Taking Another Step

Friday night was a long time coming but something that surprised me when I looked on the calendar. I had submitted my Scottish Rite petition in the spring, not long after becoming a Mason, and had the fall class days on my calendar for some time. On occasion I would glance at my schedule or I would receive a correspondence from Philadelphia about the approaching date but lately my mind has been elsewhere and so the reminders around me remained in the background.

About halfway through the week, when scheduling another meeting, I noticed the Scottish Rite class on my calendar. So, by the time Friday came around, my excitement was renewed and I was eager to get into the city following work. Despite the sluggish trek southbound to center city, I continued to look forward to a unique evening with many brothers from my lodge, some whom I have met at other lodges, and quite a few that I would be meeting for the first time; all different lodges coming together for a singular night of Scottish Rite Freemasonry.

For many of us, this was our first Masonic event attended at the magnificent Grand Lodge. Nearly all of us had toured the building at one point or another but actually attending a meeting is a completely different experience that really is difficult to articulate. And it’s not just about the magnificence of the building and the architecture that surrounds you, there is a different feeling to the meeting and a humbling honor to be in such a space central to the Masonic Commonwealth.

While I will not divulge all that took place last night I will say that it was something completely different than other degree work experienced up until that point while retaining the deep meaning and impact that freemasonry has on a man. It is a night that retains your attention much like those very first moments when we all started our Masonic journey. Friday night was very much a continuation of that journey, another point of light in our Masonic lives, a fraternal memory that will continue to illuminate our past as we strive to improve our future.

I am looking forward not just to the “completion” of this initial stage of degree work in November but of continuing to experience all the degrees over and over as the month, years, and decades pass.  I look forward to forging and strengthening the bonds with my fellow brothers on these special nights. And I eagerly anticipate the humbling effect that such a grand place can have on me to magnify the fact that we are one welcoming brotherhood not a collection of egotistical individuals. We are there for one another and for the good of freemasonry.