Richardson Freemasons
Vision 2020
Work Schedule
05/07/2013 6:30 PM May Stated Meeting (Budget Proposal)
05/14/2013 7:30 PM Rusty Nail Program
05/28/2013 7:30 PM Master’s Degree
06/04/2013 6:30 PM June Stated Meeting (Election of Officers)
Upcoming Events
06/29/2013 1:00 PM Lodge of Sorrow
06/29/2013 2:00 PM Installation of Officers
08/10/2013 8:00 AM Forum/Exam on Work [Duck Creek Lodge]
09/09/2013 6:00 PM Exam on Work [Plano Lodge]
New Master Mason
Since the last communication Brother Jose Tolentino has been raised to the degree of Master Mason! Thank you to the well-informed brethren who assisted in this degree! Another Master Mason degree and another Entered Apprentice Degree are coming.
Gift of Life Blood Drive
On Saturday, April 20, 2013, Richardson Lodge hosted another blood drive. Approximately 35 units of whole blood were donated! Thank you to Past Master Henry Urquhart for AGAIN coordinating Richardson Lodge’s participation in the Gift of Life Program!
JJ Pearce Endowment Update
Thank you for your generous donations to endow Affiliated Past Master JJ Pearce. We have raised enough money to purchase the endowment, but there is still time to continue our contributions into the scholarship fund in honor of JJ Pearce. Again, please contribute no later than May 31, 2013.
Rusty Nail Program
On May 14, 2013, our Ritual Team [Chairman Neal Roberts, PM, Ron Radford, PM, and Senior Warden Jeff Smith] will present a Rusty Nail Program. Remember in your own Lodge all you need for admission is a valid dues card; you NEVER have to work your way in. But some brothers are reluctant to come because they have forgotten a word or two. This program, open to all Master Masons, will reacquaint you with the various grips and words of the degrees. Please let our expert instructors refresh your recollection and help you remember those things that first impressed you upon your entrance into your lodge.
Master’s Message
Brethren,
Anderson’s Constitution, published in 1723, provides, “The Persons admitted members of a Lodge must be good and true men, free-born, and of mature and discreet age, no Bondmen, no Women, no immoral or scandalous men, but men of good report.” Freemasonry is not a social club, an insurance society, or mere civic group. It is a body of picked men consecrated to a certain set purpose; therefore it follows that only those who possess the qualifications for such a fellowship and the abilities for such work should be permitted membership. Speculative Masonry—distinct from operative masonry—seeks men with a full and sincere determination to take Freemasonry and its teachings seriously. Thus, the physical qualifications of operative masonry have been relaxed, but Freemasonry’s second lesson tests the mind. Freemasons work through a system of symbols and allegory.
The Lodge is said to be at refreshment when not open; and at labor when conducting business. But our ritual is called work. And the intendants of our ritual comprise a committee on work. “It would be better for us,” as Brother Louis Brock, PGM of Iowa once exclaimed, “to admit a man with a wooden leg than with a wooden head.” Freemasonry holds in high regard the sciences, the liberal arts, sound judgment and intellectual powers. It challenges us to daily judge the morality of our decisions. But make no mistake, Freemasonry values all honest work.
Freemasonry does not require a man to be a rocket scientist, a college professor, a computer programmer, or an executive. The doors of Freemasonry are open to all who possess the qualifications to learn and improve themselves through the study of our symbolism, allegory, and ritual. A candidate’s profession is irrelevant, while his commitment to putting in an honest day’s work is compulsory and indispensable. Again, at the heart of this qualification is desire. Our work can be learned by anyone committed to Freemasonry. Thus, we charge each brother at the completion of his Entered Apprentice degree with this language: “If, in the circle of your acquaintance, you find a person desirous of being initiated into Masonry, be particularly attentive NOT to recommend him unless you are convinced he will conform to the laws, customs and usages of the Order; to the end, that the honor, glory and reputation of the Institution may be firmly established, and the world at large convinced of its good effects.”
Show me a man of good report and I will vouch that he can learn something from Freemasonry.
Fraternally,
Christopher D. Livingston, WM