If you’ve ever asked, “what is Freemasonry?”
then Friendship Masonic Lodge’s June experience offers a clear answer.
We kicked off June with the annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Oregon, in our stae capitol, Salem. Brothers from accross the state, the country and (this year) the world come together to conduct the highest-level business of their state and enjoy the warmth of brotherly love and to keep alive longer-distanced relationships with dear friends. This is precisely how the first day of “An Com 2018” was spent.
Brothers from Enlightenment, Waverly, Beaverton and Friendship Masonic Lodges en route to dinner in Salem.
On the evening of the second day of Grand Lodge our Worshipful Master recieved an urgent message from home – his wife’s parents had been hit in a traffic accident and he was needed at home ASAP. After a few short conversations several Brother Masons stepped up to offer their cars to WB Walter so that he could get back home immediately rather than try to rent a car. It turns out that this kind of charity was common in our Lodge this June, with our Bros. Junior Warden Kent and Senior Deacon Brian each donating their cars to people in distress without a moment’s hesitation. If this keeps up Friendship may need to change its name to Oprah Masonic Lodge…
The following week Brother Kevin Miller-Conley gave an exemplary proficiency performance on the Entered Apprentice Degree at our June Stated Meeting. Bro. Kevin then proceeded to give a talk on the working tools of an Entered Apprentice Mason which thoroughly impressed everyone and even gained some attention abroad! It seems that Brother Kevin’s talk reached a bit beyond Friendship’s walls; with one District Deputy from the Grand Lodge of Texas and a Chaplain of another Lodge in Rode Island each requesting a copy of his work, which is available to members of Friendship Lodge here along with other good materials in the Original Content section of our online Library.
Brother Kevin Miller-Conley during our after-meeting discussion of his presentation.
On the third week of June Friendship Masonic Lodge had the delight of initiating our good friend (and now Brother), Gustavo Ramirez into the Fraternity. Every Entered Apprentice Degree is a beautiful event, but this one was particularly special for everyone. “The best EA Degree I’ve ever seen”, our Junior Warden Kent Smith exclaimed in the following days.
Chillin’ in the shade between the main course(s) and the justifiably hyped Bean Bag Toss Tournament.
In celebration of the festival of Saint John the Baptist (curiously close to the summer solstice) Friendship Lodge hosted it’s annual North Portland Masonic Hangout in Bro. Kent Smith’s lovely home. Masonic Brothers, family, friends and nieghbors gathered together to enjoy the longest day of the year in comfort and leisure.
As June moves to close, the Masons of Friendship Lodge are still hard at work in the quarry: our Worshipful Master will be travelling to Beaverton Lodge No. 100 on the 28th to give the Entered Apprentice Degree lecture; and both our Worshipful Master and Senior Warden will contribute their fine ritual chops to a double EA Degree the following night at Enlightenment Lodge No. 228.
All this hard work done, we’re happy to take some time to enjoy the Fourth of July in our various ways with our families, and rejoin our Labors on the 11th with smiles on our faces.
