The Family Masonic Bible

There have been countless times when I have been sitting at my desk in the lodge room looking up and down the sidelines wondering where my grandfather used to sit during meetings. It is a connection that I have with my grandfather despite never having the chance of getting to know him while growing up. Lodge is something that we have in common and I am always reminded of that when I see his ring on my finder and, now, when I look at the family Bible which I have been using recently for my genealogy research.

When I was raised just over three years ago, my mom pulled me aside and handed me my grandfather’s Masonic ring. She knew that I would appreciate and take care of it. She also knew that I was one of the few people in the family who would actually use it as there are not many masons in my family. The ring meant a lot to my grandfather, it means a lot to my mom, and it certainly means a lot to me. Now, just over three years later, my mom again pulled me aside and told me that she wanted to give me my grandfather’s Masonic Bible. The ironic thing is that my grandfather was presented his Bible just over three years after being raised and now I am being presented with that same bible just over three years since I was raised.

Not only was this the Bible presented to him by his lodge but it has also served as the family Bible with my grandparent’s marriage having been recorded in its pages and my grandmother having recorded many of the births and deaths throughout her life. Between the covers there are names across many generations from the death of my great great grandfather all the way through the birth of my niece... my name can be found in these pages too. All written in my grandmother’s hand.

I remember seeing my grandmother with the blue binding on her lap flipping through the book and pulling out the papers tucked between the pages. This became a more and more regular occurrence toward the end of her life. It was also one of the few things that my mom wanted to hold on to after my grandmother passed away. I know how much this Bible meant to my grandmother and I know how much it means to my mom. I am being entrusted with its safe keeping and it is not something I take lightly. After all, this is not just an item that resonates with me as a mason, it is a connection to my grandfather, my grandmother, and my mom.

Sunday Search: Documentation For My Supplemental Application

Ever since I received the letter from the Sons of the American Revolution saying that my application was accepted (actually, our applications), I have been working on my first supplemental application. As I have previously outlined, the first application was tracing back the Redcross line on my dad’s side of the family and now I am weaving my way through my mom’s side. It should be no surprise that the line that I am using for this application is tracing back to John Noblit.  

In addition to the previous difficulties tracing what was a line unbeknownst to us until recently, there was also the task of pulling together some of the documentation for recent generations. Surprisingly, there has been a lot of material uncovered and some tremendous recourses discovered which leaves little doubt about the family line prior to the 1940’s. Not including myself, the recent work has been in pulling together the documentation for the recent generations. Just last weekend, I finally got those last few items that I need to complete my second mountain of paperwork.

I have known about my grandfather’s Masonic Bible for most of my life and I knew that my grandmother would pull it out every once in a while not necessarily for what was written on the pages but to remember the family members represented by the scraps of paper between the pages. That being said, I had never taken the opportunity to sit down with my grandmother or my mom to really see what was contained within the blue covers. When my mom gave the Bible to me last weekend, I couldn’t help by start paging through the chapters and examining the documents that continue to buckle the cover.

There were certainly some interesting pieces of paper floating loosely between the pages containing names, marriages, birth and death dates, and some clippings from others moments in my grandmothers life including a photo from the local paper and a small clipping announcing a party for my grandparents’ 25^th wedding anniversary. Of course, bound deep within the pages of the book is something that I had been looking for… my grandparents’ wedding certificate from 1940. In the subsequent pages I found not only the births of my mom and her siblings in my grandmother’s handwriting but also some of the deaths in the family from the time they were married through the passing of my uncles.

It is a unique opportunity to use this family record in my most recent SAR application and it is also an honor to be entrusted with the history contained in its pages. It is not only a connection to my family history as a whole but a real, tactile, connection to my grandmother and my grandfather. In both regards, I consider myself a caretaker of the family history and I hope to preserve not just the pages that have been passed down but also the documents that have been discovered over the years so that we are never again in a position to forget. 

Late To Lodge

As I wrote yesterday, time has not been kind to me and last night was the perfect example of that. For an extra meeting I usually try to get out of the office between 5:30 and 6 but with a major presentation scheduled for Thursday, I was in the midst of a meeting throughout the afternoon and into the early evening. 6 o’clock came and went soon followed by 6:30. When I walked out of the door at 6:40, with a pile of work that needed to get done later that night, I knew that I was going to be cutting it close for the 7:30 meeting so I texted the Worshipful Master and let him know of my delayed arrival time.  

Pulling into the parking lot there was only a minute left before things where scheduled to get started and I still had to get in the door, head downstairs to my office, change, and grab a Bible. I have missed a couple of meetings in the past, only one since becoming Secretary, but this was going to be the first time that I would be arriving late. So I prepared as fast as I could and made my way up the stairs and continued resisting the urge to reply with “land shark” from behind the closed door.

Thankfully, when I knocked into the meeting the candidate had yet to enter and I was granted a few minutes by the Worshipful Master to collect myself and get situated at my desk. As soon as I sat down, we officially started the degree portion of the night. I am glad that my brothers waited a little as the candidate last night is someone that I was looking forward to seeing take the next step. Many of us have been impressed with both his eagerness to learn and his ample participation thus far (even before he officially became a mason). I look forward to seeing him thrive in the lodge and in Freemasonry in general.

The evening came to a close with the brethren converging on the newly raised Mason to congratulate him and sign his Bible. Soon after many sought me out to remind me of a variety of things that needed to be taken care of and ask for my assistance with others. At this point I have pretty much gotten used to this routine after meetings. However, as we walked down the stairs one of my brothers, knowing all that I am juggling at this time, made good on his countless offers and removed one of the small but still time consuming tasks from my list. Yes, I actually took him up on his insistence this time.

We all went our separate ways once we ventured back out in to the bitter cold. A few headed off to the brewery across the street, several went home to enjoy some down time with family, and I made my way back home to tuck my wife and son into bed and get a few hours of work done before passing out. By the time I went to bed it was 2 in the morning which was only made worse by the fact that the week wasn’t even half over. Just one of those weeks but at least I was able to forget all of that for just a little bit last night.

Filling The Chairs

No, we did not have to turn to our plastic brethren.

When I left work yesterday, I did so with some trepidation. While I had a few brothers reach out to me letting me know that they would be at the meeting, I still had not heard from enough to fill the chairs. With everything that has been going on lately, I was concerned that the meeting got lost in the deluge of communications. However, I also held out hope and took solace in the fact that every time that I have asked the brethren for their assistance they have come through.

Pulling into the parking lot there were a few cars that I recognized and I could see that the windows were open and already circulating the autumnal air throughout the building. These were both welcomed sights which allowed me to take a deep breath, grab my bag and tux, and make my way to the front door. Walking into the foyer, I could see a small collection of brothers. A modest group that was sure to grow as the minutes passed and the meeting time approached.

Per my usual routine, I immediately turned around the corner and made my way to my office in the back of the basement. With everything else that had to be done leaving up to the evening, there were a few last minute items that needed to be taken care of before the meeting. So, while waiting for the computer to boot and, later, the web pages to load I filled out dues cards, inscribed the Bibles, and changed into my tux. It may seem hectic but it was actually pretty close to a normal night.

With the former secretary lending a hand with a couple of items, I was able to heading up the stairs and into the hall where I found enough brothers to ensure a successful evening. Knowing that the evening was to begin momentarily, I did my best to ensure that everyone was on the same page and that each brother knew what chair they would be sitting in, what role they would play that night. It was a long night with a few rough spots but we were successful.  

What has been a bit of a trying time for us has not stopped us from being successful in our endeavors. I have had my doubts at times and there were moments when I questioned whether things were going to happen but those concerns were proven to be unfounded. Once again, we pulled together as a lodge and by the end of the night we were rewarded by having the privilege to welcome two new Master Masons.

Membership Audit

For the past two weeks I have going through the lodge membership line by line, name by name, birthday by birthday. My thought was that since we had just completed the financial audit of the lodge, why not put some effort into a membership audit. This is an important project that I have been meaning to start ever since I decided to take on the office of Secretary as there were too many instances, even a few since I took office, when it was discovered that a brother had either passed earlier within the year or, sometimes, even years ago.

This whole thing goes back to a blog I posted last week about the difficulties of keeping I touch but, in this instance, the job is ten if not one hundred times harder. We have so many brothers coming in and out and officers rotating around the lodge that sometimes we can lose sight of the people that are not around us every month. We also find that brothers move out of the area and nature gradually takes a toll on their bodies as well.

Unfortunately, we have not had a process in place for the families of individual brothers to inform the lodge of our passing. It has always been something that was conveyed by word of mouth with documentation rarely available. In recent years the communications have slowly deteriorated, Masonic funeral services becoming less and less frequent, and now here we stand trying to catch up and find all those brothers that have been called off from labor. This issue is particularly prevalent among those brothers who have been a member of the fraternity for over 50 years as they no longer pay dues and therefore our communication with them is limited even further.

However, this year we seem to have hit a turning point as we have put greater emphasis on keeping in touch with our distant and elderly brethren. While no system is perfect and I am sure that there will be the occasional oversight here and there, we are at least refocusing our efforts to ensure that those we may not see on a monthly basis are not forgotten. This may seem like an obvious thing to do but think about how many people you have lost touch with in your life and imagine having to do that for an entire lodge, even those people you have never personally met previously before.

So, with the conclusion of the audit the sad news stands that nine brothers were called off from labor in the last few years that were never reported to us. Even though the passing of these brothers was months and years ago, we will still be sure to remember them during lodge and make sure we reflect on the contributions they made to the fraternity. And every time, every month that we pause to remember, I am glad that I have my letter filled out already and ready for my wife to mail just in case anything should happen to me. You never know. I just don’t want to create more work for a future Secretary.

Giving Thanks On Hanukkah

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah (or Chanukah) and, appropriately, it corresponds neatly with the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US. Both are times when we celebrate miracles whether it is for the oil which lit the reclaimed temple for eight days rather than one or the everyday miracles that we experience. We should be thankful for all these things.

Take advantage of this rare overlap and be thankful for the opportunity to experience this historic day. Because the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, as opposed to the familiar solar-based Gregorian calendar, these two holidays will not coincide again until the year 79,811. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure I’m going to miss that one.

While many of you are familiar with the gluttonous holiday of Thanksgiving, I wanted to take a minute to relay the story of Hanukkah as a bit of a reminder. There is more to it than Adam Sandler’s songs and movie. The following is the concise (which is why I’m not going to try and rewrite it) outline of the minor holiday:  

Chanukah -- the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev -- celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality.

More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d.

When they sought to light the Temple's menorah (the seven branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.

To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah (candelabrum) lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.

On Chanukah we also add the Hallel and Al HaNissim in our daily prayers to offer praise and thanksgiving to G-d for "delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few... the wicked into the hands of the righteous."

Chanukah customs include eating foods fried in oil -- latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (doughnuts); playing with the dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei and shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, "a great miracle happened there"); and the giving of Chanukah gelt, gifts of money, to children.

Click here for the complete story of Chanukah, and here for a comprehensive "How To" guide for the observances and customs of Chanukah.

Today is a day for celebration and family (and food). Be thankful for the things and people in your life for they are not guaranteed to be there forever. Be thankful for your faith and your heritage because for as long as you are thankful you will not forget. Memories and appreciation can quickly fade if you let them like the candles slowly burning down and dripping subtle reminders below its branches. Show your appreciation this holiday and embrace the opportunity that this time of year affords us.

 

 

Make The Time To Sign A Bible!

Upon receiving my third degree, I went around to all the officers and had them sign on the appropriate line in my Masonic Bible. We all share this same experience and it carries with it great meaning and a tremendous sense of accomplishment. It is a record that we will hand down for generations.

While I haven’t been a member of the brotherhood for very long, I have had the privilege of having been on the other side of this tradition as well. It is a different feeling when you are the one signing your name. However, I consider it a great honor not just to fill in as an officer during a conferral but to have my name as a part of someone’s family history.

To be able to share in that moment in a Mason’s life is something that I don’t take lightly. It is also something that I encourage every brother to do. Even if you are simply present it demonstrates the commitment that we have to one another no matter how long a fellow Mason has been a member of the fraternity.

As you continuing enjoying your summer (hopefully taking some of my previous points into consideration) and begin to plan for the fall, I ask that you set aside some time every month (every week if possible) and participate in as many conferrals possible. This is particularly important to new members as it builds experience and brotherhood within the lodge. These are the moments that truly bridge the generational gap not only due to the diversity of those entering the craft but also as witnesses to the transformation that we all experienced.

Be there to help your new brother rise. Take this time and embrace it as it can also help you stay upright and remind you of your commitment. The light may be new to some but it shines on all of us and its radiance is never brighter than during this momentous time as a man becomes a Mason. 

To read more about the importance of the Masonic Bible and to increase your Masonic knowledge please visit the St. John's Lodge No. 1 website and read about the George Washington Inaugural Bible (still in use by the lodge to this day).