Tuesday, September 29, 2009

September 28, 2009 - POLITICS & FREEMASONRY

On Monday night we held our monthly Festive Board, affectionately referred to as "The Gathering of the Clan," which is not sponsored by any Masonic Lodge. It is simply a celebration of Freemasonry which is open to Masons, their families and friends, and potential candidates for the fraternity. I have written about this in the past, suffice it to say it is a great way for Masons to relax with their friends and family.

This month, our guest speaker made a presentation on "Politics & Freemasonry," something that is never discussed in Lodge. In his talk, he explained why Masons avoid the discussion of politics and religion in Lodge, stressing tolerance for the purpose of harmony. During his presentation, he referenced a recent article entitled, "In Search of the Hill's Freemasons," an entertaining piece which mentions the names of a handful of Masons serving in Congress.

The next Festive Board is scheduled for Monday, October 26th at 7:00pm. The guest speaker will discuss Firefighting Freemasons. Should be interesting.

Stay tuned!

Until next time.

All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"

Monday, September 21, 2009

September 21, 2009 - DAN BROWN'S "THE LOST SYMBOL"

Yesterday (Sunday) I finished reading Dan Brown's new book, "The Lost Symbol" which was released on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009. On its first day, the book sold over one million copies and the betting is it will outsell Brown's last effort, "The Da Vinci Code," which sold over 81 million copies and was turned into a blockbuster movie.

"The Lost Symbol" is an incredibly important book for all Masons to read as the fraternity is at the center of the plot. Actually, I'm not a big fan of Dan Brown's work, but the reality is this book is going to generate a tremendous amount of interest in Freemasonry and, as such, all Masons should read it in order to answer general questions that will inevitably rise from the general public.

After reading the book, it appears to me that Brown knows enough about the fraternity to be dangerous. There is considerable references to Masonic protocol and symbolism in the book. No, Dan Brown is NOT a Mason, and consequently he misinterprets a lot of what we do, but the average person will not know the difference. However, it does appear he did a lot of research on the subject via the Internet. The good news is, he debunks a lot of myths about the fraternity and describes Freemasons as good people who work towards the common good of man and are trustworthy. This will not go unnoticed by the public.

Pursuant to the release of the book, I noticed quite a few Grand Lodges around the globe were trying to capitalize on the book by making members available for interviews, presentations, and allowing public tours of Masonic facilities. I consider this to be an excellent idea for my own Lodge and implemented a Dan Brown page on our Lodge's web site whereby we will also make ourselves available for interviews, presentations, and tours. If all Lodges did likewise, this could become a public relations coup for us and our ranks would grow.

How effective is Brown's book going to disseminating our message? Consider this, on Saturday I received our first inquiry regarding membership. That's just four days following the general release of the book.

Stay tuned!

Until next time.

All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

September 14, 2009 - THE DUNEDIN DEGREE

Something that has bothered me for a long time is how we educate our younger Brothers in how to become a working Master Mason. Basically, we teach them Masonic catechisms, we raise them, and then we invite them to sit with us in Lodge where they know nothing and stumble along trying to find their way. To overcome this problem, I wrote what I called, "The Dunedin Degree," which is certainly not a substitute for the three degrees, but rather a complimentary component, which we delivered for the first time on Monday.

The "Dunedin Degree" has four parts to it:

* A brief history of Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
* The duties and responsibilities of the Lodge officers.
* Masonic etiquette.
* A description of other Masonic organizations in our area.

The degree takes approximately 40 minutes to perform and, instead of one lecturer, it is delivered by four different people who act as guides, thereby displacing the responsibility for learning the degree and causing greater participation in the Lodge (and makes it more lively).

Except for the first part, the rest is universally applicable for all Master Masons, at least those in Florida. Consequently, I am making the lecture generally available for anyone interested in taking it and tailoring it to their needs. I just ask that you send me a copy, so I can assemble a collection of degrees.

The degree is available in PDF format by clicking HERE. If you need a plain text version of the script (ASCII text), just drop me a line and I'll be happy to e-mail it to you.

As this was the first time we tried the degree, the meeting was well attended, not just by our Lodge, but by others in the area. All in all, I believe it went well and I think our younger Master Masons seemed to learn a lot from it. I only wish I had something like this after I had been raised.

For more on the degree, see our Lodge's web site, specifically:
http://www.dunedin192.org/news.htm#090914

Stay tuned!

Until next time.

All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"

September 13, 2009 - WHAT IS FREEMASONRY?

Good question! The answer may not be as obvious as you think. Ask 20 different Masons and you might get 20 different answers.

In case you missed Sunday night's "Masonic Central" podcast, you might want to hear the episode where I was interviewed regarding this subject ("What is Freemasonry?"). You can access it at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Masonic-Central/2009/09/14/What-is-Freemasonry

Also, be sure to checkout the following new eBook (free) from Bro. Greg Stewart. "What is Freemasonry":

http://www.freemasoninformation.com/2009/09/what-is-freemasonry-free-ebook/

A few years ago, I wrote an article entitled, "Bryce's Masonic Planning Seminar," which describes a planning process for Masonic Lodges; you can find it at:

http://www.lodgeroomuk.net/bb/viewtopic.php?id=1846

In the seminar, I ask the question, "What is Freemasonry?" Last year we tried this seminar in my Lodge and it was one of the most stimulating Masonic meetings I ever attended. One of the byproducts was the following definition as developed by Dunedin Lodge No. 192 (and posted on the cover of our web site):

"Freemasonry is a Brotherhood of men who share common values and are interested in improving themselves, their community, and the world at large."

You might want to try the seminar in your Lodge as it is a very beneficial exercise.

Stay tuned!

Until next time.

All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

September 8, 2009 - HOT GAVEL & COLLEGE LODGES

Two things of interest this week:

First, we moved the "Hot" Gavel to Clearwater Lodge No. 127 Monday night. The "Hot" Gavel is a big, nasty piece of wood that a Lodge must take to another Lodge. A minimum of seven members are needed to move it. We had twelve last night, and I was particularly proud that all of our elected officers were present, as well as two appointed officers. For more information on this story, click HERE.

The Hot Gavel is similar to the "Traveling" Gavel with one important difference; whereas the Hot Gavel is dropped off, the Traveling Gavel must be picked up by a visiting Lodge. Both gavels are sponsored by our local Masters and Wardens Association and is intended to promote inter-Lodge visitations.

Second, I came across an interesting story yesterday (9/8/2009), "Freemasons look to build presence at GW". Basically, Masons are trying to establish a Masonic Lodge on the campus of George Washington University in Washington, DC. This makes a lot of sense to me and is the first time I have heard of such an effort, but poses a serious threat to the Greek fraternities on campus.

I guess it was a matter of time for this to happen as many jurisdictions have lowered the age to join the Masons to 18. In my state, the youth organizations have been declining sharply, such as the Rainbow for Girls, Job's Daughters, and DeMolay. In my district alone, they have totally evaporated (and they're coughing up blood in surrounding districts). With this in mind, it makes sense to me that perhaps our future lies in our College Campuses, an area we have traditionally avoided due to the age limitations. Now that this has changed, placing a Masonic Lodge on a campus may very represent our future. This is an interesting story and one worth following closely.

Stay tuned!

Until next time.

All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

August 31, 2009 - EA DEGREE

On Monday, the 31st, we held an EA degree at the Lodge. For details, click
HERE.

All in all, it was a good degree and we had ample people in attendance, but not to the degree I had hoped for. I guess we are still experiencing the effects of summer vacation and "snowbird" Brothers who live up north.

More than anything though, what disturbed me was the lack of music in the Lodge room. Our organist is away up north and his position sits empty, which means meetings are quiet and lack pizzazz. I really believe a good organist is worth his weight in gold. In the absence of a good musician, I recommend playing music either by tape, CD, or MP3. Actually, I prefer the latter as you can better control what is played, how and when. For example, I love to play the theme to the TV game show "Jeopardy" when Brothers are balloting. I find it livens things up a bit.

Stay tuned!
Until next time.
All the Best,
Tim Bryce, PM, MPS, MMBBFMN
timb001@phmainstreet.com
Dunedin Lodge No. 192 F.& A.M.
http:/www.dunedin192.org/
Dunedin, FL, USA
"For the Good of the Order"