My Freemasonry | Freemason Information and Discussion Forum
Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!
I know it used to be that if you signed up ("First Line Signer") on 10, you got an Endowment. And, if you already had your Endowment, you could give away your "Awarded Endowment" to someone else. Since the amount went up (more than doubled), I don't know if that changed or stayed the same.
I do...
If your Lodge is close to a DeMolay Chapter (geographically or otherwise), a lot of DeMolay Chapters have close relationships with Toys 4 Tots (Texas even sponsors a social event....a dance, natch....to get the toys together for the Marines. You could always work with them to get toys together...
I think it's $250 or $500 to receive the Degrees (it was only $150 back in 2004, but....). Dues are $125 a year (again, that's an "I think" because it went up recently; it was $100 for years). A Scottish Rite Endowment is $2500 (I got mine right before it went up to that).
I know I can visit...
I have an issue that's just arisen in my Masonic travels.
I lived in the Waco area for about 15 years and joined the Waco Scottish Rite in 2004. I am an Endowed Member of the Waco SRB.
This past summer, my wife and I moved to Texarkana, Texas. The closest Texas Valley to Texarkana is the...
Gurley Lodge in Waco hasn't owned its own building in decades. When I joined in 2004, we met in the Waco Scottish Rite Building. We moved a few years back into the Eastern Star's building close to downtown.
The only real problem I see with meeting in a building the Lodge doesn't own is that...
My understanding of the GL Law in Texas is that "side degrees" are not allowed to be conferred in Texas by regular Masons, but it is not illegal for a Texas Mason to receive such a degree from a source in another State, so long as the "side degree" does not attempt to disabuse him of the...
As to the OP, I grew up in Whitehouse, which is just outside Tyler, and was a member of Tyler DeMolay Chapter. There are two Lodges actually in Tyler, St. John's Lodge No. 53 (where my Dad and I were raised and he was Master) and Tyler Lodge No. 1233 (where the DeMolay Chapter met). There are...
I can see nixxon's point, though, about having universal codes of recognition.
While having all the different variations is interesting to those who study the history and development of the Order in various places, it makes it more difficult for those who can/want to take the time to travel to...
The thing that has to be learned by all of us at some point or another in our lives if we are to reach our true potential as humans is the difference between knowledge and wisdom, between fact and truth.
Unfortunately, the internet (and the people on it, including all of us) is too often...
I had to look up physiognomy to know what it was.
After doing that, I thought about that you do come across people who can "read" people at a glance. Although, rarely is that simply looking at their faces; it's looking at their entire physical appearance, something that's been called a...
A couple of interesting tidbits (no, I'm not an LEO...I'm a schoolteacher). My mother has been a Texas Highway Patrol secretary for 35+ years in Tyler and several of the HP troopers there are Brother Masons.
We've got a Secretary and a couple of young guys that are about to get into the line-up...
I've often wondered if opening OES up to any woman who believed in a Supreme Being, was of strong moral character, etc. (you know, the things we ask of a man to become a Mason), whether they had a Masonic relationship or Rainbow/Job's Daughters membership or not, would be beneficial to the...
I've actually found that, in most States, the Masonic relationship requirement has gotten very watered-down. While many (probably most) female members fall into the original definitions of "wife, widow, mother, sister, or daughter", it has been spread out (in practice if not in theory) to...
I've enjoyed this entertaining and enlightening discussion (I've now looked at and will likely petition for membership in Internet Lodge No. 9659).
To the OP, I honestly hope we never reach the point where we conduct all Lodge business online. There is something to be said for us being able to...
There is something to this, I think. In the Grand Lodge of Texas, a man only has to wait two weeks between Degrees (although, in all fairness, he must recite his work in a Lodge meeting before receiving the next Degree). I do sometimes wonder if returning to the days when there was a real...
Obviously, I don't know your way of talking to people about it, but I've seen a lot of people start out with something along the lines of: "Let me explain how everything you know is wrong."
This is how it starts off in a confrontational manner and that immediately puts people on the defensive...
I think this is a terrific illustration.
I wonder if we would not be better served to have a discussion here on what the definition of "civic virtue" actually is.
TU
Considering our obligations to the wives, widows, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc., of our Brethren, she may not think of herself as part of the Masonic Family, but we are sworn to.
Of course, my wife is OES, Beauceant, Majority Ranbow, etc., so this hasn't been an issue in my marriage...
This issue is everywhere in the former Confederacy, yes. Sadly, just as there are people who still think they are superior to others based on their ethnic heritage, some of those people are our Brothers. And it is a divide that exists everywhere, but it is more prevalent in Dixieland, where...