Recently the fortunate brethren of Friendship 160 and their esteemed guests were treated to a fascinating historical review presented by WB Dan Gray (Research #198). He wove for us a wonderful true story about an innovative time in Masonry spearheaded by a couple of amazing men – one of whom is Friendship’s own Jack Armstrong. The story moved all of us, and reflected at its core one of the principal virtues of our fraternity: Justice. I’d like to introduce this very subject for your consideration by way of what one might call a not-so-concluding post script to WB Gray’s talk.
The southerly winds are wont to blow warm, and that holds true for January as well as July! This month, our stated meeting will be Wednesday, January 3rd, at the usual location. Brother Pease (Kenton 145) is preparing yet another wonderful meal – this time it will be built around Swedish meatballs. Dinner hour gets going right around 6, and ends just before meeting time at 7. January’s education will involve the reading of a short essay by yours truly, on the subject of Libertines and Masonry. Read More
A visit to the Northwest Masonic Discussion page on Facebook is highly recommended to those with the luxury of time, some familiarity of the format, and the right machinery. For those who have none of the above, let this stand for a substitute! Recent conversations there, between Brothers from across our region, have covered the following topics: Whether UGLE is right to have participated in a documentary showing Blue Lodge degree work start to finish; whether one-day classes for Blue Lodge degrees in Ohio are a good idea; a call for papers from the Quator Coronati Conference; whether the use of technology (specifically, video-chatting over the internet) to practice degree work is a violation of secrecy; identifying vintage sterling Masonic calling-card cases as such; a brief history of anti-Masonry; and last, but not least, an open discussion of the meaning of “Temperance.” It is this last subject that inspired what follows here – a very brief look at Temperance as a Masonic Virtue. Read More