Well! I kept very very busy. There never seems to be sufficient time to get done all the things I think and want to get done. I started in June, I set some goals and I had all summer to work on just a few Lodge things. July passed my be and now its august and my deadlines are fast approaching.
However, I did have some fun along the way. In June, the weather was pleasant and conversations with refreshments with friends on decks and patios was wonderful. A few outdoor baseball games, including the Lodge Saints game was great fun.
In July it was a week and the Lake where we had various family stay to stay with us. July was a month for back yard BBQ's with plates full of good food and conversation.
I August, the weather has turned much more hot and humid. I actually golfed a few times, more in August then the rest of the summer, which was twice. Yes its true I am not a regular golfer and my methods for scoring has the golfers a bit confused. However I certainly enjoyed getting out in the outdoors along with the visiting.
So, to sum it up. Visiting with lots of people I enjoy to visit with, that's what I did on my summer vacation.
Fraternally,
Alan Peterson, Master
Isn't time amazing? It has a way of slipping by unobtrusively. One day you receive an email letting you know a due date is a week away and the next thing you know it is 4 days after the due date. The summer has also moved ahead at a very rapid rate and we are sliding head long into fall.
Fall is going to be a very busy time. We have a large class going through the degrees and they are going to need guides to see them though. We will really need the support of the Brethren. So please come and show your support for your new soon to be brothers. The First Degree will be presented on Thursday September 25th. Dinner at 6:00. Degree at 7:00.
Fall also means Rum Cake… I mean BUNCO! That fun, fast and frustrating dice game is coming back October 25th. Stay tuned for more details.
Well, that is about it from the West this month. I am already starting my October article so I don't miss that deadline.
See you in Lodge,
Loren
"Carpe diem" is probably an overused phrase today. It literally means "pluck the day." Most people interpret it to mean that one should always be aware of opportunities and take advantage of them when they arise. I was reminded of this recently when I joined a health club. I was talking to the membership manager and learned that he and I were from the same home town. Moreover, I learned that he was a Mason who still belonged to a lodge in his former home town. I plan to invite him to Lodge this fall.
We already have a possible record number of candidates who will be passing through the degrees this fall. That is great news. However, if we are to continue to grow and prosper, we need to continue our efforts to attract more men of good character into the Craft. I would suggest that many opportunities just happen in everyday occurrences, similar to the one I experienced at the health club. Just engaging people in conversation will increase your exposure to potential new members. So… as I was reminded by pure coincidence, carpe diem!
I believe we will have a great and exciting fall season in our Lodge. See you there!
Allan Floyd,
Junior Warden
6pm Dinner
7pm Opening of Lodge
8pm LEO Presentation
8:30 Closing
WHAT A ROLLER COASTER OF A SUMMER THIS HAS BEEN
LIKE A CHILD'S SPLASHINGS IN A POOL MEMORY
CASTING A LINE TO EVENTUAL FISHY DELIGHTS
QUIET MOMENTS OF LIGHTENING BUGS DANCE
THE TIME OF THE GREATEST LIGHT OF THE YEAR,
SOLSTICE
NOW HEADING INTO EQUINOX.
HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO STAND AN EGG ON IT'S END ON EQUINOX? IT'S HARD TO DEW.
YET, IT CAN BE DONE MOST EASILY ON EQUALNOX.
I WANDER BACK TO THE MASONIC G
WHY IS IT JUST AS IT IS,
GEOMETRY?
WHAT WERE OUR MASONIC ANCESTORS
TRYING TO KEEP ALIVE IN OUR RITUALS AND MEMORY
IS IT GEOMETRY, IF SO, WHERE DOES IT ORIGINATE AND WITH WHOM
IT IS SAID BY SOME HISTORIANS
THE ART WAS REFINED WITH THE SEVEN NOBLE ARTS
BY PATHORGUS OR WAS IT HEREMES
EVEN FURTHER BACK IS THE GEOMETRIC THOUGHTS OF GEMATRIA
HMMM
THAT NAME ALSO BEGINS WITH A G
THIS DEITY IS THE ORIGINATOR OF A CERTAIN FORM OF GEOMETRY
WHAT KIND OF GEOMETRY?
I MEAN GEOMETRY IS GEOMETRY
O MY TRESTEL BOARD, MUST I FIND EINSTEIN AGAIN
IS THIS SOME SORT OF QUANTUM QUANDARY?
MUST I PARTICIPATE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?
CAN' T I JUST OBSERVE FROM MY NEWTONOIN POINT OF VIEW
GAMATION, MATHEMATICS, OR GEOMETRY?
TAKES INTO ACCOUNT MY REACTION TO THE LIGHT OF THE GEOMETRIC FORM
I MEAN HOW OUTLANDISH IS THIS,
SHALL WE CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION IN LODGE?
YOU BREAK THE EGG ON THIS CONVERSATION
LET'S BEND A LITTLE LIGHT ON THIS TOPIC.
The brothers enjoy a hearty breakfast before getting to work.
On July 8th an email was sent out by the Grand Master asking for volunteers to make a two day trip down to Iowa to help in flood relief efforts. I was a little taken aback by this request. When I joined masonry this is exactly the type of thing I thought we did all the time and I was glad to see it arrive–even after I had stopped looking for it. This thought was immediately followed by the thought, "Well, I can't go." I had prior commitments and I didn't really want to leave home for a long bus trip with some random masons and sleep on a lodge floor for a night. Almost immediately I knew I was being hypocritical. Thinking this was what masons should be doing but being unwilling to do it myself.
I wrestled with it for a couple of days and decided to call a client that had invited me to a recreational event scheduled for that day. I told her I might not be able to make it because I was thinking about going down to Iowa to help out. It turns out she was from Iowa and had family down there. She immediately wanted to know who I was going with. "The masons" I told her.
"That figures." she said. "The masons are always doing great stuff like that."
That made things pretty clear. I was going to Iowa, and I'm very glad I did. Not only because we were able to help out poor brothers in distress. But to see they weren't poor brothers at all. Masonry has a very strong tradition in Iowa as shown by, not just the amazing Masonic architecture in Cedar Rapids that we saw, but by the warm late-night welcome we received from our brothers and the endurance of those men we worked alongside that had been rebuilding their towns for weeks. It was the strength of these Masonic traditions that my client had grown up with and made her assume that we would be out there looking to help wherever we could.
I would like to thanks R.W.B. Tom Hendrickson for organizing the Iowa trip and for having the foresight to see in this tragedy an opportunity to reach out and strengthen our brotherhood while proving up to our Masonic ideals.
Brother Kyle Smeby
Published monthly except July and August by Ancient Landmark Lodge No. 5. Non subscription newsletter to members and friends.
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