The Encoded Elevator Pitch

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bro. Erik Marks

[Erik in the elevator]

Potential Brother [PB]: as doors are closing: knocks three times “hold please.”

Erik: Sure. [presses door hold button] what made you knock?

PB: Oh, it’s something my mom taught me, her father would always do that when he came into the room.

Erik: What floor?

PB: 33^rd

Erik: Huh, just one above mine. Work here? [Presses 33]

PB: No, I have an interview, third and I hope last. [elevator stops between second and third floors…] Oh no, I hope we aren’t here long.

Erik: When is your meeting?

PB: Well, in 47 minutes. I like to plan ahead, so sometimes I’m way early.  Hey, what’s that ring? 

Erik: That’s my Masonic ring.

PB: Masonic? Like Freemasonry? I thought that was an extinct cult.

Erik: [chuckles] No, we are very much alive, with millions of members all over the world…and I’d say, we are the anti-cult.

PB: Pardon?

Erik: Cults trick people into joining and then use them for their twisted purposes; they use coercion and pressure to keep people from leaving. We do the opposite: we teach men to question things and think for themselves to better understand the world. Masonry is easy to leave, just don’t show up to meetings or don’t pay dues. We will still call to make sure you’re ok and if there is a reason why you aren’t coming back that we can help with; there are high expectations, but there will never be pressure and we respect you and your wishes if you don’t want us to call again.

PB: That’s not what I expected to hear. But I thought you were a “secret society” [makes hand-waving gestures and scary movie like inflections with the tone of voice]

Erik: No, we are a very public society of brothers and friends who strive to make ourselves and the world better.

PB: Taking over?

Erik: [laughs] No, another ridiculous myth. Just trying to fully occupy myself, that’s hard enough on some days. Sorry, I’m being rude, my name is Erik.

PB : Sol, short for Solomon, nice to meet you.

Erik: [raises left eyebrow] Nice to meet you as well.

Sol: What?

Erik: I know a famous Brother named Solomon.  What’s the interview for?

Sol: Project manager for a construction company. 

Erik: [both eyebrows raised] Say..more...

Sol: Long story.

Erik: We seem to have time.

Sol: Okay, sure. My great grandfather and grandfather were both contractors. They didn’t have degrees, but I got mine in engineering management. My dad was a cop but was killed on duty before I was born. I wanted to follow in his footsteps of community service through policing, but my family asked me go back to the family business instead. 

Erik: So, you are a widow’s son?

Sol: I guess you could call me that, I haven’t heard that phrase before but it sounds right. When my dad was dying, he told the doc he wanted my mom to name me Hiram, after his favorite brother. Which was odd because he was an only child. My mom couldn’t do it so she named me after her favorite Grandfather. Mom and Dad are Baha’i, well dad was [emphasis for his passing]. This company was hired to build a new Bahai temple. My mom used to call me Ram as a kid, kind of a nod to my dad.

Erik: Let me make sure I’ve got this right: Your name is Solomon, but mom secretly refers to you as Hiram, but in code, and you are hoping to oversee the building of the temple?

Sol: Yes, is that weird?

Erik: No…but my readers are squirming in their seats right now.

Sol: Readers? 

Erik: Never mind, it’s a bad habit. Don’t tell me, your dad’s name was David, right.

Sol: So, Freemasons are psychics? 

Erik: No, only in fiction and tired conspiracy theories. But I think you’ve been written into a story larger than you realize, many of us are. You asked about secrets [elevator starts moving]. Your family may have a richer history than you are yet aware of. I encourage you to ask your mom and relatives more about the history of the men in your family. And how would you sum up the Bahai faith, if you’re practicing?

Sol: Oh yeah, it’s a huge part of my life: Unity of God, Religion, and Humanity. That God reveals itself through various messengers over the ages to help humanity transform. It’s very inclusive and holds equality, equity, as a high standard.

Erik: That’s incredible, thanks for enlightening me, I’ll look for more. Well, were at my floor, if you take nothing else from my little elevator pitch, please consider this: Though not so obvious a plot for most people…There are clues in your life as to who you are and what you may become.  Some men are born into the world with delusions of grandeur; others arrive with delusions of a broken lineage, without an intact or healthy legacy from which to develop. We may feel we have lost something. To men of faith, the method and tools of Freemasonry give a structure to explore and find themselves fully, if they earnestly and sincerely use the tools provided. You have to ask to join, you’ll never be coerced, and it is work. Masonry helps men find their harmonious place within themselves, the community, and the world.  It is a beautiful journey for men to discover the secrets they need to find. 

Erik: Here is my card, give me a call if you would like to find more, over dinner, at the lodge. [Erik steps out of elevator] My Brothers would be interested in hearing about your life, and maybe you would benefit to hear theirs.  They may help you find words to feelings and intuitions you’ve held all your life; even if you aren’t interested in joining. 

Sol: [smiles as doors start closing] Thanks.

Erik: [Knocks three times on elevator and pushes doors apart] and whenever you’re given the third degree, Solomon…answer directly from your heart, from what you know to be true. Whatever happens on that day, you can feel assured you did the best you could.

Sol: [looking a little dazed]: Allah’u’ Abha [doors close]

~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

99 and 44/100% Pure Freemasonry

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Bill Hosler, PM

In 1881 two soap makers, Harley Proctor and Brother James Gamble (Cheviot lodge #140 Cincinnati, Ohio), were looking for a way to distinguish their soap from that of their competition. The two men sent their soap to have it analyzed and compared to what was the best soap of the day, Castile soap.

The analysis returned to the men showed that their soap, which was called Ivory soap, had fewer impurities than its competition. Ivory was advertised for many years to be “99 and 44/100% pure” and nearly free of the nasty stuff people don’t want to think about when they are bathing with a bar of soap.

The last few months of this Covid-19 pandemic has brought out the best and the worst in people. It has also forced many of us to alter our lives--just a few months ago, we would not have believed it to be possible.

At the onset of this epidemic, when states began to close business and encourage citizens to remain in their homes, many Grand Lodges ceased labor all around the world. Lodge halls remain dark; aprons remain unworn and such things as shaking your Brother's hand seem, for now, to be discouraged. I had one brother who asked me. “Do you think this will kill Masonry?” He added, “We had such good momentum going bringing new members in. It would be a shame to see it just fade away.”

Many of you who know me know I am usually not the most optimistic person in the world, but upon reflection, I think of this time in our lives--to quote brother Churchill, as our “finest hour.”

If you look at Masonic history, Freemasonry has not only survived through the hard times; it has thrived! Through wars, dictatorships, depressions. No matter how dark things appear to be, there are always men who refuse to bend or give up. I believe we are living through another one of those times.

Over the last half-century, Masons have been conditioned to believe that practicing Freemasonry consists of fish-fries, constant charity schemes designed to bring new men to the doors of our Lodge rooms in hopes of making enough money in dues to pay the utilities and fix our crumbling temples. “We never did it that way.” or “That would never work.” was the answer to every new idea a younger Mason introduced.

As time marches on, we find ourselves in 2020. The worst pandemic our world has seen in over a century. For now, we can practice Masonry “The way we have always done it.” Much like Ivory soap, we have been forced to render all of the impurities out of Freemasonry, and we are now entering a “New” phase-- our Craft hasn’t seen these conditions in a long while. I call it “Pure Masonry.”

Since the suspension of labors, Lodges cannot keep beating the membership drum and begin to practice Freemasonry. Brothers are checking on each other, making sure they are OK, and have everything they need to get by day to day. If they need something, a Brother will “Fly to the relief” of that Brother. Our elderly Brothers and their widows who have not heard from their Lodges in years are getting phone calls to check their welfare. If they need food or medicine or just to talk to someone, the members who took an obligation are fulfilling it. I cannot read the future, but I hope this level of caring about each other survives the outbreak. It is my belief caring for each other and fulfilling that promise we made will do more for membership retention than any open house or pamphlet ever could.

Even though we are all socially distancing, Masons are still meeting virtually on such platforms as Zoom or WebEx, or by other means. These aren’t actual Lodge meetings (but it may happen) and none of “the secrets” will ever be exposed to possible cowans who fall through the cracks and gain access. If they want those "secrets" they can be found on the conspiracy website we all know and love.

These men are getting together to “spread cement” virtually-- to spread some good cheer and keep each other’s morale up while cooped up inside. The Masons of Great Britain have taken to Twitter to post a selfie of themselves raising a glass to their departed Brethren each evening at nine o’clock. At one point, there were so many Brethren toasting it started trending on Twitter! Who would ever have thought something positive about Freemasonry would ever do that?

Masonic Education has also been growing by leaps and bounds. I know several Midnight Freemasons who have given multiple Masonic presentations to lodges all over the country on the same night. I know a lot of Brothers have joked they are busier now Masonically than they were before the outbreak.

Small Lodge’s can, for just the price of an internet connection, can have presentations from some of the most exceptional Masonic speakers of our time right in their very Lodge room and not worry about the cost of the speaker’s travel or lodging expenses. The same Brethren can even have a virtual Masonic book club where they can each pick a Masonic book and discuss among themselves from their own homes. The possibilities are endless.

I even heard of one Grand Lodge which held its secretaries’ school in a virtual meeting. The Grand Lodge was shocked because the virtual meetings had higher attendance than any physical seminar has had in years. If correctly used, a virtual meeting like this for administrative purposes like Wardens retreats, district conferences, “Grand Lodge town halls…etc.” could be a large savings in time and money for Grand bodies who have seen their budgets shrinking for decades. No longer would they have to rent hotel ballrooms or pay mileage, and lodging for Grand Lodge members travels. Add these savings reducing paper forms in favor of online forms these windfalls can fund other projects or expenses which need more attention. Am I advocating for lodge meetings on the internet? Absolutely not! No electronic device will ever replace the handshake of s Brother or the visit to a Lodge room. But if we are smart about it, these webinars can become an unbelievably valuable working tool in our Masonic toolbox.

Brethren, we have accomplished a lot of positive things over the last few months of this terrible time. The funny thing is, much of these things I have illustrated in this essay, we have been told over the last few decades “would never work’” or that they would “destroy Freemasonry.” But from where I am sitting, it appears to me the Corona Virus has shown us that “...real Freemasonry works every time it’s tried.” as Dwight Smith used to say, but it also seems to make it stronger.

I hope when this terrible virus has been defeated and we can all return to our normal lives, I want us to remember what we achieved during this period and continue to practice Pure Masonry-- to insist our Brethren and Grand Lodges continue to do so. We can honestly say, “This was our finest hour.”

Who knows? Maybe if we have been right about these points, maybe some of the other ideas we Masonic restoration advocates have are right too.

~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.

A Similar Crisis

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Steven L. Harrison, 33°, FMLR

It's not at all uncommon to hear someone on a news broadcast say, "I've never seen anything like this before," even when, in many cases, the event is not quite as unique as the news makes it out to be.

So along comes Coronavirus, and I've heard it said about a thousand times on news reports… say it with me... "I've never seen anything like this before." Maybe with a single exception… the AIDS epidemic… most of us actually never have seen something like this. There remain, however, a few centenarians who have experienced a similar crisis: the great Influenza epidemic of 1918, 102 years ago. In fact, I even saw a report of a 103-year-old woman in Italy who has now survived being stricken with both the 1918 flu and today's COVID-19 virus. I'm not sure if that makes her the luckiest person ever or the unluckiest.

The similarities between the two pandemics made me wonder how Masons reacted to the 1918 event. The documentation is spotty, but there are enough examples to indicate Freemasonry played a role in the relief effort.

In 1918, very few people had a telephone, and even fewer towns had access to a radio station. Mass media and social media were from a single source: newspapers. As the virus spread, the reaction from the press was surprisingly similar to the things we see in our current crisis. The United States Health Service issued guidelines that would be good advice even today. Newspapers printed that advice and issued calls for help to mitigate the fact public health facilities were being taxed to the limit. Sound familiar?

In similar fashion as today, Lodges and Grand Lodges alike suspended normal activities. Lacking email, Twitter, Facebook, and other communications tools, those Lodges also posted notifications in their local newspapers.

Freemasons rallied across the country. In lieu of meetings, Lodges did what they were equipped to do. Masons opened their kitchens and made food for victims and health workers alike. Many other Lodges made their dining facilities available to the public and served meals. In Pennsylvania, the Grand Lodge moved healthy elderly residents of a retirement home into a Lodge where they could be segregated from those in the residence already stricken with the flu.

Far and away, the main thing Freemasons did during the pandemic was to convert their Lodge buildings into hospitals, many in towns that had no hospital at all.

In short, the country was knee-deep in a crisis, and Freemasons were there to help. That begs the question, what are we doing today?

In spite of the similarities between the two pandemics, our response, or anyone's response for that matter, would have to be different. While hospital beds are in short supply in many areas, Masonic Lodges are not well-suited to be hospitals. Other large facilities such as arenas, hotels, and even temporary buildings are filling that gap.

We can't open our Lodges to serve as eating places given the quarantine regulations, and many Lodges are not equipped to cook and deliver meals. Besides, restaurants have taken over that function by delivering carry-out meals, sometimes at no charge.

Things are further complicated by the fact that in virtually all jurisdictions, Lodges can't meet. In my jurisdiction, that means we can't vote on any distribution of funds or other activities that would require the Lodge's consent. Also, today, as opposed to 1918, there are far more large and coordinated relief efforts taking charge and providing assistance. Still, there are areas of need where Grand Lodges or individual members can step in.

The Grand Lodge of Ohio issued a report that enumerates some of its activities on the local and state levels. There, individual Lodge Brothers are delivering food and supplies to those who can't get out. They are also deferring payment for those items if the recipients are unable to pay. One Brother has set up an online audiobook library using his own collection of books for members, their families, and widows to access and enjoy. Still, another Lodge is calling not only its members but others in the community to do wellness checks. Another Brother with access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) he has accumulated in his job through the years is donating it to the medical community.

Any one of these ideas or something similar (like individual donations to food banks) would be something a Lodge can do as a grassroots effort by its members, without requiring a vote in a stated meeting. We are Masons, and one of our great tenets is relief. We don't always need formal votes and large-scale programs to pitch in. We need Brothers who will do it because… that's what we do.

A century ago, Masons stepped up to be among those at the forefront during a devastating pandemic. A century from now, what will they say about the Masonic effort in this crisis?

* * *

Note: The author's grandfather, Cord Harrison, died in the 1918 pandemic. He was a druggist, likely infected by a customer. He died early in the crisis before its impact was fully understood.

Book Review: Loge Liberté cherié: A Light In The Darkness by Alexander P. Herbert

by Midnight Freemason Emeritus Contributor

WB Adam Thayer

Click the image above to check out the book. 

One of the great joys in my Masonic journey is getting to read new research materials for review. I’m often contacted by authors who are releasing new books with the opportunity to read their work in exchange for an honest review. As someone who reads an obscene amount, I always jump at the chance.

I received a copy of B. Herbert’s history of a Masonic Lodge formed inside a concentration camp with a lot of excitement, as this era of Freemasonry has always been an interest of mine. Unfortunately, I stupidly took my copy to my office, intending to read it on my lunch breaks, and shortly after, our office shut down due to the current pandemic. All of this is a very long-winded explanation to apologize to B. Herbert for taking so long to review this great book!

A Light In The Darkness covers the events surrounding the formation of Loge Liberté chérie, a Masonic Lodge that formed and met inside of a concentration camp. Due to the highly illegal nature of the Lodge, records are quite scarce, making this book the most complete history we will likely have available.

The book begins with a brief explanation of the cultural views of Freemasonry during World War II, a topic that is generally glossed over in most history books. Specifically, the book gets into a pretty thorough discussion of the laws and edicts that were passed forbidding different aspects of the Craft, which culminated in Freemasons being arrested and put in concentration camps as political prisoners.

It continues by examining the three Catholic priests who served as unofficial Tilers for the Lodge, by keeping an eye out for Nazi guards patrolling the camp during Lodge meetings. This section definitely provides an interesting counterpoint to the typical “Catholics hate the Freemasons” narrative that we usually see in history, and shows that good people continue to do good deeds, even in the darkest times.

The book then hits the “meat” of the topic: the formation of Loge Liberté chérie the business the Lodge was able to perform within the camp, and the artisans they worked with to procure supplies, such as a tracing board. Unfortunately, as previously stated, while this is the most exciting part of the book, it is also the most sparse; even in the best of times, Lodge records can be difficult to locate, and since this specific Lodge was formed in extreme secrecy, the records are nearly non-existent. Most of the history we have available is from the three brothers who survived to the end of World War II, and from others who were in the camp with them.

We finish with a brief examination of the troubles faced by the Brothers of the Lodge post World War II to gain official recognition, as the Lodge was formed clandestinely under extreme circumstances. It is interesting to note that while the Lodge first formed in 1943, and the war ended in 1945, the Lodge was not granted official recognition and a charter until 1987.

This book itself is pretty short and can be finished in an afternoon, however, considering the events it is examining took place over a short time that is not a detriment. It would have been easy for the author to be tempted to pad out the book by adding superfluous materials, and a credit to him that he did not.

The book is also filled with photos that provide greater knowledge of the individuals involved, the layout of the camp and the Lodge within it, and the supplies they had available. These are a welcome addition, as it enriches the experience by helping provide a connection to the text. Many history books leave this material out, and they end up being dry text, so it was good to see how many photos the author was able to include.

I would also like to thank the author for the tremendous amount of research that went into this book; as almost none of the source materials were in English, he had to not only compile the information presented but also translate it, and then fit it into the overall narrative. I can only imagine the hundreds of hours of research that went into putting this together, and it is evident that the author knew the material very well by the time he was finished.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with interest in Masonic history, as it provides a precious window into a Lodge that would easily have been forgotten otherwise. You can pick up a physical copy from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $10 US; unfortunately, due to rights issues for the images, a digital copy is not currently available.

Get it here.

~AT