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The Las Palmian |
October
2006 |
From the East...
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Brethren and
Friends We Need Coaches! The fraternity of Free and Accepted
Masons has received a great amount of new interest this year and many lodges,
including ours, have been performing more degrees on more new members than
they have in the past several years combined.
As a result our candidate’s coaches have become overwhelmed and cannot
keep up with all of the candidates.
Don’t worry about not being proficient; we will work with you to get
you proficient. As
many of you have already learned, Past Masters’ Night has been
rescheduled. The new date is October
26, 2006 and the candidate is still Bro. David Sorge. Please come out and join us that evening
for an excellent Steak dinner followed by the Past Masters performing the
Third degree ceremony. Reservations
are already being accepted by the Secretary.
As usual Past Masters eat free; all other members are $10 each. We
are still receiving more and more applications from men desiring to join our
fraternity; which brings me to the subject of investigations. As a lodge we have several applicants who
have not yet been investigated sufficiently for election. Please brethren, remember your obligation
as a master mason, if and when you
receive an investigation form in the mail you are to regard it as an official
summons from the lodge and it is your duty – not your option – to perform
that investigation and return it to the master prior to the next
stated meeting. Refusal to do so could
result in suspension or expulsion from the fraternity which would
subsequently make that person ineligible for membership in any of the concordant
bodies. I have heard from several
members that they did not perform the investigation because they do not know
the man to be investigated; that is as it should be. In order for the investigation to be
unbiased the investigator should not already know the applicant; the brothers
that know him are normally his recommenders and cannot be assigned as
investigators. I have been selecting
investigators by trying to assign members who live near the applicant to make
it easier for them. If you receive an
investigation form in the mail and have a valid
reason for not being able to fulfill your duties as a Master Mason please
contact me immediately in order that I can reassign the investigation to
another brother. Fraternally, Brian K.
Rowland, Master |
From the West...
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I want to thank each of you who took the time to check the
expiration date on their dues card.
The response has been terrific.
However there are some who have yet to pay their dues. If you are one of the few, who have not
paid your dues, would you please take the time and pay the dues or let
someone know if there is a problem which prevents you from paying. My brothers, if I am elected Master of the
Lodge, I do not relish the fact that my first official duty could be the
suspension of any of our members. If
your Masonic Lodge dues are not brought up to date, and you are suspended, YOU
ARE SUBJECT TO OR WILL BE
SUSPENDED FROM ALL MASONIC ORGANIZATIONS.
(The Shrine, Scottish and York Rite,
Eastern Star This includes all Clubs and Units). It is not my intent as the newly installed
Master to suspend anyone. However, you
will leave me or any other Master no choice.
You will be suspended for NON-PAYMENT of dues. I want to congratulate the officers for a very good 3rd
degree on September 14th. All the time
and effort you are putting in shows.
If you were not there, you missed a very good 3rd degree. If you
are interested in taking an office next year (2007) please let me (Marvin E.
Wallace) know. We are receiving a lot of applications for the degrees and,
of course that leads to a lot of degree work.
It would be nice to see more side liners in the lodge when we read
applications and confer a degree. So,
would you please turn the television off, come to Lodge, and congratulate the
newly initiated, passed or raised members, for taking the same path you chose
to take some years earlier. I am
inviting or challenging each of you to come to your lodge. How many applications or affiliation request have we
received since the last stated meeting?
The way to get that answer is to be at the stated meting on October 19th. Of course
do not forget to make dinner reservations.
If you are not enjoying dinner at the lodge on stated meeting nights,
you are missing some great meals. Brother Gordon, you have done a terrific job with the
dinners this year. The Junior Warden
for 2007, Brother John Herring has his work cut out but, knowing Brother
John, I know he is going to put his best apron and dig in the far recesses of
his recipe box and bring out some Great Meals. I am looking forward to these dinners mm mm
wow. The dinners are going to be
great. The average age in Las Palmas Ponderosa Masonic Lodge is
70.9, the youngest 21.42 and the oldest is 100.56 I am looking forward to seeing you in Lodge. Marvin E.
Wallace, Senior Warden |
From the South...
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Hi All, At our September stated dinner we
started the night off at 6:00 with hors d'oeuvres and at 6:30 we served roast
chicken, rice pilaf, zucchini, and topped of with Rum cake. I would like to thank the members and wives
who helped me out. I would not be able
to put the dinners on without their help.
For our October stated dinner we are planning on starting it off with
hors d'oeuvres at 6:00. All are
invited to show up and get to know each other. At 6:30 we will be serving beef enchiladas
and taco salad. On September 16th I had the
fun of cooking at the back to school dance.
You should have seen the kids.
They where dancing to music from Gene Krupa to Shania Twain. I wish I had their energy. The lodge provided hot dogs; hamburgers,
chips, and Past Master Sean Ford provided the sodas. It started at 7pm and finished at
10pm. I was tired from just watching
them. Please call and RSVP so we will know
how many will be showing. We want to
make sure we have enough for all. Thanks Gordon
Keeton, JW |
From the Secretary's Table...
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Congratulations to Brother s Steven
R. High and Timothy E. Jurkowski our newest Master
Masons.
Happy
Halloween!!! |
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Las
Palmas-Ponderosa Lodge Schedule for October October 5 7:00
PM First Degrees October 7-11 Grand Lodge October
12 7:00 PM Second Degree October
18 7:00 PM OSI at Fresno Masonic Center October
19 6:30 PM Stated Meeting (Hiram Award) October
26 6:30 PM Past Masters Night (Third
Degree) November 2 7:00
PM Degree November 4 9:00
AM Degrees 1:00 PM Golden Veterans Luncheon Pin
Presentation after luncheon |
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Masonic
Widows Club Agenda for 2006-07 October 25th Mexican Food 12:00
Noon Bobby Salazar’s 2839
N. Blackstone Ave. November 29th Lunch 11:30 A.M. Quality
College (Cooking School) 1776
N. Fine Avenue Reservations
a Must December Dark January 31st Soup Lunch 12:00
Noon Masonic Center Shields Avenue (Bring your own bowl and spoon) |
Masonic
Humor...
The Entered Apprentice Returns
A little before
Lodge is about to open an old man totters up to the Tyler and says, "I'm
here to receive my 2nd degree.” Well,
they all look at this guy, who really is older than dirt, and they ask him to
explain. "I was
entered on July 4, 1957. Now I'm
ready for my 2nd degree." So they go
scurrying for the records, and sure enough, there was his name, entered on
July 4, 1957. "Where
have you been all these years? What
took you so long to be ready for your 2nd?" they ask. His reply:
"I was learning to subdue my passions!" |
Masonic Education…
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Charity To
understand the lessons in any subject, it is necessary to understand the
vocabulary used. Masonic ritual was
created a number of years ago. Since then
our language has changed and some of the words today have different meanings
or we do not recognize and fully appreciate the ideas they are trying to
communicate. When you add to that
there are several different levels of meaning to many of our symbols and
words it is difficult to extract the full meaning to any part of our
ritual. I.e. The square in its first
meaning ¹is a working tool used by many of the different trades. But it also can have several meanings. ²It can be a four sided figure with all
four sides being equal. ³An instrument
having a right angle and two sides used to lay out or test right angles. 4. The product of a number multiplied by
itself. 5. A person who is overly
conventional. 6. In a fair and open
manner. These are some of the
definitions given by Webster in his great book. So too with Charity. Webster gives the following definitions: 1.
Benevolent goodwill toward or love of humanity. 2. Kindly liberality and helpfulness toward
the needy or suffering. 3. Aid given
to those in need. 4. Lenient judgment
of others. In
the first degree we hear the definition of relief which is to relieve the
distressed is a duty incumbent on all men, but particularly on Freemasons who
are linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere affection. To soothe the unhappy, to sympathize with
their misfortunes, to compassionate their miseries and to restore peace to
their troubled minds, is the great aim we have in view. On this basis we form our friendships and
establish our connections.” Also in
the second degree we hear in the perambulation “…there abidith these three:
faith, hope and charity but the greatest of these is charity…” Today,
when we hear the word “charity” most people immediately think of welfare or
relief. Actually, within our Masonic
teachings this word is used in its biblical sense and means more than just
relief. In the King James Version of
the bible Agape a Greek word for “divine love,” is rendered as charity. It is therefore much more than just
relief. If we are to fully understand
the lessons in this degree we must apply the definition St. Paul as given in
the thirteenth chapter of the First Letters to the Corinthian community to
practice charity to pull it back together.
Even, as they were far from perfect they were possessed of the ability
to make fellowship work. He describes
charity as a pure love of humanity.
Throughout this passage “Paul writes not about brotherly or human love
(philea), but divine love (agape); that is the love the only the Spirit can impart
to the human heart.” This love is the
true foundation of the fellowship found in our fraternity. That love which binds us into one sacred
band or society of friends and brothers. If
we are to get the true meanings of the lessons of our degrees we must think
beyond the superficial meanings. If we
reflect on the meaning behind the words in our ritual it will cause us to put
those ideas to work both in our daily life and in our dodge relationships. Thus, will be promoted true fellowship and
brotherly love among our many members. Richard Dunn, Senior Warden Harding San
Juan Lodge #579 |
News From Grand Lodge
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Grand Lodge
Annual Session October 8 –
11, 2006 Organization of
Clandestine Grand Lodge in the Philippines We have become
aware of the recent organization of a breakaway Grand Lodge in the
Philippines which calls itself “The Most Worshipful Independent Grand Lodge
of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippine Islands.” Please be aware
that this is considered to be a clandestine Grand Lodge. We have not
yet received any official notification from the Grand Lodge of the
Philippines as to the status of lodges claimed by this clandestine Grand
Lodge, but we have unofficially received a list of lodges purported belonging
to it. Until further notice, do not admit as a visitor to your lodge
any Mason from the following lodges under the Grand Lodge of the Philippines: Cavite Lodge
No. 2 Pilar Lodge
No. 3 Bagong Buhay
Lodge No. 4 Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Lodge No. 5 Bagong Ilaw
Lodge No. 6 La Naval
Lodge No. 7 Mendez-Nunez
Lodge No. 8 Please note
that these lodge numbers may not correspond with the number on a dues
receipt, nor a number in the List of Lodges Masonic, because they have
been renumbered by the clandestine Grand Lodge. Until we
receive official notice from the Grand Lodge of the Philippines as to the
status of lodges in their jurisdiction which may have withdrawn from that
Grand Lodge and joined the clandestine Grand Lodge, the membership status
of dual members in California remains unaffected. In other words,
until we receive official notification from the Grand Lodge of Philippines
that a particular lodge has been declared clandestine, no action will be
taken to require a member of a California lodge and a lodge in the
Philippines to sever his relationship with the Philippine lodge. However,
you should not admit visitors from the abovementioned lodges until the
situation is clarified. Please contact
the Grand Secretary if you have any further questions. Events Involving the
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Philippines The Grand
Lodge of California has an agreement with the Grand Lodge of the Philippines
that no lodges in California will officially receive the Grand Master of
Masons in the Philippines, nor host any official event for him, until
expressly permitted in writing by me as Grand Master. Permission to do
so can only be given when the Grand Lodge of the Philippines has fulfilled
certain conditions which they agreed to last October. I regret to
inform you that these conditions have not been met. I am
therefore informing you that no lodge in California is to receive the Grand
Master of the Philippines at any lodge event, nor host any event for him,
unless and until you have been notified in writing of my approval for the
same as Grand Master. Full and complete compliance with this directive
is expected. Any breach of this directive will have severe consequences
for the lodge, or individual Masons, involved. |