Another Year Wrapping Up

by Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor
Gregory J. Knott 33° 

As I write this article, we are a couple of weeks away from the end of 2024. Like most years, this year was filled with challenges, excitement, new adventures, sadness, and sometimes frustration.

A year ago my wife Brooke was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNB), this is a version of breast cancer that is harder to treat, but some great advances in medical science have given her an extremely good outlook for beating it. Brooke has been through chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, and follow-up chemo. Her doctors and medical team have been outstanding and we are extremely grateful for their training, skill, and most importantly their compassion towards Brooke and all of their patients.

You can imagine the range of emotions that come from receiving this diagnosis. Brooke decided on day one that she was going to approach this cancer fight with a positive outlook and battle as hard as she needed to. She also decided to be transparent in sharing the information with others. Brooke has posted a series of Facebook posts that share her journey through this process. She has become quite an inspiration to so many people. The comments she has received via her posts and personal words of encouragement have been wonderful and so very much appreciated. The power of prayer is real as countless people have told us constantly, that Brooke is in their prayers.

Being the spouse can be frustrating at times during this journey. I spent my career in numerous high-level administrative positions, where I had the ability to influence and help shape the direction of the organization. I honestly felt helpless in the beginning. But in this journey, I needed to be patient and trust the healthcare providers to do their job.

Have you ever had someone ask you; “What do you get out of being a Freemason?”. This past year has shown me what I get out of Freemasonry. Overwhelming support from the members and family of this fraternity. We have received cards, endless words of encouragement, phone calls, and more. My good friend, brother, and fellow Midnight Freemason (and Masonic Intern), Darin Lahners, and his wife Lisa, even came out one day this summer to help me pull weeds from our flower gardens because I was so far behind in getting them. As a side note, if you don’t have a Masonic Intern, I highly recommend you find one! Editor's (Darin's) note: I do not recommend this, it is a journey only men of high character and high resilience can undertake. 🤣

One day, while I was sitting in the hospital waiting for Brooke to have a procedure, I suddenly looked up, and there was Midnight Freemason Founder Pastor Todd E. Creason. Honestly, it was just a relief to see him and share a few words. Don’t ever underestimate the power of conversation with a friend.

The courage and determination that Brooke has shown in facing this past year, honestly has been awe inspiring. Her positive attitude and outlook have been nothing short of remarkable. I honestly can’t wait to see what plans God has for her in the future!

As we close out 2024, I wanted to give my personal thanks to all of you for your prayers, kind words and ongoing words of encouragement. Brooke and I are looking forward to 2025 ,putting this behind us and continuing to enjoy life.

Brooke always ends her Facebook posts with a positive PSA, so here is mine for this article. Take a few minutes today to tell someone how much you appreciate them, share some kind words with a stranger, and say a prayer for those who need to be uplifted.

God bless you and your family.

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott has been a Freemason since 2007.

Brotherly Love Off To A Rough Start In 2019

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

As Freemasons, we’ve made the decision that we want to live our lives a different way, by a higher set of standards than other men. We consider ourselves a fraternity of freethinkers—a society of thoughtful men who ponder the great questions in life. We believe in many things including equality, brotherly love, relief, truth, charity, toleration, etc. And we talk about these concepts and tenants at great length within our Fraternity.

Yesterday, on a Grand Lodge Facebook page, a Brother expressed an opinion. It wasn’t very eloquently expressed, but he simply pointed out he didn’t like being called "bro." The traditional way Masons address each other is “Brother” not “Bro.” It was a pet peeve. It wasn’t something I’d probably share on that venue, but I didn’t think much about it because I understood exactly where he was coming from. We are a fraternity steeped in tradition, and those titles we use in addressing each other are a form of showing respect for each other. And I share with him an opinion that too many Masons don’t show proper respect for our traditions and ritual. Like Masons that show up for a Masonic funeral in jeans, or don't bother to turn off their phones prior to a Masonic meeting (and then answer a call during the meeting).  So I got what he was complaining about--a lack of decorum, respect, and reverence for the Fraternity and what it represents.  And in truth, I don’t like being called “bro” either and I’m not exactly some stodgy old curmudgeon—as far as I’m concerned it’s the same as being called “dude.” What surprised me was a number of comments on that benign post—so I decided to read them.

It was disappointing. Instead of letting this Mason share his opinion, and give a moments thought to where he might be coming from, what the vast majority of more than fifty Masons did was ridicule him. They made fun of him and his petty little pet peeve. It was the equivalent of a 21st century stoning. Several of those Masons that participated in humiliating that Mason I know quite well. It was disappointing to see, and something I see far too often amongst Freemasons in these groups. This is something I expect to see on a political page, not on venues hosted by enlightened freethinkers.

I'm sure everyone that participated in that exchange thought they were absolutely hilarious, making jokes at his expense.  But how do you think that made that Mason feel? 

It’s easy to talk the talk, but not so easy to walk the walk. Being a Freemason means more than giving lip service to a bunch of old outdated ideas, concepts, tenets, and morals. It means we should be applying them to our lives on a daily basis because those ideas are the gateways to a far superior way of life, and a much more civilized manner of interacting with our fellow mankind. We even talk about the interactions we have with each other in our rituals. They’re not just words, they’re meant to be instructive.

How should Masons meet? How should Masons act? How should Masons part?

One of the insults that were hurled towards the Mason who shared his opinion on that post was “and we wonder why Freemasonry is dying.”

Let me tell you something, Brother. It’s not him. If Freemasonry is dying (which is a belief I don’t share), it’s because too many Freemasons don’t practice what they preach.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog and is a regular contributor. He is the award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. He is the author of the From Labor to Refreshment blog. He is a Past Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) where he currently serves as Secretary. He is the Past Sovereign Master of the Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a Fellow at the Missouri Lodge of Research. (FMLR). He is a charter member of a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 where he currently serves as EHP. He represents the Grand Lodge of Illinois A.F. & A.M. as the Eastern Area Education Officer. He is also a member of Tuscola Odd Fellows Lodge No. 316. You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Masonic Service Centers

by Midnight Freemasons Senior Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

 In 2004 the State of Illinois dedicated the World War II Illinois Veterans Memorial in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. I was privileged to be there for this dedication and it was an event that I will never forget.
 
I recently returned to visit this memorial for the first time since the dedication. It was still very impressive and is a fitting tribute to the men and women of Illinois who served so gallantly in the defense of freedom and our country. 

One addition since the dedication was a small marble bench as you entered one end of the memorial. As I examined the bench I was surprised to find a plaque placed by the Grand Lodge of Ancient Free & Accepted Masons of the State of Illinois commemorating the efforts our grand lodge undertook in sponsoring seven service centers in Illinois to assist in the war effort. 

The plaque reads “In World War II from 1942 to 1945, the Grand Lodge of Illinois established seven fully equipped service centers. These centers served more than two million citizen soldiers offering them hospitality and relaxation regardless if they whether they were Masons or not.” 

Illinois had several major military bases that were key in training the soldiers and sailors who fought in the war. These service centers were located at:

• Great Lakes Navy Base at North Chicago 
• Fort Sheridan at Highland Park 
• Navy Pier/Northwestern in Chicago 
• Camp Grant in Rockford 
• Chanute Field in Rantoul 
• Scott Field in Belleville

After the war these centers helped veterans adjust to civilian life. The plaque stated over 8,000 Illinois Masons served in the war. 

The Masonic Service Association played a significant national role in coordinating these centers. After the war, the MSA continued the work of helping Veterans through the Hospital Visitation Program in affiliation with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. This program is still active and going very strong. My local lodges participate in the Illiana VA Center in Danville, Illinois. 

To learn more about the Illinois World War II Memorial visit http://ww2il.com/welcome/

~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.

A Matter Of Degrees

by Midnight Freemasons Senior Contributor

WB Gregory J. Knott

 

Gregory J. Knott and family at University of Illinois graduation May 2017

This past May, on a Sunday morning I sat in Smith Hall on the campus of the University of Illinois.  I was wearing my academic regalia and listening to the speakers talk about the bright future all the soon to be graduates had as they leave the University and enter the “real world”.  I was one of those soon to be graduates.  

A couple of days earlier I had submitted my final research papers and completed all the classwork.  My last semester had been especially long because the two classes that I took were extremely rigorous, but I enjoyed them both very much.  One class was Storytelling and the other was Genealogy and Library Service.  My Master’s degree in Library and Information Science was now finished.

I was glad to be finished with my academic work, but at the same time I quickly found myself missing the challenge of learning new things, having the opportunity to discuss ideas with classmates and working on the various projects.

The same opportunities that I enjoyed in class are also available in Freemasonry.  As my good friend and fellow Midnight Freemason Founder Todd E. Creason outlined in his recent series on Masonic education, our membership is looking and expecting more from our meetings than just paying the bills and reading minutes.

I have some further goals and one of those is sharing some of the library research skills that I have acquired, with our Midnight Freemason readers.  There are an amazing amount of resources simply waiting for you to utilize them in your Masonic education and research efforts.  Stay tuned soon as the articles start to come together.

Additionally, I would like to review with you what opportunities there are for research waiting to be discovered in your local Masonic Lodge.   I recently gave a presentation on this topic at the Illinois Lodge of Research entitled “Discovering Your Past”. You can watch this presentation on You Tube at https://youtu.be/Y1KcoEcTDf8 .

Enjoy your summer.

~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. He is a Senior Contributor and Founding Member of the Midnight Freemasons blog.