RECENT EVENTS
STEVEN BROCK BULLOCK
EDWIN TATE IVEY
JARED MATTHEW SHELL
These young Brothers will move along quickly and we should be having some Master Degrees soon. Come to Lodge and welcome the new Brothers into the Fraternity in person.
On Saturday December 21,Tallapoosa Lodge presented their annual donation of Christmas gift baskets to the residents of the Georgia Living Center on Head Avenue in Tallapoosa.
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The gift baskets were packaged to meet the individual needs of the residents, after consultation with the centers staff. ABOVE RIGHT:Delivering the baskets gave us an opportunity to visit with several of the people living there. Worshipful Brother Roger Johnson discusses "The good old days" with ninety-five year old Brother Monroe Bridwell.
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THAT'S NOT A SUPRISING QUESTION. EVEN THOUGH MASON'S ARE MEMBERS OF THE LARGEST AND OLDEST FRATERITY IN THE WORLD, AND EVEN THOUGH EVERYONE KNOWS OR HAS KNOWN A MASON, MANY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW, WHO THE MASON'S ARE.
THE ANSWER IS A SIMPLE ONE. A MASON IS A MEMBER OF A FRATERNITY KNOWN AS MASORY WHO JOIN TOGETHER BECAUSE.
THERE ARE THINGS THEY WANT TO DO IN THIS WORLD.
THERE ARE THINGS THEY WANT TO DO "INSIDE THEIR OWN MINDS".
THEY ENJOY BEING TOGETHER WITH OTHER MEN THEY LIKE AND RESPECT.
IT IS THE OLDEST FRATERNITY IN THE WORLD. NO ONE KNOWS JUST HOW OLD IT IS BECAUSE THE ACTUAL ORGINS HAVE BEEN LOST IN TIME. IT PROBALY AROSE FROM THE GROUPS OF STONE MASONS WHO BUILT THE CASTLES AND CATHEDRALS OF THE MIDDLE AGES. POSSIBLY, THEY WERE INFLUENCED BY THE KNIGHTS TEMPLER, A GROUP OF CHRISTIAN WARRIOR MONKS FORMED IN 1118 TO HELP PROTECT PILGRIMS MAKING TRIPS TO THE HOLY LAND.
IN 1717, MASONRY CREATED A FORMAL ORGANIZATION IN ENGLAND, WHEN THE FRIST GRAND LAOGE WAS FORMED. IN THE UNITED STATES, THER IS A GRAND LODGE IN EACH STATE AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. THER ARE LODGES IN MOST SMALL TOWNS AND LARGE CITIES USUALLY HAVE SEVERAL. THER ARE ABOUT 13,200 LODGES IN THE UNITED STATES.
IN 1731 WHEN BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BECAME A MASON THER WERE ALREADY SEVERAL LODGES IN T HE COLONIES. IN ADDITION TO FRANKLIN, MANY OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WERE MASONS GEORGE WASHINGTON, PAUL REVER, AND JOHN HANDCOCK JUST TO NAME A FEW. MASONS AND MASONRY PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR AND AN EVEN MORE IMPORTANT PART IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION AND THE DEBATES SURROUNDING THE RATIFICATION OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. MANY OF THOSE DEBATES WERE HELD IN MASONIC LODGES.
THE OFFICERS OF THE LODGE ARE AS OLD AS THE FRATERNITY ITSELF. THE WORSHIPFUL MASTER SITS IN THE EAST. "WORSHIPFUL," IS AN ENGLISH TERM OF PESPECT, WHICH MEANS THE SAME THING AS "HONORABLE". HE IS CALLED THE MASTER OF THE LODGE WHICH IS SIMPLY AN OLDER TERM FOR "LEADER". THE SENIOR WARDEN, SITS IN THE WEST AND THE JUNOIR WARDEN IN THE SOUTH, THEY ARE THE FRIST AND SECOND VICE PRESIDENTS.THE DEACONS ARE THE MESSENGERS. THE STEWARDS ARE IN CHARGE OF REFRESHMENTS. WE ALSO HAVE A SECRETARY TO KEEP RECORDS, A TREASURE TO KEEP OUR FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS, A CHAPLIN TO OFFER WORDS OF DEVOTION AND A TYLER WHO GUARDS OUR DOORS.
EVERY LODGE HAS AN ALTER HOLDING A "VOLUME OF SACRED LAW". IN THE UNITED STATES WE ALMOST ALWYS USE A BIBLE. THE BIBLE IS COMMONLY THOUGHT OF AS ONE BOOK, BECAUSE IT IS CONTAINED BETWEEN TWO COVERS. IT IS IN REALITY A LIBRARY OF SIXTY-SIX BOOKS, THIRTY-NINE OF WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE OLDEST TESTAMENT, TWENTY- SEVEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. THESE BOOKS REPRESENT THE SACRED LITERATURE OF THE HEBREW RACE AND ARE THE PRODUCT OF MANY CENTURIES OF VARIED AUTORSHIP AND SUBJECT MATTER. THEY COMBINE LAW, HISTORY, POETRY, PHILOSOPHY, BIOGRAPHY, ETHICS AND THE REVELATION OF DIVINE TRUTH AND LIGHT.
MASONARY TEACHES THAT EACH PERSON HAS A RESPONIBILTY TO MAKE THINGS BETTER IN THE WORLD. MASONARY IS DEEPLY INVOLVED WITH HELPING PEOPLE- IT SPENDS MORE THAN $1.4 MILLION DOLLARS EVERY DAY IN THE UNITED STATES, JUST TO MAKE LIFE A LITTLE EASIER, AND THE GREAT MAJORITY OF THAT HELP GOES TO PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT MASONS. SOME OF THESE CHARITIES ARE VAST PROJECTS, LIKE THE CRIPPLED CHILDRENS HOSPTIALS AND BURNS INSTITUTES, BUILT BY THE SHRINERS. WHO ALSO MAINTAIN A NATIONWIDE NETWORK OF OVER 100 CHILHOOD LANGUAGE DISORDERS CLINICS, CENTERS AND PROGRAMS. SOME SERVICES ARE LESS NOTICEABLE, LIKE HELPING A FAMILY AT CHRISTMAS, OR DELIVERING BAKETS TO THE OLD FOLKS HOME. BUT WITH PROJECTS BIG OR SMALL MASONS, OF A LODGE TRY TO HELP MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
A DEGREE IS A LEVEL OF MEMBERSHIP. THERE ARE THREE DEGREES OR LEVELS IN MASONARY. THESE ARE CALLED THE ENTERED APPENTINCE, THE FELLOWCRAFT, AND THE MASTERS DEGREE. THE DEGREES TEACH THE GREAT LESSONS IN LIFE- THE IMPORTANCE OF HONOR AND INTEGRITY, OF BEING A PERSON WHOM OTHERS CAN RELY, OF BEING BOTH TRUSTING AND TRUSTWORTHY, OF REALIZING THAT YOU HAVE A SPRITUAL AS WELL AS A PHYSCIAL NATURE, OF IMPOATANCE OF SELF CONTROL, AND OF KNOWING HOW TO LOVE AND HOW TO BE LOVED
IT REALLY ISN'T "SECRETIVE", ALTHOUGH IT SOMETIMES HAS THAT REPUTATION. MASONS DON'T MAKE A SECERT OF THE FACT THAT THEY ARE MEMBERS OF THE FARTERNITY. WE WEAR RINGS, LAPEL PINS, AND TIE CLAPS WITH MASONIC EMBLEMS. THE BUILDINGS ARE CLEARLY MARKED. THE LODGE'S ACTIVITIES ARE NO SECERT- EVENTS ARE LISTED IN THE LOCAL PAPES. BUT THERE ARE MASONIC SCERETS AND THESE FALL INTO TWO CATEGORIES:
THE FRIST ARE THE WAYS A MAN CAN IDENTFY HIMSELF AS A MASON- THESE ARE GRIPS AND PASSWORDS WE KEEP THOSE PRIVATE FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. IT IS TO KEEP UNSCRUPULOUS PEOPLE FROM TRYING TO PASS THEMSELVES OFF AS MASONS TO GET HELP UNDER FALSE PRETENSES.
THE SECOND GROUP IS HARDER TO DESCRIBE, BUT THEY ARE THE MASONS USUALLY MAEN IF WE TALK ABOUT "MASONIC SCERETS". THEY ARE SCERTS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE CHANGES THAT HAPPEN TO A MAN WHEN HE REALLY ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILTY FOR HIS OWN LIFE, AND AT THE SAME TIME, TRULY, DECIDES THAT HIS REAL HAPPINESS IS IN HELPING OTHERS. IT'S NOT THE WORST KEPT SECERT IN THE WORLD.
SIMPLY PUT, NO. BECAUSE THER IS ALWAYS AN ALTER WITH AN OPEN VOLUME OF THE SACRED LAW ON IT PEOPLE HAVE CONFUSED MASONRY WITH A RELIGION, BUT IT IS NOT. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT RELIGION PLAYS NO PART IN MASONRY- IT PLAYS A VERY IMPORTANT PART. EVERY PERSON WHO WANTS TO BECOME A MASON MUST HAVE A BELIFE IN GOD IN SOME FASHION. MEETINGS OPEN WITH PRAYER, AND A MASON IS TAUGHT AS ONE OF THE FRIST LESSONS OF MASONRY, THAT ONE SHOULD BEFORE ANY GREAT OR IMPORTANT UNDERTAKING SHOULD INVOKE THE AID OF ALMIGHT GOD. MASONS BELIVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF RELIGION. MASONRY ENCOURAGES EVERY MASON TO BE ACTIVE IN THE RELIGION AND CHURCH OF THEIR CHIOCE. MASONRY TEACHES THAT WITHOUT RELIGION A MAN IS ALONE AND LOST, AND THAT HE CANNOT REACH HIS FULL POTENTIAL. BUT FREEMASONRY DOES NOT TELL A PERSON WHICH RELIGON HE SHOULD PRATICE OR HOW HE SHOULD PRATICE IT. THAT IS BETWEEN AN INDIVIDUAL AND GOD. THAT IS THE FUNCTION OF HIS HOUSE OF WORSHIP, NOT HIS FRANERNITY, AND MASONRY IS A FRATERNITY NOT A RELIGION.
MASONRY TEACHES SOME IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES. THERE IS NOTHING VERY SUPRISING IN THE LIST. MASONRY TEACHES THAT:
SINCE GOD IS THE CREATOR, ALL MEN AND WOMEN ARE CHILDREN OF GOD.
EACH PERSON MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILTY FOR HIS OR HER OWN LIFE AND ACTIONS.
NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL ANOTHER PERSON WHAT HE OR SHE MUST THINK OR BELIVE.
EACH PERSON MUST LEARN TO PRATICE SELF CONTROL.
FAITH MUST BE THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES.
EACH PERSON MUST BE A GOOD CITIZEN, OBEYING THE LAW.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO WORK TO MAKE THIS WORLD BETTER FOR ALL WHO LIVE IN IT.
HONOR AND INTEGRITY ARE ESSENTIAL TO LIFE.
A MASON IS A MAN WHO HAS DECIDED THAT HE LIKES TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT HIMSELF AND OTHERS. HE CARES ABOUT THE FUTURE AS WELL AS THE PAST, AND DOES WHAT HE CAN, BOTH ALONE AND WITH OTHERS TO MAKE THE FUTURE GOOD FOR EVERYONE.