Recent content by Brother JStoffo

Jeez! What happened? That's a lot of Latin Lodges.

Any chance that this is a throwback to Freemason's potential connection with the Knights of the Temple of Solomon? If the Knights have spent every year since 1307 getting back at the Catholic Church, it makes sense that the Church will continue to go after the descendants of the Fraternal...

Just do it. You'll live. I would love to hear that you finally get to open that box. It's worth it.

Are there any other Masons not discouraged enough to comment? This site is supposed to encourage free thought, not stifle it. Is our situation in the USA noticeable elsewhere in the world? I know that here in the USA, our TV news and social media have brainwashed most into thinking that young...

This is an interesting article. When I read it on the Midnight Freemasons site, it got me thinking about the mental state of young men now and where their mental state will be in ten years from now. I can only speak for how young men are treated in the USA and do not know that this is the case...

We were in the Lodge building but not the Lodge Room. The area where we have a meal before the meeting. Being an old navy guy, I call it the chow hall. I'm sure that there is a more Masonic word. Not the Ante room either. In Florida, we are not allowed to have liquor in the Lodge at all...

Well, I just left a Lodge meeting in a suburb of Portland Oregon. Most of the Brethren sat in the North and some in the South. The Treasurer, Chaplin and Senior Deacon were in the North on the East side. Interesting. A great touch was that after the stated meeting, all of us had our beverage...

Our entrance doors in the USA are generally in the South West and the ante room is in the North West.

We have seats in the North but they are rarely occupied. Unless we have a large gathering or a Memorial of some sort. In that case, we place the family there. Most Lodges in the Florida Keys have seats in the North and most of the time they are empty.

Just about every "permanently installed" organ or piano that I have seen in Lodge is in the Northeast behind the Treasurer. But when I and other musicians travel to a different Lodge, the North is always quite open.

This is an old thread. I only found it because I am a musician and the only place for keyboards is in the North in some of the Lodges that I have visited. Would it make sense to have music emanating from the North? A place of darkness doesn't necessarily include sound. There were a lot of...

I see your point. It is actually more suited to a Masonic Memorial Service. At the last one I played an excerpt from Mozart's Masonic funeral but was told that it was depressing! Too depressing for a funeral?

Is it acceptable to play Pleyel's Hymn for any degree including EA and FC? Or is this reserved for MM only?

Congratulations Honorable Mayor, Commissioner and Chief. I hope that this helps bring some sanity back to NYC!

Brother John, I just started my second book by you. Ther are quite a few pages in this one, as the last one, regarding the distinction between Masons and Freemasons. I offer no resistance to this and am completely open to the concept and even finally understand this difference, and am...