A Lesson In Humility

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

"Humility is not thinking  less of yourself, 

it is thinking of yourself less."

~C. S. Lewis

Every once in awhile I "refresh" the pins on my jacket lapels--I have the blue one, the black one, the red one, and a tan one.  I've come a long way since I joined when I didn't even own a jacket.  Anyway, I had been wearing the same pins on those lapels for a long time, so it was time for a change.  I have no shortage of pins.  My wife suggested once that if I changed them every week, I'd have to live to be a hundred to wear them all just once, and I keep bringing them home. 

I have a bulletin board where I keep them--Masons tend to collect a lot of pins in their travels and that's the best way I've found to keep them handy where you can see them all.  I ran across this one.  I'm not sure where I got, or how long I've had it, or if I've ever worn it before.  It's from Indiana I noted later, so I probably got it during one my adventures across the state line.  It looked nice on my black suit jacket, so I picked it.

Then I noticed the back of the pin.  And it really took me back.

Some Masons get so wrapped up in the trappings of Freemasonry, that they forget the important part of Freemasonry--the teachings.  It becomes all about titles, and rings, and aprons for them (a friend of mine calls Freemason like this "medal collectors").  Their goal of these Freemasons becomes the continual pursuit of the bling and the glory and honor that comes with it (you're thinking of a name right now, aren't you?)  

This is a Grand Master pin.  I have a lot of those from many different states.  I think it's pretty rare when a Grand Master designs his pin and doesn't have his name as part of the design on the front.  I don't blame them one bit--a Grand Master in particular serves many, many dedicated years to serve in that role, and I don't fault them at all for enjoying some credit for their hard work.

What really struck me about that Grand Master's pin is that he didn't take that credit.  What you see when you wear his pin is his great pride in his Fraternity--that's it!  I have only one other example of this in my collection--a Grand Master from Illinois from just a few years ago (and a friend of mine).  He did the same thing--he designed a pin that he hoped Illinois Masons would like to wear long after he was out of office to show their pride in the Fraternity.  He made a beautiful pin that celebrated the Fraternity, and put his name on the back.

These two Grand Masters put their Fraternity before their place within it.  They didn't make that pin about themselves, they made it about Freemasonry.  Perhaps they see themselves as just a single link in a long chain, their service as a privilege, and their role as the continuation of a proud tradition.

It's not our position and role in the Fraternity that matters, it's the role of Freemasonry in our lives, our conduct, and our attitudes that matter.  When you wear your Freemasonry on the inside, you don't need to wear anything at all on the outside for people to recognize it.

It's a great lesson to remember as we travel.

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog, and an award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. Todd started the Midnight Freemason blog in 2006, and in 2012 he opened it up as a contributor blog The Midnight Freemasons (plural). Todd has written more than 1,000 pieces for the blog since it began. He is a Past Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) where he currently serves as Secretary. He is a 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 the a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and currently serves as EHP. You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org

Thank You for Being a Mason

by Senior Midnight Freemason Contributor 
WB Gregory J. Knott 

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in early September, my wife Brooke and I visited downtown Chicago. As we were shopping, we came upon the old Medinah Shriners Temple, which was sold when the Medinah Shrine relocated to the suburbs. This building is now home to a Bloomingdale’s store and is well preserved. On the exterior you can still see the remarkable architecture of the building and numerous elements related to the symbolism of the Shrine.

Being curious as to what the building looked like inside, I went in to look around. The interior is no less impressive than the outside. It must have been obvious that I wasn’t there to shop as a couple of sales people asked how they could help. I told them that I was a Shriner and wanted to see this remarkable building. One of them pointed me to some display cases on the second floor that held lots of memorabilia related to the Medinah Shriners.

As I was looking through the items in the display case, a lady stopped by and we had a conversation about what the Shrine was and the fact that you must first be a Master Mason before becoming a Shriner. She told me her dad, now deceased, was a Mason in Milwaukee and he always held the entire Masonic fraternity in the highest of regards. She then said something to me that I was not expecting, “thank you for being a Mason”.

She went on to state that in her opinion, Freemasonry is exactly what young men today need. The moral values that we stand for, the opportunity for men of one generation to mentor men of the upcoming generations, the amazing Shriners Hospitals, were just some of the reasons. I was really humbled to have this conversation with her. I thanked her for the kind comments and assured her that as a fraternity, we are still here and are working towards exactly what she had pointed out. Obviously, her father left a tremendous impression upon his daughter as to what the fraternity stands for and the high regard for which she holds us.

In the weeks since this conversation, I have thought extensively about the simple words “thank you for being a Mason.” Can I live up to this woman’s expectations of the fraternity? Am I doing enough to bring other worthy candidates into the craft that I can help mentor or be a positive influence on them? Am I encouraging other members of the craft to do the same? My personal challenge to myself is to do more of all these things.

So, in closing if no one has ever said to you “thank you for being a Mason”, I extend to you a heartfelt thank you.

~GJK

WB Gregory J. Knott is the Worshipful Master of Ogden Lodge No. 754 in Ogden (IL) and a plural member of St. Joseph Lodge No. 970 (IL), Homer Lodge No. 199 (IL) and Naval Lodge No. 4 in Washington, DC.

Staying Connected

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

Robert H. Johnson

As I write this one, I'm sitting at a small tabletop at O'Hare International Airport awaiting a flight to Raleigh Durham Airport. I'm on my way to present at a lodge there in the afternoon. I fly in, I land, fellowship, present, fellowship, go to bed, wake up and fly home and hopefully, eat lunch with my family on Sunday.

Busy right? No busier than many of you though. I travel less than 25% for work. But I rack up miles just the same. I do a lot of traveling for the Fraternity. I love it. My wife and four kids (all 12 or younger) not as much.

They understand the commitment I have and they love that it's driving great things, but of course, they wish I was  home with them instead. I am extremely dedicated to my family, but that also includes this Fraternity. About three years ago, I was a District Deputy. I had at least two meetings every week (for two years) as well as traveling to give talks and working a 40+ hour job, running the podcasts and managing this blog page. Of course I had several other pans in the fire too. But who's counting? You all get it by this point.

You might be saying, "Brother, it's FAMILY FIRST!" I know. They always are, but also we all have blind spots. Trust me.

My wife resented Freemasonry a little. You all might find that hard to believe since she is very active in the Fraternity in her own way--blogs, message boards etc. But sometimes, she'd just not know where I was, not see me for a day or two, and it became an issue.

I had planned on retiring as District Deputy the same year I was asked to step down, but to be honest, early retirement was a good thing. My family got me back. Of course there was still the travel for podcasts, conventions and symposiums, but I was home a lot more often. We reconnected.

I took some steps that I think really helped my family cope with the fact that I wasn't home sometimes. I created a "Masonic Calendar" in Google and I added it to all the family's phones. They now could see my flights, where I was going and when I would be home. This was HUGE. No longer was there the explosive disappointment when I couldn't go to Six Flags on Saturday night. My family knew weeks in advance and we planned around my travel.

Something else I did when my kids were a little younger, but I've since stopped, is I had created a YouTube channel called "Super Adventure Dad". I would take a few little videos and montage them with GoPro's Quik app, then upload them and send the link back to them. They would see what I was up to and felt like I was sharing the "fun" with them.

Now that the kids are a little older, I've suspended the channel and I don't upload there any more, so you'll probably find it, but the vids will all be private. Sometimes I felt that having to update a calendar and the like for my family was a hassle, or it wasn't value add since I didn't think anyone would pay attention to it. But the truth is, it was crucial. My wife and I, in a blink had an even better relationship. And my mom knew exactly when to expect the kids, since she was the saint watching them when I was out of town and my wife was at work.

In the end, I travel more than ever for presentations, but it's okay. I've streamlined my lodge experience (it only took 11 years). I have just one blue lodge I attend, unless it's a special event or another lodge personally reaches out because they need assistance. I am still a member or all the appendant bodies (sans Shrine), but I RARELY visit. One day, I may become active but I can save that for when life slows down. For now, it's somewhat of a lean philosophy.

So my message to you is to make sure you're connected. Make sure that if your traveling around for the Craft, whether locally or nationally and especially internationally, have that information available to the family, take pictures, stay connected. It's important. It made a real difference for me and my family.

Well, I have to send a few pictures and words to my kids and wife, so until next time, brothers and friends...

~RHJ

RWB, Robert Johnson is the Managing Editor of the Midnight Freemasons blog. He is a Freemason out of the 1st N.E. District of Illinois. He currently serves as the Secretary of Spes Novum Lodge No. 1183 UD. 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 Theatrewhich focus 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.

Freemasonry: Finding Our Future Part 2

by Midnight Freemasons Founder

Todd E. Creason, 33°

Worshipful Master Gregory J. Knott of Ogden Lodge No. 754 A.F. & A.M. Illinois

Last week I wrote about a meeting I attended at Admiration Chapter a few weeks ago now--you can read about that here.  Last Wednesday, which was the anniversary of the 9/11 attack, I attended the regularly stated meeting of Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) A.F. & A.M.   Midnight Freemasons Senior Contributor Greg Knott is the Worshipful Master of that Lodge, and he led a very interesting discussion on the topic of civility--it was the second discussion in a series of discussions he's led on the topic of civility at Ogden Lodge.

The thing that makes member education in our Lodges so important and discussions like this so relevant, is that we don't simply talk about the problems.  We all know our society is genuinely lacking in civility.  It doesn't exist for the most part on social media.  It certainly doesn't exist in our politics.  Even the most basic fundamentals of civility and respect are difficult to find in the world today--like the gentleman I saw this morning at a Barnes & Noble store who was in such a hurry, he let the heavy wooden door close on an elderly woman--it very nearly knocked her down.  He did glance back and say "sorry" as he walked away but he never stopped to help her gain entrance to the store.

Civility is an issue today.  And these discussions WB Knott has led are good because we didn't just complain about the lack of civility that exists today, we talked about what we could do both as individuals and as a Masonic Lodge to promote civility in our society.

We identified a few things including a tendency for people today to focus inwards on themselves.  Social media has amplified that without question--how many pictures to you think the average teenager takes of themselves and posts any given day?  There's also a lack of toleration for anyone that thinks differently than we do.  This idea of live and let live no longer seems to exist--the idea that freedom means we can say what we think, believe what we wish, and live our life according to our own set of principles and priorities so long as it doesn't infringe upon the rights of others to do the same.

And finally, there's a lack of empathy in our society today.  That ability to see things from another's perspective.  There's a lack of curiosity to understand another point of view, or to put ourselves in another person's place--like when you see an elderly woman struggling with a heavy wooden door and doing the right thing by stopping and holding it open for her.

One thing that Masons can do to improve civility in our society today is to become the standard, and to train a new generation of Masons to be principled men.  To mentor them.  To have discussions about topics they can benefit from and can apply to their everyday life.  To teach them the fundamentals of Freemasonry so they can become men of good character-- and later mentors and trainers and examples themselves.  It's living the principles that makes the Mason, not just giving lip service to them. 

The hard part of this process is mentoring.  Being strong enough to pull someone off to the side and say, "that comment you made to Frank was out of bounds" or "I think the way you characterized that situation you described during our meeting was misleading."  We learn through trial and error.  Through correction.  We learn more mistakes than we do from successes when we're aware we've made one.  Unfortunately, we live in a world that's afraid to correct anybody for any reason, and I think that fear has crept into Freemasonry as well.  How do you think future generations of Freemasons are going to act if we don't teach them to be Freemasons, serve as examples, and correct them gently and compassionately when they need it. 

If we're going to be a Fraternity of certain standards and principles and beliefs as we always have been, we're either going to have to defend them and teach them, or what's the point of any of this?

~TEC

Todd E. Creason, 33° is the Founder of the Midnight Freemasons blog, and an award winning author of several books and novels, including the Famous American Freemasons series. Todd started the Midnight Freemason blog in 2006, and in 2012 he opened it up as a contributor blog The Midnight Freemasons (plural). Todd has written more than 1,000 pieces for the blog since it began. He is a Past Master of Homer Lodge No. 199 and Ogden Lodge No. 754 (IL) where he currently serves as Secretary. He is a 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 the a new Illinois Royal Arch Chapter, Admiration Chapter No. 282 and currently serves as EHP. You can contact him at: webmaster@toddcreason.org