A Train Ride that Isn't Happening

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

Last year about this time, I was scrambling to get ahead podcasting, writing, and anything else that I could schedule to be released via the web while I would be in Springfield Illinois. Why would I be in Springfield? Because ever since 2013, I have gone to Grand Lodge Sessions in Illinois. It's always the first Friday and Saturday after the first Tuesday in October of each year. And we're getting really close to that now.

Except, this year it isn't happening. You see, for the past three years, I've packed my overnight bag, grabbed a deck of cards, and bought a nice bottle (pick your poison), and hopped on a Metra train to Union Station in Chicago, and from there boarded the Amtrak on a Business Class ticket to Springfield Illinois. Once there, we walked the two blocks to the Abraham Lincoln Hotel, right across from the convention center where the Grand Lodge of Illinois holds its Annual Meeting.

This year, the Grand Lodge Sessions will be held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the plus side, I don't have to take two days off of work. Actually, I don't know if that's a plus. I rather enjoyed taking those two days off and spending them with my Brothers--my best friends in the whole world. Yep, I'll be a regular working stiff that Thursday and Friday. Now I know there are a lot of Brothers who can't attend Grand Lodge Sessions regularly, but for me, I do. And this whole thing just sucks.

Perhaps, however, we can make the best of it. I'll gather together with Scott, Spencer, and Julian, and maybe we can go out to dinner on Friday night. We can sit around the table and share war stories, our hopes, our dreams, and speculate on what the first-ever virtual Grand Lodge Sessions will accomplish.

Perhaps on Saturday evening, after the news trickles out on what we've decided to do in terms of the previous and upcoming Masonic year, we can go grab some pizza and have a few beers. You know, make the best out of a weird situation. As I sit and type this, I'm starting to have a bit of a revelation. Maybe it's not Grand Lodge Sessions that I'm sad about missing...Yep, it's definitely not the sessions. Endless introductions, reports that are approved before there ever read, and the most meaningful things that could be read, aren't. Grand orations. The report on the committee of Masonic Education. Celebrating our best and brightest secretaries, Brothers, and educators.

Maybe, what I feel like I'll be missing is a gently rocking Amtrak train--Business Class, the finest microwavable club-car delicacies, spicy Masonic memes, intellectual conversations, and a laughter that seems to echo in my head, even now. OOOWIEEE! and that Amtrak WiFi...it ain't all that bad. Yeah, this year will be different.

Each year, the trip home from Springfield on the Amtrak seems to feel like, for me anyway, like someone died. I remember as an only child, growing up in a home with a single mom. We lived in the Midwest and my entire family and all my friends were in California. My mother, in her infinite wisdom (and I am not being facetious), moved us to Illinois, to get away from the hustle and bustle of the West Coast. Of course, my friends could never fly back to see me. Well, there was this one time my friend Chris came out to visit. They stayed for about five hours or so. But that was it. And when they left, it always felt so strange. Like something had been not taken away but erased. Erased, but somehow I still knew something was missing. It wasn't exactly sadness, I suppose the adult me would use the word, "melancholy".

A sort of black and blue bruise to the child within. A real hit. The words, "Here we go. Back to normal." I think that's probably normal for a kid though. You're connected-- your present, living in the moment. You don't have grown-up distractions. For now, I'll just daydream. Remembering what it felt like to get up at ungodly hours in October, the sun charring some other place just east to wherever I was. A cool dampness at the train station. Hopping on and watching the strobe of jade as we rocked along the Metra tracks-- the streetlights filtering through the green windows.

Arriving at Union Station in Chicago, stepping out into the Grand Hall-- breathtaking. So magnificent in fact, you almost forget that you just walked a mile (or what seemed like it), with a metric ton of luggage. Walking into the Business Class lounge and seeing your friends-- your Brothers waiting for you...

Maybe next year when we travel to Grand Lodge Sessions, (I hope we'll be back to normal by then), I'll find the time to slap two more Instamatic picture stickers on the convention center's podium that the Grand Master uses every year. One for this year, and one for the next. 

~RHJ

RWB Johnson is a Co-Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry" and is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.

Cranking Up The Organ

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bill Hosler, PM

                                                                                               

Back in the day organ grinders were a common sight in many cities. The attraction consisted of a man with a “portable” (For that time) hand-crank organ which would play music and draw a crowd. Once a crowd gathered a cute little monkey dressed in an outfit, would dance around with a little tin cup, and gather change from the assembled crowd. I can honestly say I never have seen an organ grinder in real life but I got acquainted with them by watching old Bugs Bunny cartoons as a child.

It appears that the Covid-19 quarantine is beginning to wind down. Several Grand Lodges have begun to awake from their Rip VanWinkle like slumber and talk about meeting in person again and eventually start conducting degree work again. I may be in the minority, but this worries me a bit. Not because of the pandemic and the curve but in what I have seen as progress the Craft has made in the last few months. (As many of you know I am one who is not averse to picking up a horse and giving a dead horse a few whacks). I have said that since we weren’t able to keep the degree machine humming like a factory machine Freemasons and Grand lodges have gotten back to the roots of the Fraternity and have begun to once again practice Freemasonry.

I have been immensely proud to see Brethren providing Masonic relief to their Brethren, wives, widows, and orphans. Making sure the members of their lodges, especially their more elderly brethren have food and shelter. Doing such things and running to the drugstore to gather life-giving prescriptions for these Brothers and their homes are heated and comfortable and they are cared for. I have even heard of Brethren arranging for such things as diapers and baby formula for young families. It was refreshing to me and if I were honest, left my eyes a bit misty to see all this time and treasure being used to care for the Brethren we took an obligation to “help, aid and assist” instead of devoting to get the Fraternity’s name in the paper in hopes of getting new members to knock on our door.

Zoom calls have been a temporary replacement for lodge meetings and gatherings. It has been for Brethren (including myself) who were not able to visit their home lodge a way to “Spread virtual cement” with guys who have not been in each other’s presence in a long time. Zoom calls have also become an excellent way to further the cause of Masonic education. I know I have personally been able to attend several education courses in the United Kingdom, California, and several other jurisdictions I would never have been able to attend if it was down in the traditional way.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating we become an all online fraternity. I am also not advocating we stop providing charity or letting young men we are still around or scraping successful campaigns such as “Not just a man, a Mason” or the https://beafreemason.org/ website. I believe the campaign was a stroke of genius and a perfect balance between recruitment and public relations. What I am saying is we take such tools and build upon them.

Since I was raised to the sublime degree in 2002 I have become aware of many polls and surveys conducted by various Grand Lodges of young men who fit the demographic of or who joined the Fraternity and left. Even though the percentages were all different, the message was pretty much the same: These young men didn’t want cheap dues or relaxed dress codes. These men were looking to become “better men”, to become something “bigger than themselves” and to make lasting friendships. They wanted what we advertise. Freemasonry. For some reason, we take the numbers and messages we are given and just file them away. The result is the same. They join and leave, never to be seen again. This was explained not long ago in this piece by Robert Johnson: http://www.midnightfreemasons.org/2016/06/freemasonry-isnt-dying-its-refining.html

I am trying to say: what the Fraternity has been doing since (at least as long as I have been in it) has not been working. I believe no matter how much we try to push cheap dues, flip flops and cargo shorts in lodge or big box store lasagna as the norm, (I dare not mention Masonic education and chambers of reflections as an idea without causing fistfights in the parking lot), it isn’t going to be the ointment to cure the Crafts illness.

It just makes common sense, before we start cranking up the organ and get the dancing monkey out again by passing out petitions, let’s remember the lessons we have learned and maybe we can keep more of the new Brethren we bring in to the lodge coming back instead of constantly doing degree work for nothing.

~BH

WB Bill Hosler was made a Master Mason in 2002 in Three Rivers Lodge #733 in Indiana. He served as Worshipful Master in 2007 and became a member of the internet committee for Indiana's Grand Lodge. Bill is currently a member of Roff Lodge No. 169 in Roff Oklahoma and Lebanon Lodge No. 837 in Frisco, Texas. Bill is also a member of the Valley of Fort Wayne Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite in Indiana. A typical active Freemason, Bill also served as the High Priest of Fort Wayne's Chapter of the York Rite No. 19 and was commander of the Fort Wayne Commandery No. 4 of the Knight Templar. During all this, he also served as the webmaster and magazine editor for the Mizpah Shrine in Fort Wayne Indiana.

Descending on the White City - The Largest Gathering of Masons in a COVID-19 America

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RW Spencer A. Hamann

Robert Johnson had a problem.

We stood in the basement of the historic Libertyville Masonic Temple on that sticky July morning, watching the representatives from the village and the fire department descend upon the building, and slowly perspiring into our masks. That the COVID-19 pandemic had, in only a few months, transformed the way we interact with the world is a topic which has been well covered elsewhere, and all of us reading this in 2020 are doubtless well aware of. The men with their tape measures and clipboards were here now to measure out the temple space, examine its 1930’s-era entrances and exits, and give us a ruling if it could be safely used within pandemic regulations to accommodate the crowds of people projected to arrive here in just under two months.

In a year that had already seen the cancellation of countless events, Masonic and otherwise, and seen many events and meetings transition to virtual formats, this virtual shift might be the most sensible logistic choice for the inaugural 2020 Masonic Con Chicago. This is what I was thinking that humid July morning. In fact, I’m pretty sure I told RJ as much. How would an enclosed building space be used to comfortably support hundreds of guests? Could it? What would need to be lost or compromised in doing so? Would this add up to a less than ideal experience or a technical nightmare?

A Chicago-based Masonic Convention had been being tossed around for several years at this point. In fact, in 2017 a dear Brother and I had been making plans to host one. However, our own lack of experience and connections, not to mention the usual cavalcade of life events and other distractions, meant that our efforts physically amounted to little more than a Facebook page and a domain name. When RJ begun discussing the idea in early 2019, I felt that if ever there was a chance for this event to manifest, it would be now.

RJ had spent months reaching out to his connections, pouring over logistics, drawing from his experiences at other national Masonic Conventions, and assembling a truly awesome crowd of speakers and vendors to make the 2020 Masonic Con Chicago a truly classy and memorable event. All of this planning, all of this work, and the success of this venture now hung in the balance as the pandemic turned the world upside down.

Knowing more than I did, tapped into the Masonic zeitgeist, RJ made the bold decision to retain a physical event as part of the 2020 Chicago Masonic Con. He would also include a virtual option so those uncomfortable with or unable to travel into the event in person could still experience the speakers remotely. Doing so meant a huge shift in planning and preparations, and was by no means the easy thing to do. The building would have to be sanctioned off to enforce social distancing protocols, everything would need to be deep cleaned and sanitized, and a battalion of computers, cameras, projectors, and microphones would now need to be regimented and run along with the existing in-house technical needs.

Opening night of the convention, Friday September 18, came at last. RJ, his wife Cori, and their boys had spent hours the previous days deep cleaning and preparing Libertyville Temple, and marshaling vendors and arriving guests as the they came. The level of exhaustion which he must have been experiencing at this point, before the event had even officially begun, must have been immense; but it wasn’t apparent in how RJ greeted the guests and began the social hour before the dinner. That night’s meal, a catered buffet-style Italian smorgasbord held in the civic center across from the temple, was accompanied by toasts and speeches, and something else much more difficult to quantify. Here was a room of Masons (and a few significant others) from all over the country, dressed in their finery, spaced out around tables in a large room, clumsily pulling masks to the side to take a sip of wine or bite of dinner, and swapping stories of life in 2020 alongside philosophical discussion. The cutlery may have been synthetic plastic, but the atmosphere was warm and real. It was not the typical “Masonic Banquet”, but it was something more. An electric current seemed to ramp up and hang in the air, as grown men excitedly whispered about the weekend to come. Perhaps it was a shared feeling of doing something we all knew the conventional wisdom of the moment warned against, but like giddy school boys about to push a stranger’s doorbell and run, we couldn’t have been more excited.

Following dinner and walking back to Libertyville Temple to close up for the night, I distinctly recall Steve Harrison’s motor home shoehorned into the temple parking lot. Its electrical generator idling away like a slumbering dragon, which with great anticipation would wake in just a few short hours.

Saturday dawned bright and cool, the perfect weather for enjoying an event in a nearly 100-year-old building without air conditioning. The same electric current from the night before permeated the temple, from the vendor space in the basement where RJ’s children sold concessions, to the lobby on the main level where RJ’s wife greeted guests and directed traffic, to the lodge hall where chairs had been meticulously measured and placed to provide attendees with a safe environment to view the presentations. That I was unfortunately not present during this part of the day is a testimony that those in attendance were feeling the same things I was the night previous. Something magical (and I use that term in a very real and non-hyperbolic way) was happening, and it was not due to the sheer “bulk” of people present which often creates the classic Con atmosphere.

The educators and their presentations were top class, and a more auspicious program you would be hard-pressed to assemble. Respected giants including Bryan Simmons, Joe Martinez, Alex Powers, Dago Rodrigues, Scott Dueball, Steve Harrison and Jon Ruark blew minds like they were cheap electrical fuses in your Father’s beater Toyota. Those physically in attendance, while masked, were clearly engaged, and they asked questions, real and thoughtful questions, after each presentation. So well organized was the virtual group of attendees that they were also able to submit questions in real-time and engage in the conversation as well. 

Saturday wrapped up with a panel discussion on organizing conventions run by Brothers who had been there themselves, grappling with the logistics of such an event, and have gone on to organize successful national events. The panel went for well over an hour and was chock full of excellent experiential tidbits and Obi-Wan Kenobi like guidance. It was a memorable way to end the day, and while we were tired, we were also inspired.

Sunday morning kicked off in spectacular form with a presentation by Maribel Martinez, whose thoughtful and eloquent presentation on the symbolism of the rainbow set an unbelievably high bar for the presenters to come. Jason Richards, Tim Hogan, and Chris Hodapp rose spectacularly to the challenge, and as the Sunday presentations finished, RJ took to the mic. I’ll let this excerpt from his closing remarks speak for themselves:

“Freemasonry is exactly what you make it. I don’t mean that you get out of it what you put into it. I mean that if you want Education, you need to be willing to be educated. You need to put skin in the game, you need to do the work. … If you want Education, you put it on. You move. You read your education, you put on your PowerPoint and when grown men cry about it for whatever reason or you evoke a passionate discourse--at least you’ve separated the wheat from the chaff, that is--to separate the valuable, from the worthless. You’ll know where you stand.”

RJ, Cori, and your boys: I know where you stand.

To my knowledge, Masonic Con Chicago was the largest national (and international) gathering of Freemasons since the pandemic hit the United States in March. Over 75 people attended the Con in person, with another 92 attending virtually. Attendees represented 35 jurisdictions nationally, as well as two Canadian provinces. There were nearly 10 vendors and sponsors present on site, as well as food service. I spent a wonderful weekend in the company of people who I knew well, met some new people, became acquainted with some people I had only previously connected with on social media or knew from their work, and broke ground on new relationships I am excited to see bloom and develop. I know I am not alone in this experience.

All of this was accomplished with an incredible amount of care and respect for best practices during a pandemic. I would be lying if I said that the event was not affected and altered by all the safety precautions, and had to shift in format from what was originally conceived. But the fact that it went on and was awesome WITH precautions is a mighty bell-weather for what Masonry during the pandemic can be. What was demonstrated is that value isn’t found through packing a lodge room, shoveling food into our mouths around a packed table off of china plates with silver cutlery, imbibing and smoking, and all the other external trappings we turn to in order to “improve” our Craft experiences. Value here, it turns out, is that most conspiratorial human practice of taking a leap into something unknown and discovering more than one ever imagined. We’ve known this all along, or at least, we’ve professed to it since we first knocked on a lodge hall door wearing absurd pajamas. This is initiation, and at Masonic Con Chicago, it was an initiation into something electric many of us had unknowingly shelved in some capacity of distancing to accommodate the pandemic: love.

~SAH

RWB Spencer Hamann is a luthier and musicologist working in northern Illinois. He is an avid woodworker and artificer and enjoys antique restorations and custom commissions. Curatorship and adding value are core to his personal philosophies. Spencer was Raised in 2013 and served Libertyville Lodge No. 492 as Worshipful Master from 2017-2018. He is the Senior Warden of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183, and serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois as their Grand Representative to Wisconsin, District Education officer for the 1st NE District, and is a Certified Lodge Instructor (CLI). He can be contacted at spencer@sahamann.com

Brothers for Life

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Michael Arce

(Photo l to r: WB Patrick M. Connor, Jr. and Bro. Michael T. Arce)

Most of my closest friends in life are my fellow Brother Masons. These men are a diverse group, literally touching every culture, lifestyle, political, and religious background. I also have a Brother, who always joked about being brothers someday --- back when we were college roommates. Patrick Connor played lacrosse and was a fine arts major at the University of Arizona when we met. I was the guy who rented the last room in our house. That year in Tucson, Pat and I spent many late nights talking about our two favorite subjects: our dreams and life. 

Even the best-made plans are subject to change. Instead of finishing my degree, I moved from Tucson to Albany, New York, to begin my life. Pat's journey eventually led him to Rhode Island. Pat was the best man at my wedding, and I was honored to be his. With miles between us, we stayed connected through our new lives. When I share my Masonic story, I say with a smile that Pat is why I petitioned a Lodge. "Mike, I know how much you like history. I remember all of our late night talks about life. You would get so much out of this," he would tell me about Freemasonry. I eventually discovered the calling in my heart to visit the Lodge building I would stare at during red lights. Pat was the first person I called after my first visit.

There is a five-year difference in the start of our Masonic journeys. When I was struggling to make time to study the degree proficiencies, Pat was the Master Mason with the calm voice of reason that encouraged me to keep pressing on. I was excited when he was elected a Junior Warden of his Lodge; he congratulated me years later when I took my place in the South. I circled the year he would be elected Master in my calendar; nothing would keep me from visiting his Lodge. That year was 2020. 

Like everything else this year, my visit was in doubt as Lodge meetings moved to computer screens during the shutdown. There was a glimmer of hope in July that his jurisdiction would be reopening Lodges for meetings. The same day that I reached out to my Grand Lodge to arrange for my visit to Harmony Lodge #9 in Cranston, Rhode Island --- New York Governor Mario Cuomo put Rhode Island on our state's quarantine list. Another delay in a year of postponements, I thought. By mid-August, Rhode Island was off the list, and my visit was cleared!

Harmony Lodge was having their first meeting since the pandemic the evening I attended. I was warmly welcomed by the Brothers and sat in awe of the top-notch ritual work in Opening and Closing their Lodge. What made the evening truly memorable was when my best friend, the Worshipful Master, invited me to a seat in the East. During my introduction, he said, "Michael was like my brother before you, my Brothers." I sat next to him that evening, thinking of the magnitude of the moment. Just over twenty years ago, two strangers became best friends and now shared a unique bond as Freemasons.

I'd like to say that the evening's highpoint was visiting Harmony Lodge #9; it has been beautifully restored. Meeting the Brethern was also notable. I hope to travel again as a speaker one evening! The most precious memory of my trip happened after the meeting. Instead of staying up into the early hours of the morning discussing the future and life, we spoke of ritual and Masonry. We shared those parts of degree work and Masonic teachings that can only be communicated with another Brother Mason. Knowing that I will always have my best friend as a Brother for life that I can share this experience brought new meaning to The Tyler's Toast.

"Happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again."
~MA

Brother Michael Arce is a member of Mt. Vernon Lodge #3 in Albany, New York. When not in Lodge, Bro. Arce is the Marketing Manager for Capital Cardiology Associates in Albany, New York. He enjoys meeting new Brothers and hearing how the Craft has enriched their lives. He can be reached at michael.arce@me.com

United We Stand

by Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

September 11, 2001 I was angry, I cried, I was distraught, I was confused and countless other emotions that most Americans felt. It was the worst day in my lifetime of attacks on the American homeland. 

September 12, 2001 I woke up as most American’s did and tried to begin to figure out what happened in New York City, Washington DC and Shanksville, PA. From coast to coast we united as one country, as Americans. We weren’t white, black, hispanic, asian, native american or other ethnicities, we were simply AMERICANS.

People flocked to church to pray for those lost in the attacks, blood drives were going full force, flags were flying from every big and small town, members of both parties in the United States Congress gathered on the capitol steps to sing together. Our first responders were our heroes as they selflessly rushed into the crash sites to help others, and so many of them gave their lives doing so. People flooded recruiting stations to sign up for the military, such as United States Army Sergeant Major Thomas P. Payne, who was recently awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for gallantry in Iraq.

We stood side by side with a determination to pull our country together in a show of unity that I hadn’t seen before in my lifetime or since. United we stood.

19 years later, our country is bitterly divided along ethnic lines, political parties, rural vs urban vs suburban, young vs old, etc. What happened to that feeling of September 12, 2001? Divided we fall.

I won’t get into deep speculation of why we are so divided. My view is 24/7 news channels, social media, the decline of social capital in our communities, and more is just a small part of the problem.

But I belong to an organization that brings men together of every race, of every religion and from every status of life. We meet in a lodge where you can check all of those differences at the door and enter a sanctuary where every person is absolutely equal with one another. A warm handshake (before COVID), a sincere greeting and a deep sense of caring for each other await you. Of course I am speaking of Freemasonry.

Freemasonry absolutely has the framework that can help solve so many of the world's trevails today. You enter a lodge, engage with other brothers, learning from them, helping them, all the while being on the level with them. You leave the lodge a better person and go back into the greater world and apply those principles we talk about and learn about in our degrees. You are instantly part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

So I challenge all of us as Freemasons to use those lessons and put them to work in your community, at home, in your place of worship, on the job and as you use social media. Be the example and others will soon begin to take notice and your positive influence will rub off on them.

Be a light in the darkness. United we stand.

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott is a founding member and Senior Contributor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign-Urbana. He is also a member of ANSAR Shrine (IL) and the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. Greg serves on the Board of Directors of The Masonic Society and is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and The Philathes Society. He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and serves as its Secretary. Greg is very involved in Boy Scouts—an Eagle Scout himself, he is a member of the National Association of Masonic Scouters. You can contact him at gknott63@gmail.com

The Badge of a Mason

by Midnight Freemason Guest Contributor

Bro. Daniel Lee

Within our Craft, it is universally accepted that a man is first made a Mason in his heart.  I am certainly no exception, however before I was ever made a Mason, I was a cop.  I joined the Cranston, Rhode Island Police Department in 2004 as a rookie patrolman, and remain working there today as a detective assigned to the department’s Special Victims Unit.  After joining Harmony Lodge #9 F&AM in Cranston, Rhode Island in 2010, I was quickly struck by the similarities between Freemasonry and law enforcement— both advocate its members practice moral rectitude, be fair in their dealings with others, treat people as equals, and keep their passions and behavior within acceptable boundaries.  Two Brotherhoods not unalike.  And it is because of the teachings and philosophies that Freemasonry and law enforcement share that I always sought out places where the two would intersect, and I often reflect on ways I can apply my Masonic working tools to my vocation.  I found this to be the “light” of which I was in search.  

That “light” shined a little brighter in January 2019, when I was reading through a Cranston Police Department Retirees Association newsletter that was distributed amongst the department’s active members.  I happened upon a short article written by retired Cranston Police Sergeant and historian James Ignasher about a Cranston Police Chief’s badge engraved with the Masonic square and compass on its back.  This was astounding to me, in that while I enjoyed a multitude of times where my profession and the Craft would converge, none ever incorporated my own police department.  The detective in me took over, and I needed to find out more.

                                                                                                                                        

Chief James G. Miller, 1929

                                                                                                                        City of Cranston Police Department  

                                                                                         Note the difference in style of the badge being worn and the Masonic badge.  

                                                                                                                                             

The badge, it turns out, belonged to James G. Miller (1876-1941), whose career with the Cranston Police spanned over four decades.  Before Cranston was formally incorporated as a city and had a municipal police force, it was an agricultural town of about 1,500 residents patrolled by a variety of constables working under the supervision of an elected Town Sergeant.  Miller, who was born and raised in the Blackstone area of Massachusetts, worked as one of these constables beginning in the late 1890s, and when the city did officially establish its police force in 1910, Miller was one of the original ten patrolmen sworn into it.  By 1912, Miller was serving as the department’s first detective.  

Three years later, in 1915, Detective James Miller became Brother James Miller, as he joined Doric Lodge #38 in Cranston (Initiated:  February 10, 1915; Passed:  May 12, 1915; Raised:  May 26, 1915; and Signed By-Laws:  June 9, 1915).

                                                                                           

Constable James Miller, 1898

Town of Cranston

                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                    

Some fourteen years after signing the Doric Lodge #38 by-laws, Brother Miller completed his accession through the ranks of the police department, and in 1929 he was named as the sixth Chief of the Cranston Police.  During his tenure as the city’s top cop, Brother Miller was known for his compassion and innovated, forward thinking.  There are practices put in place by Brother Miller that are still used to this day. 

Brother James G. Miller’s grave in Pocasset Cemetery, Cranston.

Which now brings us to his Chief’s badge with the square and compass.  Based on what is known of the Cranston Police during the period of Brother Miller’s time as Chief, the pictured badge did not fit the specifications set forth by the city or police department.  The inconsistent styling of this badge vis-à-vis what was issued to and worn by members of the Cranston Police at that time would lead one to believe that the Masonic badge was what is commonly referred to as a “presentation badge,” or a gift not necessarily meant for every day wear, but for display or as a keepsake.  

Armed with that knowledge, this detective was led to the voluminous archives of Doric Lodge #38, which are now maintained by Harmony Lodge #9, in search of any evidence of when or why this badge was presented to Brother Chief Miller.  Much to my dismay, after a long and thorough search through the minutes and records of Doric Lodge from 1929 to 1941, I did not locate any entry that would allude to the badge being presented to him in or by his own lodge.  And with no discernible markings on the badge by its craftsman, its origins remain somewhat mysterious.

Death Notice of James Miller recorded in the minutes of Doric Lodge #38 (with a misprint of the actual date of death). 

Note the short biography, which was out of the ordinary for death notices recorded in the lodge minutes during that period.

Brother James Miller’s name amongst other brethren in the Doric Lodge #38 necrology from 1941.  Again, note the distinction of his time as Police Chief.

My search for light, however, was not entirely fruitless.  I did locate an entry in the records of Doric Lodge commemorating the death of Brother Miller.  Unlike the other death announcements in the lodge records around the time of Brother Miller’s death, his entry was accompanied by a short biography: “Brother Miller was appointed to the Cranston Police as a special patrolman in 1898 and was later appointed to the regular force and in 1913 became the departments [sic] inspector in charge of all investigations.  In January 1929, he became chief of the Department and served as such until his death.”  The uniqueness of this entry reflects the admiration and respect that the lodge had for Brother Miller and his position within the Cranston Police Department, and is an appropriate tribute to a life of service spent in the quarries of Freemasonry and in the protection of the citizens of Rhode Island.  

Additionally, I discovered that besides Brother Miller, two others of the original ten patrolmen sworn into the Cranston Police upon its formation in 1910 would take the oath and obligation of a Master Mason:  Officer Henry Clay Debow joined Doric Lodge #38 in 1920 and Officer George Smith joined Jenks Lodge #24 in 1922.

Captain Henry Clay Debow, 1929

He was one of the original ten patrolman sworn into the City of Cranston Police Department upon its formation in 1910.  He later joined Doric Lodge #38 in 1920. 

It is said that after Chief Miller’s death in 1941, Brother Debow, an ardent outdoorsman, was tapped to be the next Cranston Police Chief.  Debow however declined the position, due in large part to his desire to remain on the night shift so as not to interfere with the hunting and fishing that he enjoyed during the day time.

Brother Debow, who was raised on farm in New Brunswick, Canada, became a Cranston constable in 1903.  As the Cranston’s city police force was formed in 1910, he too was an original member.  Aside from working along side Brother Miller as a detective, Brother Debow was the first member of the police department to hold the ranks of Lieutenant and Captain.  Ever the outdoorsman, Brother Debow was tapped to replace Brother Miller as Chief upon his passing, but elected to defer that appointment to stay on the over night so as to not interfere with his hunting and fishing that he enjoyed during the day time.  Brother Debow was the first member of the Cranston Police, and possibly the state, to use a dog (his loyal Irish setter, Lady) to track and capture a fugitive.

Brother Henry Clay Debow’s grave in Pocasset Cemetery, Cranston.

Close to a century separates the time that Brothers and fellow Cranston Police Officers Miller, Debow and Smith, and I took our respective oaths—one on the Masonic altar and the other to uphold and defend the U.S. Constitution on behalf of its citizens.  Both the City of Cranston and its police department have grown exponentially in the past 110 years.  Upon some personal introspection into my membership in both Freemasonry and law enforcement, I pray that I continue the legacy of applying Masonic teachings usefully to policing.  There may not be a more appropriate time in the history of policing in this country than now.

But perhaps my greatest take away from this research project is this:  Freemasonry is local.  We as Masons justifiably boast about our Brothers who founded this nation, who became President, who are in Hollywood, or who compete in the professional sports arena.  But there are countless Brothers who impact their own local communities.  Men like Jim Miller, Clay Debow, and George Smith.  Three out of the first ten members of my police department were members of our fraternity.  That’s actually a greater percentage of signers of the Declaration of Independence and about the same percentage of U.S. Presidents who were Freemasons.  I would encourage every Brother to go out and discover what impact Freemasonry had on their local communities.  Or better yet, to go make that impact themselves.

~DL

Brother Daniel Lee has been a member of Harmony Lodge #9, F&AM in Cranston, Rhode Island since 2010.  He received his 32nd Degree from the Valley of Providence, and is the Vice President of Rhode Island Chapter #1 of the International Police Square & Compass Club.  He has served with the Cranston, Rhode Island Police Department since 2004, and is currently assigned to the Special Victims Unit as a Detective.  He resides in Rhode Island with his wife, son, and daughter, and enjoys SCUBA diving.  He can be reached at DanLee81@hotmail.com

Getting the Phone Call

by Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

 
Fellow Midnight Freemason Brian L. Pettice sent me a text and wondered if I would be able to talk with him and Valley of Danville Commander in Chief Sean P. McBride later that afternoon about an idea they had for a project at the Valley. The Valley of Danville was hosting a small reunion that day (in accordance with all public health rules), but I was unable to attend. My son Hayden and I were working on Hayden’s Eagle Scout project trying to finish it up.

After Hayden and I finished up our work, I took off for the afternoon and went to Camp Robert Drake, our local scout camp. Because of the crazy year 2020 has been, like Freemasonry, almost all of the scouting events for the year have been cancelled. This was my first opportunity to visit camp and it was great being back and seeing the scouts enjoying the great outdoors.

Upon returning home, Brian called via FaceTime and said Sean was live at the Valley of Danville reunion with an announcement they wanted me to be able to hear. Sean asked what I was doing next August, 2021 and said I had been elected to receive the 33rd degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite at next year’s annual meeting. I was left speechless. It was a great moment. The rush of emotions came over me and I admittedly slightly teared up.

It takes a while to process something like this. I asked myself, what was it I had done to be chosen, when there are so many others who are equally deserving? Whatever the reason, I am extremely both honored and humbled to have been chosen. This fraternity means the world to me. I have met so many amazing fellow Masons from literally all over the world. I have grown both personally and professionally from the experiences I have gained since joining over a decade ago.

Freemasonry isn’t about titles or degrees, it is about using the working tools of the lessons learned for self improvement of the individual man with the expectation that he will go back into the community and make it a better place. My only hope is that I have applied these lessons in my community and helped strengthen it.

I am very much looking forward to next year's annual Scottish Rite NJ meeting in Cleveland. Joining me in receiving the 33rd degree from the Valley of Danville are my brothers Robert Allen Gill and Michael John Puhr. All three of us were officers at the same time in the Danville Lodge of Perfection line, which makes it all the more special.

Thank you to everyone who has helped make my Masonic journey so rich and meaningful.

 

~GJK

 

WB Gregory J. Knott is a founding member and Senior Contributor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Past Master of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 in St. Joseph (IL) and a plural member of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC. He’s a member of the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Eastern Star and is the Charter Secretary of the Illini High Twelve Club No. 768 in Champaign-Urbana. He is also a member of ANSAR Shrine (IL) and the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. Greg serves on the Board of Directors of The Masonic Society and is a member of the Scottish Rite Research Society and The Philathes Society. He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter U.D. and serves as its Secretary. Greg is very involved in Boy Scouts—an Eagle Scout himself, he is a member of the National Association of Masonic Scouters. You can contact him at gknott63@gmail.com

 

Working On Your Rough Ashlar

by Midnight Freemason Emeritus Contributor 

Brian L. Pettice, 33°

“Working on my rough ashlar” is a phrase used by Freemasons to mean they are trying to apply the lessons of the fraternity to improve themselves in some way, perhaps morally or spiritually or, hopefully, and most importantly, behaviorally. Freemasons using this phrase are indicating that they are trying to change something about themselves, trying to change how they behave. You have probably heard this or even used said it yourself. But what does it really mean? Do we ever really change ourselves, especially our behavior, or do we just pat ourselves on the back for the “good” men—the perfect ashlars-- we already are?

Let’s look at the ritual. The rough ashlar in the first degree is that “stone taken from the quarry in its rude and natural state” to remind us of our own rude and natural state. The rough ashlar is “made ready” or perfected to be of use to the builder in constructing his temple. How does this happen? For operative masons, the rough ashlar is perfected by subtraction. The common gavel is used to break off the rough and superfluous or unnecessary parts leaving only the beautiful and useful behind. The symbolism is clear, but do we see ourselves in it? Do we see that we are the rude and imperfect rough ashlar that needs to be perfected to fortify and support the building of our own temples? Do we see the rough and superfluous parts that we need to break off and get rid of? Do we see that we have behavior that needs to change? I think an honest look in the mirror will tell us that we don’t.

When you look in the mirror, do you see a man who is full of pride or a Mason who has humility? Do you see a man who clings to and defends his every opinion or a Mason who keeps an open mind? Do you see a man who regularly provokes others to anger or despair or a Mason who is more circumspect? Do you see a man who would fight every fight no matter how petty or a Mason who walks away? Do you see a man who sees things only from his own point of view or a Mason who seeks to understand and easily empathizes with another? Do you see a man who demonizes those with whom he disagrees or a Mason who recognizes that the Divine which lives within him lives within them as well?

So look in the mirror. Do you see the Mason you want to be or the man you don’t? Better yet, look at your Facebook, Twitter, and social media—your post and your comments—do you see there the man that you want people to think of when they think of Freemasonry? If not, get to work with your gavel. Breakoff and subtract those superfluous parts-- your passions and prejudices. Change your behavior and change your heart. Get rid of the rubbish that you need to remove so that the man that you are can become the Mason you want to be.

My Brother, now more than ever, your country needs you to do this. Your fraternity and your lodge need you to do this. Most importantly, YOU need you to do this. If you think that you don’t, what are you doing here?

~BLP

Strange Times - Two Brothers, Aliens, SkinWalkers, and Inter-dimensional Portals

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

The actual sign outside Skinwalker Ranch

Whether you’re a History Channel junkie or just someone who likes the more fringe shows, e.g., Ancient Aliens, Oak Island, or Unidentified, you might dig this article. About five months ago, I was on the phone with my friend and Brother, Ben Williams. Ben and I share an affinity for all things strange and unusual. Having come to Freemasonry for philosophy and “occult,” we both are into some similar stuff.

This past year, on the History Channel, a new show started. It was all about Skinwalker Ranch. In short, Skinwalker Ranch is said to be the most paranormal spot on the planet. And if that isn’t enough, it’s also the one place on earth that has been examined more than any other, according to the storytellers. Billionaire Robert Bigelow had even acquired the ranch in the 1990s and started an organization called National Institute for Discovery Science (NIDS). This group Studied the land for years, and while they never came away with anything concrete, they sure documented some strange things.

“What kind of strange things?” You might ask—Sasquatch, Aliens, UFOs, Interdimensional Portals, Ghosts, and many more. It’s like a paranormal buffet. This new show on History Channel documents the most recent attempt to get to the bottom of what goes on at the ranch. The phenomenon, however, is not just tied to the several hundred acres of the ranch. It’s connected to the entire Uinta Basin in Utah. Most of the basin in the area in question is owned by a group called Adamantium Holdings LLC.

After a few attempts at trying to contact the owners of the property, Ben and I became only slightly frustrated. We decided to go out to the ranch ourselves. So I got a plane ticket, packed my bags, and Ben and I headed out for a weekend of hiking over the harsh Utah basin, where we encountered bizarre things. We were two Brothers on a mission to figure this thing out, and maybe our Masonic knowledge of philosophy and our understanding of the occult would allow us to view these phenomena in a new light.

A view from an undisclosed location overlooking the ranch. Notice that odd formation...

Over three days, Ben and I hiked all over the basin. I took about 500 photographs, hours of electromagnetic field readings, hours of radiation readings, and I recorded the whole time in audio. We will be writing a more extensive article for a new publication called The Esoteric Mason, which will begin publishing later this year. What will go into that magazine is quite a bit more than I can talk about here, and there will be some links so that you can listen to the audio as we hike 7 ½ miles across the Utah basin.

What, however, does Skinwalker Ranch and the paranormal have to do with Freemasonry? Perhaps it’s not so much what these things have to do with Freemasonry, but in the unlikely team-up of two Brothers from two different states, with our own publications and similar interests who would try to get to the bottom of this. I have no problem telling you right now that I believe Ben Williams and myself solved the mystery of the extremely high electromagnetic field readings in the basin.

What could we not explain? Ben and I could not explain some of the strange lights we saw in the sky. I couldn’t explain some of the shadow people that I saw in a field at dusk. We couldn’t explain the piles of animal bones on a section of a cliff. More will be revealed in the future. But for now, I want to let you all know that there is something strange afoot out there. Something I just can’t shake from my head is the rhythmic and low-frequency hum of the landscape in the dead of night. I hear it when I close my eyes.

Keep looking up.

~RHJ

RWB Johnson is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 2nd N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183. He is a Past Master of Waukegan Lodge 78 and a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. Brother Johnson currently produces and hosts weekly Podcasts (internet radio programs) Whence Came You? & Masonic Radio Theatre which focuses on topics relating to Freemasonry. He is also a co-host of The Masonic Roundtable, a Masonic talk show. He is a husband and father of four, works full time in the executive medical industry. He is the co-author of "It's Business Time - Adapting a Corporate Path for Freemasonry" and is currently working on a book of Masonic essays and one on Occult Anatomy to be released soon.

Expect no applause

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Erik Marks

The 57th point of mind training is clear: a virtuous life is not about me or my self-aggrandizement. In my opinion, the teaching of Shantideva have a lot in common with, and to expand upon, the symbolic understanding of the practice of freemasonry. In attempting to fully live my obligations this year, I realized my eager acceptance to write for the Midnight Freemasons had more to do with my ego (in lay-person’s terms) than service to humanity. Therefore, please accept this post as my humble resignation. There are brothers with far more experience in both freemasonry and mental health to speak to the issues in life, culture, and our craft, than me.

I am grateful to Brothers Johnson, Creason, and Lahners for allowing me a platform to attempt to express how I believe Freemasonry is relevant to men in our current iteration of culture. For the handful of brothers I have come to know through this forum, I am tremendously grateful to have made your acquaintance and we will stay in touch. My aspiration for us all is to use the tools provided to examine our actions with unflinching honesty and to govern ourselves accordingly. SMIB.  

 

~EM

Brother Erik Marks is a clinical social worker whose usual vocation has been in the field of human services in a wide range of settings since 1990. He was raised in 2017 by his biologically younger Brother and then Worshipful Master in Alpha Lodge in Framingham, MA. You may contact brother Marks by email: erik@StrongGrip.org