Brethren:
I have two items for your consideration this month that I‘m sure you‘ll snap right up. They each offer an opportunity for broadening your life as a Master Mason. They are simple and so obvious that it’s a wonder someone hasn’t been promoting them. They both have their roots in the traditional sociability of the Masonic Family.
First, it is important to participate in the activities of the Lodge.
“Well,” you ask, “what are the activities of the Lodge?”
That is a fair question. A lot of our shortcomings in the recent past are job related (some of the Brothers have to make a living). We hold meetings twice a month with maybe three to six sideliners (dinner before the second meeting). The Master has been experimenting with the format of the second meeting to make it more educational. We have a Trestle Board again and can publicize a calendar. We are doing degrees, but have trouble lining up degree teams (this louses up our calendar). We have a coffee club that meets every two weeks with six to fourteen in attendance. But you don’t need a special calendar to know that we have stated communications on the second and fourth Mondays every month.
You have amateurs in the line who would be greatly heartened to see some faces on the sidelines, and who would be giddy with delight to hear voices coming from those faces. Your participation would include, at the least, attendance at these meetings. Beyond that, we need committees [degree teams, committees for social activities, dinners, coaching, searching for new members and for a new Lodge site (we’re being killed by taxes and maintenance), fraternal relations]. You name it, we need help!
When Arcana Lodge was paying off a mortgage, there were money raising projects and social activities that fostered high participation (ah, those pancake breakfasts).
Second, it is important to improve Fraternal Relations.
What better place to start than right here at the corner of Lowry and Central?
Arcana Chapter No.
38, OES invites you to the
Arcana Fun Night !
Tuesday, August 2, 2005, 6:00 PM
Food ! Bingo !
Sloppy Joes, Chips,
Wieners and Beans, Pie, Ice Cream, Sundaes
Iced Tea, Lemonade
This is not a money raiser. Prices are essentially at cost
Bring your Family
Reservations by July
31st.
Call (763) 571-4003 or (763) 574-2119
Vern Bandel, JW and Worthy Patron, Arcana Chapter
vbandel@mmmpcc.org
This month I will start off the column by sending congratulations to our Worshipful Master and his wife on the birth of their son Gabriel on June 14, 2005.
I’d also like to thank the brothers who checked their wallets and submitted their lodge dues. As for the 75 or so members who are still in arrears you will be receiving late notices in the mail very soon. Now is a good opportunity for all brothers to sign up for life time membership. As you will see later in the newsletter there’s a motion pending to raise our lodge dues. Not only will you protect yourself from future increases, but when you answer the roll call of the Grand Architect of the Universe your commitment to Masonry will continue in perpetuity by supporting Arcana Lodge each year at one-half of our normal annual dues at time you became a life member.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since we last raised our lodge dues (the $5 increase in the 2005 dues was a pass-through of the higher Grand Lodge per-capita charge.) As you also see in the official announcement of the proposed by-law amendments on page 2 we are requesting expansion of the responsibilities of the board of trustees, and adding members to their committee. Please plan to attend our stated meeting on September 12, 2005 so your voice can be heard and your vote counted.
Fraternally yours,
Douglas R. Roswold, PM
Secretary
The following is a continuation from the June issue of the Arcana Trestleboard of an excerpt from The Masonic Service Association of the United States Short Talk Bulletin, Volume 32, July 1954.
Masonic symbols are like many common words which mean different things at different times to different people when used in different ways. A large book would be required to list all Masonic symbols and even suggest the several meanings of each. All that may be attempted here is a suggestion of the “symbol behind the symbol” in a few of Masonry’s images often quoted as “A beautiful system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols”.
Few Masonic symbols are less understood - and the fault if that of the ritual and not the philosophy which is Masonry - than the "certain point within a circle".
Both its derivation and its real meaning have become obscured with the passage of years and with, alas, good will but poor execution of the ritual tinkerers - those good men and true who have altered ritual to "make it nearer to the heart's desire" with the best of intentions but without much knowledge of what they did.
Masonically, the point within the circle was the beginning of the process in which the King's Master Mason, overseeing and managing the building of a great Cathedral, tried the squares of the workmen that they might be true ninety degree angles.
Every school boy knows the simple geometrical demonstration, but in days when only the few could read and write, this was the great secret - the "secret of the square."
Draw a circle. Put a dot upon it, anywhere. Draw a line through the center of the circle so it crosses the circle on both sides. Connect the dot with the points where the straight line crosses the circle. The result is a right angle.
It was thus that the King's Master Mason tested the wooden squares of his stone Masons. Originally, "While a Mason kept his tools circumscribed by the point and circle, they could not materially err". Today the line across has become two; we have added the Holy Sts. John and the Holy Scriptures and we now circumscribe our passions and not out tools, thus losing the old significance of the symbol. but the meaning is still there; the symbol behind the symbol is the need of true tools for our work, whether the tools be of wood and metal for labor upon material, of science and wit for work upon the affairs of life.
In other words, the symbol behind the symbol is the need for standards known to be correct to which to hew, and a right pattern to follow during all of Masonic life.
Future issues of the Arcana Trestleboard will host additional discussions of what’s behind other Masonic symbols.
Notice of Proposal to Amend Bylaws
of
|
| With Petition | $[30.00] 50.00 | |
| For Degree of Entered Apprentice | 25.00 | |
| For Degree of Fellow Craft | 25.00 | |
| For Degree of Master Mason |
[12.50]
32.50
|
|
| $[92.50]132.50 | ||
| Masonic Home Assessment | $12.50 | |
| George Washington Masonic National Memorial Assessment |
5.00
|
|
| $[110.00] 150.00 |
ARTICLE V
SECTION 2: The dues of this Lodge shall be [fifty-one dollars ($51.00)] Sixty-Six Dollars ($66.00) plus per capita of the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the state of Minnesota per year for each member, payable annually in advance.
Arcana Koffee KlubThe Koffee Klub meets at 9:30 AM every other Wednesday for coffee, treats, and fellowship. Occasionally someone will even have a good joke to share. Upcoming Koffee Klub dates are August 3, August 17, August 31, September 14, and September 28. Come join the fun. |