I've been wanting to be a Freemason for a long time but until now I didn't have the courage to go forward with it.
But unfortunately a few years ago I did something foolish and I feel I might have ruined my chances.
Basically I was going through a rough time - I had been downsized from my previously good job.
I managed to get a very stressful and dangerous job to keep the lights on and feed my family - but during that time I started drinking too much to deal with the stress of the job.
So to make a long story shorter - one night while drunk and going for a walk late at night, I walked past a local lodge which had a lamp light on in its study which caught my attention. Because I've been tempted to be a mason forever I was very curious so I walked up to the porch of the lodge.. and the door was open/unlocked.
I walked in and nobody was there so I sat down and turned on the TV which seemed to be playing a Mason orientation video and I read one of the books on the self.. and I walked around and looked around the lodge.
Somehow trespassing on private property didn't seem like an extremely dumb idea with a large amount of alcohol in my system even though it's nothing I would have done while sober.
So anyways, the next day, after sobering up I realized how incredibly stupid I was - and frankly nervous I might get into legal trouble since they have cameras all around the building.
After talking about my stupidity with my wife- I decided I should just call a local Mason and admit what I did, and apologize and offer to do some free work or something to make up for it.
So I looked up the numbers of local masons and tried to call several of them. Left messages and didn't get any call backs.
Only one person called back after several days and left me a voice-mail message and he seemed pretty annoyed in his message that I had called his phone too many times. I admit I probably did call too many times but
I was just very anxious about wanting to get my confession over with trying to find someone who would call me back.
At that point I gave up trying to get anyone on the phone - and just decided I would make 1 attempt to go to the lodge and knock on the door. If anyone answered I would admit what I did - if not I would give up and not bother anyone else.
Well, in my luck two Masons were in the lodge and they listened dutifully to my confession. I apologized and offered to do free computer work or volunteer work to make up for my bad behavior and also said I planned to quit drinking so I didn't do anything like that again.
I left my name and number.
One of the Masons was very nice to me - and said I was very honorable.
Since that time I have stopped drinking - and my employment situation is stable and everything is much better.
And I would like to apply to my local lodge but I am worried that I will be rejected because of what happened.
I have a clean record and that is the only really bad thing I have done BUT I know character is important and I'm afraid I might have ruined my chances by:
(1) Being a lawless drunk.
and
(2) Phone bombing them.
Two things I regret and have learned from.
I do realize I could apply to another nearby lodge but I would really prefer to join the local lodge of my town if they would have me, and frankly I think the people in the other local lodges are going to be like "Why are you coming here instead of your own town?".
So, what would you do?
But unfortunately a few years ago I did something foolish and I feel I might have ruined my chances.
Basically I was going through a rough time - I had been downsized from my previously good job.
I managed to get a very stressful and dangerous job to keep the lights on and feed my family - but during that time I started drinking too much to deal with the stress of the job.
So to make a long story shorter - one night while drunk and going for a walk late at night, I walked past a local lodge which had a lamp light on in its study which caught my attention. Because I've been tempted to be a mason forever I was very curious so I walked up to the porch of the lodge.. and the door was open/unlocked.
I walked in and nobody was there so I sat down and turned on the TV which seemed to be playing a Mason orientation video and I read one of the books on the self.. and I walked around and looked around the lodge.
Somehow trespassing on private property didn't seem like an extremely dumb idea with a large amount of alcohol in my system even though it's nothing I would have done while sober.
So anyways, the next day, after sobering up I realized how incredibly stupid I was - and frankly nervous I might get into legal trouble since they have cameras all around the building.
After talking about my stupidity with my wife- I decided I should just call a local Mason and admit what I did, and apologize and offer to do some free work or something to make up for it.
So I looked up the numbers of local masons and tried to call several of them. Left messages and didn't get any call backs.
Only one person called back after several days and left me a voice-mail message and he seemed pretty annoyed in his message that I had called his phone too many times. I admit I probably did call too many times but
I was just very anxious about wanting to get my confession over with trying to find someone who would call me back.
At that point I gave up trying to get anyone on the phone - and just decided I would make 1 attempt to go to the lodge and knock on the door. If anyone answered I would admit what I did - if not I would give up and not bother anyone else.
Well, in my luck two Masons were in the lodge and they listened dutifully to my confession. I apologized and offered to do free computer work or volunteer work to make up for my bad behavior and also said I planned to quit drinking so I didn't do anything like that again.
I left my name and number.
One of the Masons was very nice to me - and said I was very honorable.
Since that time I have stopped drinking - and my employment situation is stable and everything is much better.
And I would like to apply to my local lodge but I am worried that I will be rejected because of what happened.
I have a clean record and that is the only really bad thing I have done BUT I know character is important and I'm afraid I might have ruined my chances by:
(1) Being a lawless drunk.
and
(2) Phone bombing them.
Two things I regret and have learned from.
I do realize I could apply to another nearby lodge but I would really prefer to join the local lodge of my town if they would have me, and frankly I think the people in the other local lodges are going to be like "Why are you coming here instead of your own town?".
So, what would you do?