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Home Lodge #721
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Our Officers SpeakThe articles on this page are run in our monthly Trestle Board/Bulletin. From the May edition .... FROM THE EASTDear Ladies and Brethren, By the time you read this message, Natasha and I should be back from mainland China. If we’re not back by this time, please pray for us. In addition to visiting the expected tourist sites, we will also visit various factories and attend a government meeting (By special invitation). I recently upgraded the memory card on my digital camera and will have plenty of photos in case you’re interested in viewing them. As your officers have promised you, we have a stupendous line-up of cultural and sporting activities coming soon. On Saturday, April 12, 2008, 10:30 a.m., in the upstairs Lodge Room, Sean Foran P.M., will deliver a PowerPoint presentation on "The Mysteries of Roslyn Chapel." Please join us and learn how this magnificent structure is connected to Masonry and King Solomon’s Temple. Although this lecture was initially restricted to Master Masons only, due to popular demand it is now open to everyone. We will be very careful not to divulge any secrets. Feel free to bring your spouse, friends, new masons and prospective candidates. The cost of admission is a cubic centimeter of curiosity and a cubit of enthusiasm. (See Bulletin) On May 4, we will be enjoying a Sunday Brunch at the House of Blues (HOB), on the Sunset Strip. There is a full and exquisite brunch (no MSG), including a carving station, and will feature the famous HOB Gospel Singers. Trust me. You don’t have to be a Christian to appreciate this lively and inspirational entertainment, which touches people of all religions. General admission is $42.50 per person, seniors $34.50. Free transportation by bus (8:45 a.m.) is provided by Home Lodge. Although the deadline for group tickets has passed, I can still get individual tickets by April 15 (same price). We have already sold 35 tickets! On May 23, we will enjoy "A night with the Dodgers." The opposing team will be the St. Louis Cardinals, and the event includes a lively fireworks show. The bus leaves the Lodge at 5:45 p.m. Reserve your tickets today. (See Bulletin) On July 13, Home Lodge and the Encino Shrine Club will hold their Annual Picnic at Rancho Tapo Park. Food, beverages, and toys will be offered. This event not only sells itself, it’s also Freeeeeeeeeeee! Please show up at 10 a.m. if you’re interested in helping us set-up. (See Bulletin) Fraternally from the East Eduardo Estrada-Master FROM THE WESTBrethren and Ladies: Here are some excerpts from the "Meaning of Masonry" by W.L. Wilmshurst I thought would be of interest to you: Our teaching is purposely veiled in allegory and symbol and its deeper import does not appear upon the surface of the ritual itself. This is partly in correspondence with human life itself and the world we live in which are themselves but allegories and symbols of another life and the veils of another world; and partly intentional also, so that only those who have reverent and understanding minds may penetrate into the more hidden meaning of the doctrine of the Craft. The deeper secrets of life, are heavily veiled. They exist concealed beneath a great reservation; but who so knows anything of them knows also that they are "many and valuable" and they are disclosed only to those who act upon the hint given in our lectures, "Seek and ye shall find; ask and ye shall have; knock and it shall be opened unto you." The search may be long and difficult, but great things are not acquired without effort and search; but it may be affirmed that to the candidate who is "properly prepared" (in a much fuller sense that we conventionally attach to that expression) there are doors leading from the craft that, when knocked, will assuredly open and admit him to places and to knowledge he at present recks little of. Who would enter upon the great initiations, the same rule applies as that which was symbolically represented upon his first entrance into the Order, but this time it will no longer be a symbol, but a realistic fact. He will find, I mean, that a drawn sword is always threatening in front of him and that a cable-tow is still around his neck, danger indeed, awaits the candidate who would rush precipitately and in a state of moral unfitness into the deeper mysteries of his being, which are indeed "serious, solemn and awful"; but on the other hand, for him who has once entered upon the path of light it is a moral suicide to turn back. Fraternally from the West Jose A. Fiss PM, Senior Warden FROM THE SOUTHBrethren and Ladies: At the end of March my son flew in from college in Chicago on his spring break to receive his Entered Apprentice degree. It was with a sense of deep pride that I delivered that degree. I was also overwhelmed at the show of support from my brethren that showed up to see that degree conferred. And from the bottom of my heart I would like to express my thanks to each and every one of you that attended the ritual that night at the Lodge. Like many of you, my kids are all in college. I have three and that is hard work, don’t let anybody kid you that raising kids gets easier, you just worry more, and of course they ask for more money, haha. You know my Dad seems to laugh a lot more these days as I call to ask for advice. My kids are all involved in some aspect of the arts, a fact that I am very proud of. Bill, my son, though is involved in theatre. He is going to school for set design and construction. Each time he comes home I am amazed at the things he is doing and the things he has learned. And each time we talk he tells me of the importance of the lessons I have taught him about doing his work well, and paying attention to the details of his craft. We all have the nature of craft in our lives, things we know how to do well that others are not so skilled at. My Dad is a good mechanic, my brother is handy with home repair, one of my best friends is a great electrician, things I am no good at and admire greatly. We watch each other apply their individual craft in hope of learning something new, and gaining some of their experience in the craft they are good at. As our craft is exhibited to the world by what we do with it, let us carefully exhibit our CRAFT to the world in every work deed and action. Even if it is just banding together as the family we have fraternally become to celebrate the initiation of our brothers and the fellowship shared there. Fraternally from the South Steve Eberhardt, PM, Junior Warden Home |