even during this busy period for us, the brethren at my lodge took time to work on my catechism at least once a week... Are you required to learn it all mouth-to-ear?
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Mar 18, 2016 16:46
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In Maryland, we also have little coded books (shorthand, really, it's not terribly hard to decipher) with some of the more sensitive information left blank or reduced to the first letter of each word, so personal instruction is still necessary. I find it helps me a lot, as I find it hard to memorize anything if I don't have access to some resources. The mouth to ear lessons ensure I'm learning it word perfect, too. It works for us.
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Mar 21, 2016 14:38
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Teddybear posted:It wasn't, it was several years ago. I had my memory jogged in a dumb way and remembered that I never really figured out what was up with that side of him. I'm almost certain they'd still be happy to talk to you.
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Mar 23, 2016 23:30
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Seconded! I'm absolutely awestruck.
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Apr 13, 2016 04:26
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Cimber posted:Well got some good news. My petition was balloted and and approved! Now I just need to wait until September or October for me to get my EA. That's fairly long. Mine was about a year, but that was mostly due to the complication of my being in another country for half a year after I submitted my petition. I've seen petition to initiation usually take a couple months, but I don't really know if that's the norm or not.
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Apr 28, 2016 17:30
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It's official! Tonight I'm being raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.
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May 3, 2016 15:26
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Well, all I can say is "wow". I certainly wasn't expecting that.
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May 4, 2016 04:29
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I still don't have one! We have general use ones at the lodge. I think they meant to give me one, because they gave me a really nice lapel pin, and said they were going to give me more things, but they ran out of gifts. Not that I'm complaining, I'm sure all will come in due time. So, in other updates, my mentor declared that I was well-versed in my MM catechism one week after I started studying it, and set my examination for this Tuesday. In addition, I've been put in charge of our lodge's website and will likely get handed the keys to our Facebook. I guess they tend to give the job to the youngest MM, because our SD, an extremely industrious brother in his mid-30s, was quite eager to pass the torch. It's certainly great to have a lot keeping me busy. Grognan posted:no beef with masonry but you guys take this pretty seriously, even if it has the unfortunate legacy of bad decisions past I'm not quite sure I understand your point.
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May 14, 2016 03:22
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I know this is addressed slightly in the OP, but I'm looking for interesting books related to Freemasonry. I read through A Pilgrim's Path, which was a good read, and our Junior Warden has gifted me a copy of "A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry" which is a bit intimidating, but a great resource. I'm not out to learn anything specific, so I'm open to any suggestions. In lodge news, we had an excellent EA degree last night, thanks to a special dispensation from the GL. It seems like fitting in work before we break for summer is a challenge. So much to do, so little time! I'm a little sad to see the season come, especially so quickly after my raising.
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May 25, 2016 15:21
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I'm definitely in your boat, brother. I'm very used to it, as I live in a very conservative area in general, so I too stay silent when politics comes up at dinner. Just focus on the positive, and try to learn from the ritual, even if you find the actions and words of some brethren distasteful. It's a lot easier to ignore bad politics than racism, of course. I had a very similar situation come up, and it was quite upsetting. But remember that situations like those is why the Lodge needs young Brethren like us to persist, and eventually be in the position to outlive those who haven't yet embraced diversity.
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May 26, 2016 19:25
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Loomer posted:
Thank you, brother. I've added it and "Freemasonry - The Reality" on the advice of our state's Masonic Research Society to my list.
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May 27, 2016 04:50
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Tonight I had the pleasure of filling in for one of the Stewards as we (with the special dispensation of the GL) examined five Master Masons on their catechisms. It was nice to see what it's like to be in one of the comfy chairs. If I can believe all the hinting from our elected Officers it's something I'll probably get used to, one day. In the four weeks since I've been raised, I really feel like a lot has opened up for me to do. I've been approached about a few appendant bodies, and have stepped up for website and facebook duties, as well as a bit of mentoring to our many EAs working on their catechisms. It's pretty interesting being, by a margin of 10 years, our lodge's youngest Master Mason. Mostly, a lot of surprise that I've continued to stick around and stay involved after my raising. Overall, I'm very glad that I ended up taking the necessary steps on this journey, and appreciate the bits of advice I've picked up from the Brethren in this thread. So thanks for that!
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Jun 1, 2016 04:24
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Paladine_PSoT posted:Woot! The day is here! Tonight I become an entered apprentice! Congratulations!
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Jun 7, 2016 22:45
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Last night was pretty great. Our lodge was host to the School of Instruction, practicing the FC degree. I sat JS, and apparently did a good job. What was truly great was seeing our lodge so full. We're a rather small lodge, able to fill all the chairs, but not much more than that. It's quite beautiful, seeing so many good men in harmony, especially during the summer.
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Jul 15, 2016 15:39
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Loomer posted:I find myself in the awkward position of several brothers wanting me to join the Templars while I'm not a Christian or a trinitarian in the conventional sense. I recognize the existence of the holy trinity but through a qabalistic and pantheistic perspective, but somehow I doubt that counts for their purposes. So just say "thanks, but no thanks". That's why I did. I'm pretty much the only Jewish guy in my lodge, so I get where you're coming from. My thoughts on the matter are, if you can't get behind the premise of the Templars, then you're probably not going to get much out of the ritual either, right?
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Aug 18, 2016 03:29
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Cimber posted:mine isnt. Lucky guy! (Our solution was to sell part of our building to a good bar) In other news, our first regular meeting back from the summer break was nice. I'm finding that my pockets are beginning to get filled with appendant body applications, though. I received a Scottish Rite and a Tall Cedars application last night, and had to respectfully decline York Rite, due to the whole Jewish ineligibility thing. I'm wary of overextending myself, as my job is fairly demanding, and I'm recently engaged. Not only that, but I'm getting strong hints that I'm a prime candidate for a soon to be vacant JD chair.I'm always eager for more fellowship and brotherhood, of course. What's a good way to prevent burnout?
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Sep 7, 2016 16:30
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COOL CORN posted:Brothers, I don't want to air dirty laundry here, but we had a pretty major (and incredibly petty) York Rite event happen today. I've been debating typing out what happened, but I want to use it as a cautionary tale of what can happen when you let your beef with another brother get out of hand. Basically, it ended in a York Rite reunion (scheduled for today) being shut down at 8am TODAY. All candidates for the degrees were sent home, and all of the $1500 worth of food was driven down to a local homeless shelter. Companions and Sir Knights from all over the state, some of whom had to wake up at 3am just to make it in time, had to turn around and drive back home. All because of a petty beef between two grand line officers. Goodness! That's truly disheartening. I hope that the candidates are able to dissociate this event from the organization as a whole... I'm sorry you had to bear witness to that, Brother. hopefully the officers involved are able to settle their differences...
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Sep 11, 2016 03:46
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It's certainly an interesting issue. On the one hand, in many other countries, as I understand, lodges having a bar is fairly typical. It's not been the case in my lodge, but I do live in the United States, and specifically, in a city that only recently repealed laws prohibiting liquor sales on Sunday. In situations where it's expected that a lodge have a bar, I'd expect that someone interested in the Fraternity would have to contend with that temptation, should they be a recovering alcoholic. However, as a large portion of lodges in the United States are dry, I don't know how I'd feel about them suddenly opening bars, for the reasons Sub Rosa discussed. It is worth considering that, for a recovering alcoholic, coming together in fellowship is a good way to be social and amongst friends without having to contend with battling addiction. I'm not an alcoholic myself, but there's a few recovering in my family. Some of them avoid minor family parties because they'd rather not be faced with that situation. In short, perhaps our lodge could be more fun if it had a bar, but we're not losing any candidates by not having one, and I certainly wouldn't want to lose a Brother by virtue of obtaining one. Fair assessment?
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Sep 16, 2016 23:40
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Keetron posted:All this and nobody is commenting on Jay-Z apparently being a Brother? That's a tough one, a lot of the good subtle gear tends to be ties, cufflinks, and rings. I know my people in my lodge have some tasteful polo shirts and baseball caps... This one from a cursory glance, isn't too bad. Pricey, though, and no clue where it's shipping from. I'm pretty sure our grand Lodge sells merchandise, some of it nice. I don't know if that's the case for other grand lodges.
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Sep 20, 2016 16:41
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Cimber posted:Well Brethren, I have be initiated. What a interesting ritual that was. Such an info dump at the end too where i probably have retained about 20-30 percent. I feel bad about that since the brothers spent a lot of time preparing and memorizing. Don't worry, you're not the only guy who they memorized all that for, and you'd have to have a photographic memory to have retained all of it in one go. The beauty of the ritual is, in part, its abundance. You'll get something new out of it the more you see it. As for your proficiency, it'll depend a lot on your district as to how often you can practice. Ours had code books, and with dedicated study, I committed mine to memory in about a month. Best way is to keep going to lodge, and catch a 1st degree practice or see someone else go through it.
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Sep 29, 2016 17:52
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Paramemetic posted:One letter. Oh are you in MD too? Hope we get to meet up sometime! I can understand being a bit put off by the slideshows, though, they seemed out of place to me too.
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Sep 30, 2016 13:52
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