Returning To Action

I always feel unprepared when returning to the lodge after being off from labor the entire summer. I find myself trying to look back to made sure that I am not missing anything from the past meeting in June that will carry over to the current month. It is also when I know I am going to get questions about the activity during the summer and what the plans are to close out the year. My mind is kind of all over the place when I walk through the doors in September.

While I shouldn’t be surprised, the meeting went as smoothly this month as I could have ever hoped for. Well, almost. It would have been nice of the weather had cooled down a bit and to have more brothers in attendance so that we are not playing catch up before the next meeting but I can’t really complain (too much). However, because of the heat and the absences, my night did end up being a lot shorter than I was expecting.

With the summer holding on to the calendar for a bit longer, the heat of the day carried over into the night and turned the lodge room into a sweat box… this was especially true for those of us who are in a tux during the meeting. Essentially, we were able to have a meeting, reconnect with each other, and lose a few pounds by the time we adjourned to the hall to finish up our program. This is the first time that I can recall (in my very short masonic career) finishing the meeting downstairs and it certainly was a welcomed change by everyone in attendance.

It is while we were in the air conditioning that we were all able to get a better understanding of most of the appendant bodies within freemasonry. Most of us are members of some body beyond the blue lodge but we are all still a little in the dark regarding some of the other bodies (there are exceptions to this as well). The most interesting part of this educational evening for me was learning about each of these bodies directly from the respective officers. There really are a lot of opportunities and different experiences within freemasonry that I hope to enjoy at some point in the future.

The biggest take away for many of us is very simple. While there are numerous appendant bodies and opportunities to join across the wide spectrum of freemasonry, they all trace back to the blue lodge, our home lodge, this small group of committed brothers that work each and every day to help the fraternity in some small way. We all have this same foundation and we each decide what kind of structure we build upon these three degrees. I am looking forward to seeing these buildings progress each meeting and every year.