Which Way Freemasonry?

Two views of the future

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|                        That Indissoluble Chain                       |
|                                                                      |
|Consider that "indissoluble chain of sincere affection" said to link  |
|Masons together. How is formed? Will it continue? How do we come to   |
|make such strong friendships in our own lodges, and why are we ready  |
|to offer friendship and extend our trust to one who can introduce     |
|himself as a Mason?                                                   |
|                                                                      |
|Our experiences of working together, using the opportunities for "the |
|exercise of brotherly love," is what holds our own lodges together. We|
|welcome and trust the travelling mason not due to his certificate and |
|a few tokens, but because they indicate a man who was accepted by     |
|another lodge that (presumably) shares our ideals, and who (again we  |
|assume) has had his own Masonic education: learning to act upon the   |
|square, circumscribe his desires, and all the other lessons in our    |
|school of harmony.                                                    |
|                                                                      |
|Yes, it would be better to be able to treat all people with such ready|
|trust and regard, expecting that they all had benefitted from such    |
|lessons. Perhaps that day will come; I choose to think that           |
|Freemasonry, by cultivating the habit and the desire, is one template |
|and example bringing the day closer.           ---Wor. Gary L. Dryfoos|
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|                       New Improved Masonry Lite                      |
|                                                                      |
|You send the Grand Lodge a check, and they send you a videotape of    |
|some guy in a tux reciting the lectures with some animated pictures   |
|intercut, and a Kenny G soundtrack behind him. You don't actually have|
|to watch it; you just answer a 5 question check-off quiz on the       |
|enclosed postcard (no postage needed). Eg:                            |
|                                                                      |
|The 3 Great Lights of Masonry are:                                    |
|        (A) [] Good food, good friends, and good beer                 |
|        (B) [] John the Baptist, Pythagoras, and Newton               |
|        (C) [] John the Baptist, Pythagoras, and Elvis                |
|        (D) [] the Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses                  |
|        (E) [] The Sun, Sirius the Dog Star, and Halley's Comet       |
|                                                                      |
|If you get 4 of the 5 correct (the Education committee recommended 5  |
|out of 5, but almost half of the permanent Grand Lodge voted for "3   |
|out of 5"), they send you a wall diploma, dues card, a couple of lapel|
|pins, a list of lodges in your area (including their dinner menus for |
|the coming year), and a brochure for the new Scottish Rite            |
|Dial-a-32nd-Degree 800 number (1-800-SHRINER. VISA, MC, AMEX, and     |
|Discover ancient and accepted).                ---Wor. Gary L. Dryfoos|
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A Page About Freemasonry is http://web.mit.edu/dryfoo/Masonry/