When Was The Last Time I Was Here?

The view from my seat.

Thursday was another late night in the city as the entire office (at least those not on vacation) headed to the Pennsylvania Convention Center for the Enterprise Awards. While I would much prefer spending the evening with my family at home, it is an evening that only comes around once a year and it offers many of us a chance to catch up with those with whom we rarely have a chance to run in to during the course of our usual week. For me, it is also the event when I can personally thank the person who introduced me to my current employer two years ago. Thankfully the night was uneventful and I didn’t have any encounters with potholes on my way into the city!

I have never been one who has enjoyed driving in the city and I really don’t care much for cities in general (of course, there are exceptions to every rule which has been evident in previous posts).  As I circled around the block and into the parking garage I tried to think about the last time that I had been to the convention center. Unable to think of the event, I corkscrewed up to the 5^th level and found a space in close proximity to the 13^th Street elevator.

As I got out of the car and began walking to the far end of the floor, I joined a couple of other people also wearing tuxes. As we chatted during our decent to the ground level, out the doors, and made our way down the sidewalk it was an interesting twist on what is usually a common occurrence for me. As it turns out, they were the ones headed to a lodge meeting while I was off to some other event. So we parted ways at the entrance to the Grand Lodge and I waked a couple more blocks and into the main lobby of the Convention Center. This is when it hit me… I hadn’t walked through those doors since Fan Fest right before the 1996 MLB All-Star Game. Wow, nearly twenty years.

The networking before the awards dinner was the usual affair with many of us catching up with various companies from the area and reconnecting with those we met last month during Philly Tech Week. Before we knew it (partly because it took so many of us to get into the city and find parking), we were heading up the escalators and finding our seats. While I preferred the venue from last year (Valley Forge Casino) the format for the evening made much more sense combining the awards with dinner (although it would have been nice to have an option other than salmon).

As most awards programs do, the evening ran quite a bit longer than expected and we didn’t start clearing out of the building until well after 10pm. Overall, there were come really interesting companies, nice acceptance speeches, a great recognition ceremony, and a couple of people that should never be asked to speak publicly again (they should have had the music ready for some of the acceptances like at the Oscars). But, we all parted ways having reconnected for an evening and hoping to stay in touch a little more over the next year. At the very least, there are a few more people that I will be certain to say hello to next year at the next awards banquet.

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.