The Passing of Time

Well, the sun has set on another year and the dawning of a new year has risen. 2010 was a roller coaster of events for me.

On the Masonic side of things, it was a great year. I was honored to be the Junior Past Master for my Lodge and to serve as Excellent High Priest of my Royal Arch Chapter. The Annual Grand Session of the Grand York Rite Bodies of Idaho was a good time. I was honored to receive the Holy Order of the High Priesthood and to take part in so much of the preparation work. Then on Memorial Day weekend, I was initiated into the York Rite College. Grand Lodge was a bittersweet time as I was unanimously elected to be the Worshipful Master, but had to turn down the position as I was being deployed within the week. The Brethren then decided to re-elect me as Senior Warden.

2010 started out not doing so well as I was working at a place that didn't suit me and stressed me out. By Spring I had decided to quit and by early Summer, the paperwork was in. I was already deploying and didn't need to deal with any unneeded stress. I was able to take a month off before going into training for the deployment. What a blast it was! Floating the river, camping, going downtown, or just hanging out with my friends.

September came and along with it, heartache. Time had come to ship off to training and then to Iraq. I was given a week off before shipping to spend more time with family. Then the day came. I had barely made it into the hangar where the families were congregated before tears were shed. I didn't want to let go; I even had to run to catch up to get on the plane.

Weeks went by at a steady rate and soon I would be leaving for Iraq. Then tragedy struck. My longest and greatest friend, Parker, who I had known almost my entire life lost one of his kids in a tragic accident. I called him and heard the pain in his voice. Pain tore through me, not just for the loss he was feeling, but that I couldn't be there to comfort him.

Arriving in the country, my mind soon locked onto the mission. It wasn't until I started having free time where my mind wandered to my loved ones. Luckily technology allows me easier access to them than before. I was able to video chat with my parents on Christmas and it was amazing to see them.

I closed this year at work as I will for the next several months. Enough about the past though, a new dawn has come upon us with the arrival of 2011. This year will be a fantastic year. So many new things and changes are in my life, but I do look forward to reuniting with my family and friends.

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. Remember the reason for the Season.

My Visit to the Crescent City

Coming Full Circle

I was extremely excited to head back to New Orleans for a 4-day pass. It has been almost 6-years to the day since I was last there and it was there that my interest in Freemasonry began.

While driving around looking at the various sites we came upon a graveyard which at the gate said "Masonic Cemetery". At the time I didn't know who they were, at which time one of the guys in the car said "You know, the guys from National Treasure". That sparked my interest and throughout the year I was in Iraq I read books about them, by them, and even against them. By the end of it, I wanted to join. Going home though it was pushed to the back of my mind until one day at work I heard some co-workers talking about "going to Lodge". I inquired as to if they were Masons. They responded in the affirmative. I asked who do I see to join and they guided me to the Grand Secretary who led me to Oriental Lodge No.60 which was meeting that night. The rest, as they say, is history.

This time around though I was going to re-visit that cemetery and take pictures. I took hundreds of pictures, but I won't post them all. Here are some of my favorites:

Brethren of Etoile Polaire Lodge

1 of 10 Scottish Rite Blue Lodges left in the state of Louisiana, Etoile Polaire Lodge is the oldest Lodge in the state, although I heard talking between some of the older members that another Lodge may be the oldest, but Etoile Polaire received the No.1 designation by the Grand Lodge. From its establishment in 1794 until the late 1950s, Etoile Polaire Lodge spoke French.


I contacted the Secretary to check on the standard of dress for the meetings and showed up. They did the standard investigation on me and gladly accepted me into their room. Seeing Scottish Rite Blue Lodge work done was pretty different, but it was a nicely done ceremony. The opening prayer was done in French, but through the elderly man's voice, it sounded very solemn. This meeting was fairly short as they suspended all other businesses to conduct elections. It was pretty straight forward and afterward, I had this picture taken.

Scottish Rite Visitation

I do find myself embarrassed that I didn't look up where the Scottish Rite building was in New Orleans like I did in Arkansas. At my visit to Etoile Polaire, one of the members mentioned that the building was near my hotel so when I got back to my room I searched for it and found it only a few blocks away.

The next morning I went over there and requested to look around. He asked if I was a Scottish Rite Mason, and my response was: Not yet. I explained to him my situation with deploying and missing the Spring Reunion in Idaho. He wished I had contacted him the day before as he could have worked it with Idaho to get me to the 32nd degree through Louisiana.

The Secretary took me on a tour of the building and explained to me the history of the building and Scottish Rite in Louisiana. It was quite impressive and I was grateful for his assistance. Here are some photos from that adventure:

St. Luis Cathedral

Although I visited many spectacular sites around the French Quarter none was more impressive than Saint Luis Cathedral. The pictures speak for themselves.

New Orleans was an amazing time. I saw some amazing sites and revisited the beginning of my Masonic journey, and I made some money at Harrah's Casino. Can't beat that. For now, though, I must say adios to the heart of the Who Dat Nation and go on to the next journey in my life. Onto the New Dawn.

Training in the South

Training is almost done here in the South. It has been a time-consuming time and a trying time, but the fruits of these labors will soon come about and my unit will complete its mission over in Iraq, and come back to our loved ones.. We have been very fortunate to mostly train for our particular mission in Iraq instead of doing all the monotonous work some units have had to do down here. Some days were long, but we completed the tasks asked of us by our leadership. Days of rest are coming and this will complete a circle of my life, but now is not the time for that story. I sit here on guard duty watching the minutes slowly fall away into history and see that my days here in the States are numbered, and my heart aches for it. The sun is setting on this chapter of my life, but I will have one last story to tell before it's through. And that, although, my heart aches to see this one end, it rejoices to know that new dawn approaches.

Day of Tears

Well, today is the start of a new chapter in my life. For the second time in my life, I am compelled to put my life in the States on hold for a year. I am deploying overseas in support of the conflict in Iraq.

I made it pretty well through the morning, but upon arriving at the hanger where the families were waiting emotion finally overcame me. I've only ever seen my father cry a few other times in my life and I just couldn't hold back the tears. I was grateful to see so many of my close family come to see me off: grandparents, aunts, parents, sister, brother-in-law, and last but not least, my adorable nephew.

While I miss him so much, I'm glad my nephew is too young to realize where I'm going and what I'm doing. He just knew everyone was sad.

I am glad to get the goodbyes out of the way as it is one of the hardest things I've done. Now I'm sitting in the deep south...specifically Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I will say, I don't like this humidity thing whatsoever. I will be here for a time to conduct training and medical preparations. If I can manage it I will visit the Brethren in the area.

Currently...

I am sitting on my last week of military leave (vacation) here in Boise, Idaho, and I'm about to go to Annual Training. I'll be out there for some time and only have a small amount of free time before shipping off to my next training station. It has been a fun month. I've done nothing, but hang out with friends and relax. I went camping with some friends who I had not seen in almost a year. I've floated the river here in Boise several times and got a great tan from it. :D

I've also attended 3 weddings and officiated 1. One of the weddings I attended was for my little sister and I was very proud to see her finally marry the man of her dreams. They make a great couple.

Friday night I attended the last meeting I'll attend at my Mother Lodge. It was an interesting meeting as both the Worshipful Master and Senior Warden were absent (the Worshipful Master was hit by a car and the Senior Warden was with him at the Emergency Room). The Junior Warden presided and did a good job. I sat as acting Senior Warden and had a good time. I told the Brethren that this would be my last meeting and that I was grateful for all of their support. I also congratulated our Junior Warden who I was pleased to see come up the way he has as he was the first Master Mason I Raised as a Worshipful Master.

Saturday night I went to a party with my great friend and love. She and I's relationship has been an interesting one with us being years apart in age and not always having conducive agendas. It was a bittersweet parting and she holds a special place in my heart. I will miss her while I'm gone and look forward to seeing her on my return to the country. We will always be friends. The night may not have gone the way I wanted, but it was the night we both needed.

Sunday, I went camping with my father, sister, brother-in-law, and my nephew. Got up there a little late in the day, but still had enough time to go fishing with them. We had a great little dinner courtesy of my sister and her husband. My nephew and I had an epic wrestling match and it will be a fond memory while I'm deployed overseas. The next morning my father made an awesome sourdough pancake breakfast.

Monday, I went to Wilder where the Grand Lodge did a cornerstone dedication for the Elementary School. The Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Idaho, David C Triplett, asked me to fill a vacancy in the officer line and so I sat as Senior Grand Steward. It was a great turnout, 31-Masons, and most of them were Past Master or Worshipful Masters hailing from all over the State of Idaho.

The rest of the week will be dedicated to prepping for Annual Training.

New Logo and Updates

Well, I came up with a new design for the blog. I'm occasionally going to create new title logos.

I've also updated some gadgets on the page so I hope everyone enjoys it.

My Station and Places: Tyler

I was honored to serve my Lodge as Worshipful Master in 2009. A fairly new tradition in my Lodge is to appoint the outgoing Worshipful Master as Tyler of the Lodge for the following year.

As I stated in my Seneschal post, I talked about how I am always interested in their duties and etymology. Let us dissect this necessary post and his duties.

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines Tyler as a person's name. Interestingly enough, they list "Wat the Tyler" as a notable name in history. In Mr. Robinson's book "Born in Blood" Wat is believed to an indication of possible Freemasons existing in the time of the Peasant's Revolt in 14th century England. In old English, a Tyler was thought to also be a doorman to an inn, early meeting places of Freemasons before they established their own buildings.

Now we can change the name slightly and see that a "Tiler" is someone who lays tiles. This is interesting as modern speculative Freemasonry pulls from positions and tools of the elder operative Masons that were known for their great accomplishments in history. We also look at the Entered Apprentice Degree where we see the symbolism of the checkered floor, that would have required a skilled tiler to lay.

In modern times, the Tyler serves to prevent non-members and impersonators from entering a private Lodge meeting. They also should serve on the Investigative committee for those Brothers who come to visit the Lodge along with the Senior Warden who also serves to verify the membership of everyone in the Lodge. He is also a face of the Fraternity and should always act accordingly.

My Station and Places: Seneschal

On May 29th, 2010, I was dubbed a Companion Knight of York Tri-Valley College No.178. After the end of the ceremony, the Pre-Eminent Governor asked me to sit as Seneschal and I gladly accepted, with him knowing I would not be at the next year's meetings as I am deploying to Iraq.

I am always interested in the etymology and history of the various stations. If you subscribe to studying the mysterious group known as "Priory of Sion", there were Seneschals, that were 2nd rank from the top of the pyramid-like structure, just as there were in the medieval Knights Templar

The etymology of "Seneschal" comes from the Proto-Germanic words sini, meaning senior, and skalk, meaning servant. Seneschal literally means 'senior servant'.

Historically in France, the seneschal would be sometimes the personal representative of the King charged with dispensing justice and administrative duties. In other kingdoms, seneschals were in charge of feasts and domestic ceremonies. They would seem to be close to stewards in this regard. Other duties would include managing the property and finances of the Lord under who they served.

So when we tie this into the York Rite College, we see that the Seneschal is in charge of organizing the dinners and making sure all properties of the Governor are cared for. While he may not preside over them the Seneschal should be diligent in the planning of such ceremonies as installation and initiations.

The Little Rock Scottish Rite Building

This is a post from my previous blog. It dates back to June 2009.

The Little Rock Scottish Rite building

I am attending some training courses down in Camp Robinson, Arkansas, just outside of Little Rock. The other night I had an occasion to visit Western Star Lodge No.2, F&AM of Arkansas. I had no idea where I was going so I took a cab. The driver knew exactly where it was as it turned out he was a Brother. He entertained me with his knowledge of not only the Craft, but also the area. Once at my destination, I was awestruck by the sheer size of it.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but as you can tell, it runs the entire city block. After being investigated, I was gladly invited to join in the meeting, well, after a good dinner. Before the meeting started the Brothers took me on a tour of the building. They told me it belongs to Scottish Rite, but there are two Blue Lodge rooms in it. Here are the pictures:

The entrance of the building

Library

Fireplace with Albert Pike quote

Hallway

Dining Hall. 

There is a stained glass window in the left corner of this hall that I think is a great piece of art

Stained glass window

Close-ups

2nd-floor hallway

Lodge of Perfection (I just wish I had time to get a close up of that window)

The Auditorium

The Eastern Chair of the Blue Lodge room

The meeting went well and I was introduced and welcomed by all the Brothers. After the meeting had concluded a few Brothers took me out to have a few beers. We talked more and they told me that the apartment complex across the street still has the same name it did when it was a hotel called "The Albert Pike". Apparently, Albert Pike was a member of Western Star Lodge No.2.

I enjoyed my time with them and will probably visit them again. Maybe I can get more tours of the building.