Search results

To echo what others have said, here in Maine Blue Lodge ciphers are blue (and VERY small, they can fit easily into a shirt pocket let alone that of your suitcoat or tux), Chapter red though not as thick as Blue Lodge cipher books. I'm not a member of the Maine Consistory, but rather the...

Your wife, you, and your family will remain in my prayers.

We have air conditioning, and we're in Maine! Tuxes for degree work we consider to be "serious". I lived in Texas for 20 some odd years, and I wore a tux to the Symphony at Jones Hall in Houston and would do the same for degree work up here in Maine and do. That being said, we meet on the level...

Costa Rica was formerly called "British Honduras". I can imagine there are a lot of Freemasons there.

I knew my great-grandmother who's husband's Masonic Diploma hangs on my father's office wall, next to his father's and his Blue Lodge and Scottish Rite diploma. I'd give him my three (Blue Lodge, Scottish Rite, Royal Arch) but they remind me every day of my obligations. It took me about three...

Welcome Brother! I wish you safety in the service of our country, and good luck. Fifth generation Mason here. I know how proud you must be having a family history of Masons. You'd be a welcome visitor at my Lodge in Maine any day. Keep us updated in your journey and above all, I wish you safety.

By the way, many of our newest members are active with our monthly bean suppers (we have a couple of hundred community members in for those suppers per month) and some, such as myself, got in line immediately. THAT is an active lodge.

Our lodge is different. Yes, we have elderly members we see infrequently or only when we're doing degree work or officer elections, but many of the line officers--including myself are under 60 and several, again including myself, are under 50. We've got a brand new DeMolay chapter, for which I...

I have served on IC committees for my lodge and we certainly don't look for or ask for people's involvement in social media sites. We are old-fashioned in that regard. Personally, I think one can tell a lot about the character of a person by talking to them and to their references. I find the...

Congratulations on your acceptance as a candidate! I've served on inquiry committees for my lodge, and of course, went through that process myself. The advice about wives/spouses given in this thread is good. I'm always quick to point out that there associated bodies for women and girls (as well...

I always wear a suit and tie to stated meetings. As an officer, I feel that is appropriate though some people come from blue-collar jobs directly to lodge and wear less formal clothes, including a couple of officers, and the last couple of WMs felt that was preferable to not having them there at...

I would add that "criminal offense" is not all that black-and-white. Some Grand Lodges are stricter than others. Having a Felony on your record probably disqualifies a candidate nearly anywhere in the US. Misdemeanors, on the other hand, may not disqualify you unless they are habitual. I can't...

A good friend of mine is an African-American (female) Episcopal Priest. While her congregation is ethnically mixed, it is mostly A-A. There is a huge PHA contingent in her congregation and IIRC, her father was also a Mason. There are a lot of African-American Episcopalians here in New England...

I agree.

Christianity and Freemasonry have nothing to do with one another unless you take certain appendant bodies into consideration like the Commandery. Most of us here are probably Christians, however, we probably have very different ideas about what that means. Blue Lodge Freemasonry has no...

Congratulations. Two more degrees to go. Keep it real.

How this has anything to do with Freemasonry, I really have no idea. Now, given that--as far as we know--Freemasonry had its beginnings as proto-unions, aka, guilds,well, I can see why hundreds might walk out with a brother. I cannot see how "every man for himself" is a Masonic construct.

We've all been through the same ritual, welcome!

In the NMJ of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, I suspect we take the same approach to ritual as they do in the rest of the country (Southern Jurisdiction) with some small variances in "ritual". I'll take my NMJ dues card down to Washington, D.C., and I am rather sure that I would be let in in...

I'm a fifth-generation Master Mason, a third-generation Scottish Rite Mason, and as far as I know, the first to be a Royal Arch Mason in my family. Who is the G. A.O.T.U? My forebears who were Masons, including my father, tend to be rather "Enlightenment-era" informed. I'm an Episcopalian...