Happy 4th of July

Do We Really Love Our Country?

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Ken JP Stuczynski

When I was a child and told to shut up or not do something, I would often argue, "It's a free country!" It never ended in my favor. Hence was forged a stubborn rebel, and it's no wonder I gravitated toward political philosophies that seemed committed to personal social and economic freedom. Like most people, I grafted my own notions of Liberty onto what we were taught in school about the Founding Fathers and what we were told were uniquely American ideals.

I did the same for Masonry, of course, not just because many of those Fathers were Masons, but the respect for personal conscience and judgment filled the need of my inner child getting to make his own choices. I found a place where I could always act of my own free will and accord. I found a place of personal development with completely individualistic interpretations and self-accountability. Only honest self-reflection and whispered wise counsel save me from such overindulgence, though perhaps not enough often enough

There's always the other side of the coin. When I learned one of our charges for the Second Degree, I was confronted with words that placed strong emphasis on the collective good — socially, economically, and politically. The needs of neighbor and nation could not be ignored, or perhaps had even to take precedence. My iciness toward collectivism felt a bit of challenging heat. My dominant individualism was called out, and it put into question the moral supremacy of personal conscience. There's so much for me to ramble on the couch while you take notes, but let's bring it forward to further Light.

One of the core values of the Scottish Rite is "Devotion to Country". In Eastern Star, a lesson of the office of Color Bearer (one that I've held many years) is that Patriotism is essential to good citizenship. Patriotism is most commonly defined as love of one's country. Simple enough. However, the words and actions of so many people this last year have seen my own conflict between personal freedom and the common good play out on a massive scale.

The question hit me the other day: How can we say we "love" our country if we have so little regard for our fellow citizens? Is Liberty really just the ability to do whatever we want without concern as to consequence or what freedom it takes away from other people? We suffer a million little laws – and I have argued time and again it's a million too many – and yet some people chose to die on a hill of so little consequence and inconvenience while wholesale injustices are ignored or even ridiculed. It's actually easy to see once you figure it out — people define Liberty purely in terms of what THEY can or cannot do. If it doesn't affect them, they don't care, and if it does, even a reasonable request feels like their God-given freedom has been taken away. Others who don't get their way should pipe down and not dare to object in any way that affects us. Law and Order is always for the other guy. We don't need it except to protect us from others and never the other way around. In other words, we use words and symbols of patriotism as a do-what-we-want-card. "It's a free country", after all. And we feel darn patriotic about that.

We "love" our freedom to worship how we want, say what we want, and go and do what we want. Many of us especially love the privilege of doing so without, all other things being equal, being hindered on the count of the color of our skin. But our "love" ends there, with our OWN religion, language, political affiliation. We claim to be "patriotic" but hate so many of our own countrymen, and the only way we can justify it is to consider them in one way or another not "true Americans".

It seems that "love" of country can be nothing more than a feeling, a pride we insist of ourselves and others, while ignoring or avoiding the trappings of social or civic obligations. But what of Devotion? That implies action. That means service. And it's more than service, but selfless service. Wearing one uniform or another, do we protect and serve only to preserve our particular way of life for those we know and love? Or do we fight – sometimes ironically with civil disobedience – to protect or win the rights and privileges of everyone, even those not like ourselves or those whose existence does not benefit our slice of society?

If we were taught Civics, we would know that Liberty without responsibility is license and such a free man is in actuality a libertine, Masonry has taught me that even Love or Devotion to Country cannot be a solitary virtue. It must meet and act with tolerance and justice, which by their very natures, cannot be a pursuit with aims limited to ourselves. Justice is a collective virtue and any injustice done to one of us is done to all of us, even if we do not directly feel the sting of it. Can there truly be any Love or Devotion without exercising Charity, that greatest of graces, that Compassion where we actively care for and about the welfare of all? Do our words and deeds reflect that, or the selfish, narrow yet comfortable groove of Individualism? How can we be willing to die for our Country but not live for the betterment of all its citizens?

I still don't care much for laws and rules and authority. But my Love of my Countrymen – all of them – has not turned me away from the symbols of Patriotism so shallowly or duplicitly used by others. The contradictions and conflicts of this past year have sharpened and tempered my appreciation for the difficult balance of American and Masonic values of individualism and collective good. We don't always deserve it, but God Bless America!

~JP

Bro. Ken JP Stuczynski is a member of West Seneca Lodge No.1111 and recently served as Master of Ken-Ton Lodge No.1186. As webmaster for NYMasons.Org he is on the Communications and Technology Committees for the Grand Lodge of the State of New York. He is also a Royal Arch Mason and 32nd Degree Scottish Rite Mason, serving his second term as Sovereign Prince of Palmoni Council in the Valley of Buffalo, NMJ. He also coordinates a Downtown Square Club monthly lunch in Buffalo, NY. He and his wife served as Patron and Matron of Pond Chapter No.853 Order of the Eastern Star and considered himself a “Masonic Feminist”.

Happy Fourth!

A Brother’s Love

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Robert E. Jackson

Seven score and 17 years ago, the United States of America was ripped apart and thrust into war with each other. The 85 year-old debate between State independence and centralized Federal control, was coming to a head. The descendants of those who worked and lived side by side in a fight for independence from the British Crown, had turned their guns and aggression onto each other. Families were split, and the friends and Brothers found themselves in opposition on the battlefields. The entire world was watching, not only to see if this experiment in democracy could survive, but as 75% of the worlds cotton originated in the southern states, the topic of slavery and 'free' labor had global economic implications.

Roughly two years into the war, 155 years ago this week, the soldiers and civilians of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, would witness a battle more horrific and bloody than anything imaginable at the time. During a 3 day period, the lives roughly 50,000 people were eliminated, with more deaths following due to complications of the countless injured. To give this some perspective, the entire population of Providence, Rhode Island, in 1860, was about 50,000 people. An entire city's worth of people, gone. The estimated 2400 civilians who lived in Gettysburg, PA, no longer had to imagine what hell was like, they could see it with their own eyes.

Confederate General Robert E. Lee thought his army was invincible, and on the 3rd of July, 1863, directed his soldiers to charge up the open fields of Gettysburg and attack the defenses of Union General George Meade. These men were supported by several commanding officers, and thousands of soldiers. Two sides, fighting to the death, and yet amidst the fighting, a symbol of true unconditional love, emerged.

Confederate Brigadier General Lewis Armistead, in an unwavering display of courage, charged through the bodies and bullets, and crossed the Union Lines. As he prepared to turn the Union cannons around and fire onto their owners, he was struck down. As Armistead fell, Union Captain Henry Bingham, noticed a familiar sign. Bingham was an aide to Union Major General Winfield Hancock, a man who knew, and was friends with, Armistead, since the 1850s. Again, friends battling friends. But these men were more than friends, they were Brothers. Bingham stepped into the fire, to the aid of General Armistead, his direct opponent. These men were ready to kill each other in battle, but when one fell, the fear and anger immediately turned to love and compassion. Armistead reportedly told Bingham “Tell General Hancock for me that I have done him and you all an injury which I shall regret the longest day I live.”

Yes, the Fourth of July is the day we celebrate the time when the founding fathers of the United States of America, stepped forward and pushed back upon an oppression. A task that seemed insurmountable. These men, many of which were Brothers, sacrificed everything for a better future for their children. But when Brothers disagreed on the future of our Country, they divided, and fought to the death. Throughout the cookouts and fireworks, it would behoove us as Masons to remember the value of Charity displayed by Brother Henry Bingham. We will never all agree on everything, but those differences are what strengthens us. When we feel divided from our Brothers, and from our Lodge, have the fortitude to reach across the battle lines, and spread the cement of Brotherly Love and Affection.

~REJ

Robert Edward Jackson is a Past and presiding Master of Montgomery Lodge located in Milford, MA. His Masonic lineage includes his Father (Robert Maitland), Grandfather (Maitland Garrecht), and Great Grandfather (Edward Henry Jackson), a founding member of Scarsdale Lodge #1094 in Scarsdale, NY. When not studying ritual, he's busy being a father to his three kids, a husband, Boy Scout Leader, and a network engineer to pay for it all. He can be reached at info@montgomerylodge.org

Will You Stand Up?

by Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

Like many other American’s, I spent part of July 4th attending a parade.  It was a parade with marching bands, politicians, fire trucks, police cars, and lots of American flags.  

An older gentleman was sitting in front of me and he was wearing a ballcap that identified him as a Veteran of the Korean War.   He was by himself and when an American flag went by, he would rise out of his chair and salute the flag as it went by.  It wasn’t an easy task as he used a cane to assist himself getting up.

I went up to shake his hand and said a “thank you for your service”.   He was most appreciative of my acknowledgement.  As I shook his hand, I couldn’t help but noticing he was wearing a Masonic ring.   

I asked about his ring and told him I was a Freemason.  He said he was a member of Deland lodge in a nearby rural town and a member of the Valley of Bloomington (IL) Scottish Rite.  It was fun meeting and having that instant connection with a brother through the fraternity.  

Seeing his dedication and devotion to the flag and the country for which it stands, made the parade all that more meaningful.  It was a simple reminder of the great sacrifice that our men and women have made in 241 years in keeping the United States a free country.

Happy Birthday America!

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott is the 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.  

Independence Day & Freemasonry

*A note from the editor*

We had something for today, it was awesome. Todd E. Creason had written a nice piece with all kinds of pictures. So where is it? It's in the computer...which crashed last night. Trust me, it was awesome. What are you doing on the internet today anyway?! Go out and enjoy the day, our Independence day! Happy 4th everyone!

The American Dream

By Midnight Freemason Contributor

 Bro. Aaron Gardner, 32°, MPS

It has become somewhat cliche’ and mundane to mention our forefathers when we speak of Freemasonry. However, Today could not be any better of a day to mention what Freemasonry has meant to our country.

We all know the history of American Freemasonry, the people who were involved and the dream they had for a “light upon the world”. From Paul Revere galloping down the streets, to General George Washington sailing down the Potomac, they all had a dream to bring ideals they learned within Craft to an entire nation of people. To teach brotherly love amongst all citizens, to set a country to work and see that those qualified do not go away dissatisfied.  We all have heard the phrase “The American Dream”, but what is the American Dream? 

Nathan Hale believed in the dream so much he is quoted, “ I have only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”, before being executed for the dreams of the future America. Those dreams included a nation of people who did not look at the social class of an individual, the idea of religious tolerance and putting the power where it belonged; in the hands of it’s people, not the ones who held an office. 

The Craft brought ideas such as a majority vote. With out the influence of Freemasonry we could very well just have people appointed into offices that controlled the Economy, Legal system, and the Executive Order. The idea of representation is shown through out Freemasonry with a Grand Lodge and subordinate lodges. It is theoretically a smaller scale of what the Nation is. The people of a lodge elect a Worshipful Master to represent them on their behalf in Grand Lodge meetings, much like the states elect a Governor, Senators, and State Representatives.

You see, the American Dream was more than idea. It was a collection of ideas by brethren who saw what the world could really be if everyone came together on the level. It was that collection that so many, literally, broke their necks for. It was treason to rise against the King and fight for what they believed was right. It wasn't just for our Country that they put their lives on the line for, however. It was the ideals behind our sacred Craft, that they were willing to die for. But, they understood; United We Stand, Together We Fall. All because of one pillar we stand beside within our Craft. 

Today, it is troubling to see what so many have chosen to forget; not just in our Nation, but in our Fraternity. I have traveled to a few lodges recently in which everyone is voting for the changes in their particular Grand Lodge and bylaws. The most disturbing phrase was heard in a few of these lodges, “At your will, Worshipful.” Brethren, let me be clear. Yes, it is at the Worshipful Master’s will when he votes in the Grand Lodge. However, when ideas are poured into the lodge about how the Worshipful Master should vote, he is representing you. He needs to know what the majority of the lodge will think if the Grand Lodge increases the Per Capita, or changes the bylaws to state something that it didn't before. When presenting the information to the Lodge the Worshipful Master is gathering the collective thoughts from everyone who will be affected. When he approaches the Grand Lodge, he is given more information regarding the election and will determine rather or not his vote will truly represent everything that YOU have told him. 

These rights as a Master Mason, to be represented by what you want, was passed into what is our Country’s dream. Independence Day is more than just a holiday to celebrate our gratefulness for those who fought so bravely and died heroically against the British. It is a day we should be grateful for those who fought so bravely and died heroically to preserve the nature of Freemasonry: Harmony through Unity. As you watch the fireworks and remember how great this  Country is, never forget how great our Fraternity is as well and the chaos that became order. 

Happy Independence Day!

AG