From the East
Worshipful Jesse Middleton
Brethren, we are in the last quarter of the year. In the coming months we will have the Mason of the Year, Hiram Award, Grand Communications, Elections, Veteran’s Appreciation Night, and the Holiday Party. All of this, some degrees including Past Masters Night, and another community project we will fit into the next three months. We can, and we will. I will be breaking up a few of the above events into committee’s to spread out some of the work. That being said, I encourage everyone to participate as they can. Your contribution to the success of these events is what makes Consuelo 325 such a successful lodge. If you would like to volunteer to be a chairman of any of these committees please let me know ASAP.
Communication, one of the largest struggles of society. If done correctly, it relays information in order for events and ideas to move forward. If not done correctly, it leads to confusion, frustration, and chaos just to name a few consequences. Communication needs to relay an idea by including enough detail to paint the picture in a manner that everyone understands and grasps the idea in totality. It is also a common struggle amongst Masonic Lodges, and Consuelo Lodge is not exempt. Many recent discussions have come my way where people have not had the appropriate information on-time or at all. It is now the common practice of Consuelo officers to use Email for more than 90% of its communication to the Lodge. It is not lost on us however that there are those that still do not use or have access to email on a regular basis. Also, many who do use email have in time changed their email addresses, and not updated the current imember to reflect their new email address. Please for those who use email, follow this website https://freemason.org/ and update your profile so that we have your correct email address. For those that are not using email, or have a better mode for communication, please let us know your thoughts and ideas.
Going forward for the month of September, our Stated Meeting will be on the 13th. Hawaiian shirts are strongly recommended as all the officers will be wearing theirs. If you have a ukulele, please bring it! There are a few Brothers who own one, and enjoy playing. We tentatively have scheduled a First Degree for Mr. Torrie on September 20th. Fireside Chats this month will be on the 10th and the 24th. Information regarding “Consuelo at Refreshment” will be forthcoming. On the morning of Saturday the 25th, I am still coordinating a Masonic Education morning. Currently we have five individuals who have put together some form of education to share with the Brothers. This will be open to all Masons from the youngest EA to the most seasoned Master Mason. If this event remains as small as it currently is, a breakfast maybe provided for a fee. OSI for this month will be a joint OSI and will be held at Consuelo Lodge on Monday the 27th. That will take us into the month of October which will include the Pillars trip to San Francisco for Annual Communications at Grand Lodge. Please, read the emails from Grand Lodge regarding new legislation, and let the Pillars know how you feel. We are your representatives, and it is a duty of ours to represent the will of the Brothers of Consuelo Lodge.
My Brothers, please continue to take care of yourselves. With the continued risk of the Delta variant, I ask that if you have any symptoms or believe you may have been exposed to the variant stay home. The Lodge is again open to all events, including coffee and donuts. It is however incumbent upon all Brothers to police yourselves and ensure everyone is doing their part to limit the risk of catching and passing the virus. I look forward to seeing everyone who can make in the Lodge soon. Take care and stay safe!
From the West
Bro. Jeff Powell
Brothers, my topic for this month was going to be about procrastination, but I will probably write about that topic at some other time. Instead there is another topic that I would like to cover, and that is the Masonic Landmarks. I am not talking about physical landmarks, such as Temples and other Masonic buildings, but a set of principles known as the Masonic landmarks. Rarely do I hear of these landmarks being discussed. I first recall reading about these landmarks in a book, and was later reminded of their existence during a car ride to Covina Masonic Homes with the late Wor. Sak and Wor. Reynolds. These landmarks were also broken down in a series a few years ago by Wor. Douglas. I am bringing them up again now because there are probably newer Masons who may not know that these landmarks exist. There have been several revisions of these landmarks throughout the years, but probably the most famous version are the 25 Masonic Landmarks by Albert Mackey, who has authored many Masonic books.
Mackey’s 25 Landmarks are:
- The fraternal modes of recognition
- The division of Masonry into 3 symbolic degrees
- The symbolic legend of Hiram Abiff
- The government of the fraternity by a Grand Master
- The prerogative of the Grand Master to preside over every assembly of the craft
- The prerogative of the Grand Master to issue dispensations for conferring degrees at irregular times
- The prerogative of the Grand Master to issue dispensations for opening and holding Lodges otherwise not established
- The prerogative of the Grand Master to make Masons at Sight
- The necessity for Masons to congregate in Lodges
- The government of Lodges to be by a Master and two Wardens
- The necessity that every Lodge when congregated be duly tiled
- The right of every Mason to be represented in all general meetings of the Craft
- The right of every Mason to appeal from his Lodge’s decisions to the Grand Lodge
- The right of every Mason to sit in every regular Lodge
- That no unknown visitor be allowed to sit in Lodge without being examined and found to be a Freemason
- That no Lodge can interfere in the business of another Lodge
- That every Freemason be amenable to the laws and regulations of the Jurisdiction in which he resides
- That candidates for Freemasonry be required to meet certain qualifications; namely: being of mature age, not a cripple, and free born.
- That a belief in the existence of God be a requirement for membership
- That belief in a resurrection to a future life be a requirement for membership
- That a “Book of the Law” shall constitute an indispensable part of the furniture of every Lodge
- The equality of Masons
- The secrecy of the Institution
- The foundation of a speculative science upon an operative art, and the symbolic use and explanation of the terms of that art for purposes of moral teaching
- That none of these landmarks can be changed
To me, these all seem like very sound principles. The last one, number 25, is worth noting, however, since these landmarks do change and have been changed, or at least the way they are interpreted. Different Grand Lodges have their own version of these. I have listed these 25 mainly for historical purposes, and encourage any Mason to become familiar with these and do further research on their own.
From the South
Bro. Jon Gary Rick
My Brothers, it’s often said that time flies when you’re having fun – and I’ve been having a wonderful time with everyone at lodge; but it’s still hard to believe we’re already in September!
We’ve had another wonderful double degree this past Monday, congratulations to our two new Fellow Craft Masons, Brothers Miller and Pena – I look forward to seeing you both continue on your very bright Masonic journeys! I’d also like to take a moment to shine the light on our Senior Warden, Brother Jeff Powell, who delivered a fantastic staircase lecture on very short notice – truly an incredible feat worthy of admiration!
I’d like to remind everyone that our upcoming Consuelo at Refreshment at Dicicco’s was rescheduled for this month – we’ll be meeting there on September 22nd at 7pm and I’d personally love to see you and hope you’ll be able to join us. All are welcome to join in on the fellowship!
I also wanted to share one of the best ways to stay fully up to date with all the events at our lodge and that’s by checking out our website and social media accounts! If you weren’t aware or haven’t visited in awhile you’ll be able to find a wealth of information at consuelo325.org including our current event calendar, news, rsvps to activities, an archive of our trestleboards and more!
Additionally, we have a number of wonderful social media accounts where we share info, pictures, and activities that are underway. If you’re on Facebook you can find us by visiting facebook.com/consuelo325, we’re on instagram at instagram.com/consuelo_325, or on twitter at twitter.com/consuelo_325 – and if you have pictures or information to share please be sure to reach out to me ([email protected]) and I’d be happy to post them for the brethren to enjoy!
Finally, I’d like to ask everyone to RSVP for our upcoming Stated Dinner which can be done on our website by visiting: www.consuelo325.org/dinner Please try and have your reservations made no later than Friday September 10th to allow for ample time for the needed preparations to be made.
I very much hope to see you at one of the many events we have coming up and should you need any assistance in getting to or from any activity or event please reach out!