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Why did you become a Mason?

brother josh

Registered User
I have a long line of grandfathers ahead of me that belonged to our order when I joined I did it to find brotherhood and indeed I have found just that


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barofdeath

Registered User
Well said my friend. Men need the wisdom of the elders, and the world needs the light of freemasonry.

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Rauchbier1987

Registered User
I come from a long line of masons and have an inherent interest in gaining knowledge about many things. I felt that as there was more to be known about certain things and becoming a brother was a great honor that was the next logical step to bettering myself while learning a great many things.

Brother Morris
 

STEV1E

Registered User
I became a Master n Mark Master Mason following my Father n Elders from Darkness to Light into Freemasonry as did my My Son jst Lately there Brother Stephen Lodge Kenmuir 570 Springburn Glasgow Scotland
 

FlBrother324

Registered User
Brethren, we all have different stories. Why did you choose to petition Freemasonry?

To my Brethren,

As a child of 6 or 7, I asked my Great Uncle Milford what kind of ring he was wearing? He let me hold it, and said it was a Masonic ring and that he was a Mason. When I asked him what that meant, he said, " he belonged to a group of men that took care of children and other people when they were in need." Being a Shriner as well, he told me about all the children they helped in the hospitals.

I was so amazed at his response to my question, I told him that I wanted to be like him and how do I become a Mason?
His response has stuck with me ever since: "When the time is right you'll know, it's a calling from God, when that happens, come and see me and I'll get you started."

Unfortunately as I got older, my carrier and life in general steered me in a different direction and by the time I realized what had been missing in my life ( "the calling") he had passed to the Celestial Lodge Above. At age 42 being retired and looking for some additional spiritual guidance, I had a sort of an epiphany, and those fateful words came rushing back to me. I visualized myself standing in front of my Uncle Milford as a boy and hearing him say, "when the time is right come see me!" I knew then what i needed to do; he was helping me toward the Masonic Light!

I have since found out that my Grandfather and two of my other uncles were both Masons and Shriners.

We have continued the Masonic tradition in my family with my wife and daughter joining Eastern Star, and last year I was privileged to introduce my nephew to the Fraternity. He has since been raised to the Sublime Degree of a MM, and has started through the line in his Lodge.

I am presently the Worshipful Master of my Home Lodge (Inglis-324, Inglis, Fl., and Master of our 15th District's Memorial Lodge-915), Zone chairman of the Child ID Program as well.

Becoming a Mason has made me a better man, and my only regret is that I waited so long to make the right choice.
I continue to learn and seek Light, and have found contentment in my heart!

May God watch over all of mankind, especially my Brethren and extended Masonic Family throughout the world.

Yours in His service,


W:. Richard Corcoran, 32•
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
Why I continue to attend regularly is a different matter. I discovered that the personal interaction at lodge fills a need that I never knew I had before petitioning. I came for the activities. I return for the fellowship.
Same here. The reason that I originally joined was because of the caliber of the men that I met that were Masons. Men well thought of in their communities and the kind of men that I respected. I wanted to be one of them.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
...Becoming a Mason has made me a better man, and my only regret is that I waited so long ...

I can't tell how many times I've heard that said.

I was working as a volunteer with a guy who was dead keen on me joining... he kept suggesting I'd be a great freemason. After about a year of this, i thought I'd ask around about the freemasons and got some good information. One particular man i very much respected asked me why i was asking about them, and i mentioned a friend thought i should join, he smiled and responded "i do too".

I was initiated after promising myself if i every saw something in the content of the ritual that i didn't like, I'd walk out. Over a decade later I've been a master 3 times, twice in my mother lodge, once in another where i was a foundation member.

Joining Freemasonry was one of the best decisions I've made.

My proposer died last March. He must have been happy to create a member like me (newsletter editor, ritualist, leader, active and who understands you have to earn the title "brother" every day, the importance of pocket, heart and hand, and being happy and communicating happiness to others.... sorry if all that sounds like hubris).... he taught me many things, but one important lesson was to share Freemasonry with others. These men were are talking about did that for us- make sure you follow there example and share freemasonry. I was thinking of my proposer last Thursday when i toasted a new EA i had proposed.

Thanks for sharing your stories brothers, there are some moving ones there.
 

RhushidaK

Registered User
While my family had no links whatsoever to Freemasonry, or had even heard about Freemasonry, I developed a keen interest in history, mythology and symbols. And one name kept coming again and again. Freemasonry.

I wanted to join since I was 14. Of course joining then was impossible. But my interest just kept on growing. At the age of 24, after I got my Masters degree and started working, I knew it was time to join. Got in contact with a few masons, from any and every possible source I could find. Contacted a few lodges. My family was initially against me joining though, given that Freemasonry was something they had never heard of. And when they did, it seemed something pro-Christian to them (I'm from a Hindu family). So that resistance was there initially.

So got in contact with one of the lodges, and was invited along with my father for post-lodge meeting dinner. And the masons I met some of the most jovial and fun people I've met. They answered all the questions we had. We had a great time. Decided to join the very next day. And now two months later, here I am, now a Fellowcraft.
 

Mark.y

Registered User
I grew up in a small mining town in southern Arizona where my father worked as a millwright in the local mine.
When I was five years old, the mine that supported the small town went on strike and since this was all that there really was in this town for employment, my father moved our family, in a small camping trailer to Tempe until the strike concluded.
To support our family, my father (red haired, fair skinned man) went out in the Arizona sun each day to pick cotton from daylight til dark six days a week to keep our family afloat. I remember him coming home at night, burnt terribly by the sun and hands dry and bleeding from his day in the fields. This went on for nine months when the word came that the strike had finally been settled.
We returned home and found that part of the settlement was a back pay of all of the employees who had weathered the storm which was a good sum of money for us at the time.
My mom insisted that my father, due to his efforts take a portion of the money and buy for himself something that he had always wanted.
My dad insisted that this was unnecessary, but at the insistence of my mother he blurted out one night that the only thing that he had always wanted, but could never afford previously, was to become a Mason.
I remember him studying for hours out of a little black book, we knew nothing of what he was trying to learn, he became a Mason and still studied from the little black book, hour after hour every evening.
I remember very clearly, as about a seven year old, picking up the little black book while he was in another room to try to learn the secrets of what he was studying... It was just a block of letters, page after page. I didn't get it at all, was he trying to learn an abstract alphabet order... Didn't make any sense at all to me and so I asked and I was told " The answers to being a good man are in those letters, and if, when you grow up and become a good person, and you're interested still want to find out what it says, ask me and I will make sure you find out".
Time passed and before I was old enough to become a Mason, I moved to Wyoming where I knew no one who was a Mason and as the years passed, I became less interested.
I met a man who I was shooting black powder cannons with that I found out was also a Mason and told him my Dad was a Mason also. He took me under his wing and soon, I was filling out a petition.
My father had become much older by this point in my life, and struggled with the effects of years of smoking. I would go and see him, talk to him every week on the phone about Masonry and I learned what he promised that I would when I was young, how to be a good Man.
I was never able to sit with my father in lodge as he was too infirm to go a short time after I became a Mason, but I learned more from him about the craft in his everyday actions, than I have learned in my time in the lodge. My time in lodge has mainly just shined a larger light for me on just how good of a man he was and how much he had took this to heart, so I do all that I can every day of my life to try to become half as good of a Mason as he was.
My youngest son is now in the lodge, and I am hoping that someday he can look back at me, and think the same way as I do about my dad....
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
I grew up in a small mining town in southern Arizona where my father worked as a millwright in the local mine.
When I was five years old, the mine that supported the small town went on strike and since this was all that there really was in this town for employment, my father moved our family, in a small camping trailer to Tempe until the strike concluded.
To support our family, my father (red haired, fair skinned man) went out in the Arizona sun each day to pick cotton from daylight til dark six days a week to keep our family afloat. I remember him coming home at night, burnt terribly by the sun and hands dry and bleeding from his day in the fields. This went on for nine months when the word came that the strike had finally been settled.
We returned home and found that part of the settlement was a back pay of all of the employees who had weathered the storm which was a good sum of money for us at the time.
My mom insisted that my father, due to his efforts take a portion of the money and buy for himself something that he had always wanted.
My dad insisted that this was unnecessary, but at the insistence of my mother he blurted out one night that the only thing that he had always wanted, but could never afford previously, was to become a Mason.
I remember him studying for hours out of a little black book, we knew nothing of what he was trying to learn, he became a Mason and still studied from the little black book, hour after hour every evening.
I remember very clearly, as about a seven year old, picking up the little black book while he was in another room to try to learn the secrets of what he was studying... It was just a block of letters, page after page. I didn't get it at all, was he trying to learn an abstract alphabet order... Didn't make any sense at all to me and so I asked and I was told " The answers to being a good man are in those letters, and if, when you grow up and become a good person, and you're interested still want to find out what it says, ask me and I will make sure you find out".
Time passed and before I was old enough to become a Mason, I moved to Wyoming where I knew no one who was a Mason and as the years passed, I became less interested.
I met a man who I was shooting black powder cannons with that I found out was also a Mason and told him my Dad was a Mason also. He took me under his wing and soon, I was filling out a petition.
My father had become much older by this point in my life, and struggled with the effects of years of smoking. I would go and see him, talk to him every week on the phone about Masonry and I learned what he promised that I would when I was young, how to be a good Man.
I was never able to sit with my father in lodge as he was too infirm to go a short time after I became a Mason, but I learned more from him about the craft in his everyday actions, than I have learned in my time in the lodge. My time in lodge has mainly just shined a larger light for me on just how good of a man he was and how much he had took this to heart, so I do all that I can every day of my life to try to become half as good of a Mason as he was.
My youngest son is now in the lodge, and I am hoping that someday he can look back at me, and think the same way as I do about my dad....
Great story brother!

Sent from my LG-H918 using My Freemasonry mobile app
 

GaTnMason

Registered User
Brethren, we all have different stories. Why did you choose to petition Freemasonry?
Curiosity and both grandfathers were members. I now hold lifetime membership in both states that they were members. It's has and still is a very rewarding fraternity. Countless memories made and friends mad any where I go. Enjoy traveling to other lodges, have reconnected with school classmates that are brothers also. I can't say enough good points on being a active member.
 

HoldenMonty

Registered User
I always knew my grandfather was a mason growing up and my dad became a mason so growing up I always had a positive view of freemasonry. After I got out of the military I enjoyed civilian life for a few months but then started to miss the brotherhood that I had in the military. I thought about checking out the American Legion or the VFW since in my time in the Air Force I did my time in Afghanistan. But I didn't like the idea of a bar being the main social area. While I was looking for work I went and helped my dad get the Lodge ready for their meetings and asked a few questions here and there and eventually asked for a petition.
 

GJB

Registered User
Brethren, we all have different stories. Why did you choose to petition Freemasonry?
Let me begin by saying that my father was a master mason since before I was born. He had an older friend (who was also a lodge brother) whom I grew up around and always considered to be part of my family. Since I never had the chance to get to know either of my grandfathers, I looked to him as an honorary grandfather. He passed away some time ago (RIP), but I will never forget what he and my father meant to me. These gentlemen are/were the finest men I have ever met. They taught me everything I know about respect, honor, integrity, and brotherhood. They taught me how to live my life as an upright man; they are the reason I petitioned the lodge at the ripe old age of 23 and have never looked back.

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Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
They taught me everything I know about respect, honor, integrity, and brotherhood. They taught me how to live my life as an upright man; they are the reason I petitioned the lodge at the ripe old age of 23 and have never looked back.
Nice!
 

LK600

Premium Member
My first exposure to Mason's (that I am aware of) happened not long after I graduated the Academy and was stationed at my detachment. To cut the story short, I became aware that many of the guys I trusted and respected the most were Mason's. I remember thinking... if this organization had such good people in it, it most certainly was something I'd be interested in exploring. My grandfather taught me about honor, loyalty, and sacrifice, but these guys showed me it in practice. I am who I am today thanks to those Masons.
 

Ripcord22A

Site Benefactor
My first exposure to Mason's (that I am aware of) happened not long after I graduated the Academy and was stationed at my detachment. To cut the story short, I became aware that many of the guys I trusted and respected the most were Mason's. I remember thinking... if this organization had such good people in it, it most certainly was something I'd be interested in exploring. My grandfather taught me about honor, loyalty, and sacrifice, but these guys showed me it in practice. I am who I am today thanks to those Masons.

What academy?
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
nice! Is that in Institute as well?
It was at the time my class finished up in Sept. 82. However, by the time of the next class Corrections had it's own academy up and going. My class was the last corrections class to go through the WV State Police Academy. The State Police Academy is located in Institute.
 
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