Sunday Search: Getting Involved

I have always been a firm proponent of getting involved. I don’t simply join something to be a member. At the same time, I also believe that if you want to learn you have to be active and pursue that knowledge to the best of your ability. This is the mentality that I had when I joined Rotary, when I submitted my petition to my Masonic lodge, and when I first submitted my application to join the Sons of the American Revolution. This past week I continued to live up to those personal expectations when I left the office a little early so that I could make it to my chapter’s executive committee meeting.

I simply don’t understand how many people can join an organization and not have any understanding of how it works. This was the best opportunity for me to get involved right away and try to educate myself regarding the process that are in place, how the chapter works, and what the plans are for the future. By the end of the evening, the meeting had well exceeded my expectations and I now feel confident that I will have a fairly broad base of knowledge regarding the organization in the very near future… more than what I learned from the fire hose on Monday night.  

Additionally, my fellow compatriots were eager to educate me and help me to get involved right away. With so many positions open in the coming year, and now with a better understanding of the requirements for each, I volunteered to step in where needed (and so long as they are comfortable with me in that particular office). After all, we all have an understanding of the importance of our heritage and family history and by putting ourselves out there and being a part of something greater than ourselves, we add our own intricacies to that history.

Of course, given the nature of this organization in particular, it is even more important for me to be involved. We served to honor the memories of our ancestors and we must continue to be involved in uncovering as much as we can about their lives and do our best to discover other patriots in our family tree so that we can honor them in the same way. I guess you could say that I am already involved and this is only the most recent means by which I can continue to unravel some of the mysteries in our genealogical story.

I Now Have Sisters Too…

This morning my wife and I were off to Franconia for something that has been on our schedules for some time now. After a very tasty breakfast surrounded by quickly made friends and those whom we have had the chance to get to know prior to the day. While I have been through similar events over the past year this was the first time that my wife has been through such an experience. Today my wife and I were inducted into the Order of the Eastern Star (OES).

Heading into the ceremony I wasn’t sure how my wife was going to react. More accurately, I wasn’t sure what kind of experience she was going to have. While I knew the broad strokes of what was going to happen it is such a personal reaction that it is hard to judge how people will react.

It is interesting, OES has many more Christian overtones than what I have experienced in Masonry thus far. Honestly, I wasn’t sure how I was going to react but framed the way that they are, as virtuous examples, I am fine with the way that things are handled. While it will never be a bastion for local Jewry, it is a group of faithful brothers and sisters who believe in G-d and respect the difference in beliefs that each of us carry in our hearts and minds.

Every once in a while, throughout the morning and early afternoon, I would look at my wife just to see how she was doing. A little bit to my surprise, she seemed fine the entire time. No moments of fear or panic, there was even a bit of comfort and relief that seemed to pass over he over the final few minutes of the induction. Similar, not the same but similar, to my time in lodge there was a sense of welcome and comfort that I felt and, as it turns out, my wife felt during the meeting.

This was particularly impressive considering we were the center of attention at the OES Regional Meeting where many brothers and sisters were focused on our every word and action. I am very proud of my wife for pushing herself and going through with the induction. It was something that I am glad we were able to do together and both forget about work for just a small portion of our week.

This was also an occasion that made me appreciate even more the time that I spend with my brothers at the lodge and the connection I have with the fraternity. I hope that my wife is able to develop that same connection but that is up to here and takes time. In the meantime, I am simply going to look forward to our time together at our chapter every month.