Every Masonic Lodge conducts a ritualistic opening ceremony before transacting any business. The opening ceremony is actually quite brief – usually just about ten minutes long. Because of its brevity, its importance is often overlooked. Many times the ritual opening is viewed as an annoyance, to be hurried through as quickly as possible, or, in some cases, reduced to an abbreviated set of declarations, after which we can get down to the business of reading minutes and paying bills.
Read MoreHow Freemasonry unfolded and evolved as an organization in the United States is an interesting story. One of the fascinating parts of that story is in how clearly becomes the answer to the question as to why much of the fraternity looks and behaves like it does today and faces the same issues as the ones troubling it over the past 160 years or more. The story provokes thought, at least to the non-casual Masons who take the time to study the facts of the unfolding, because it makes clear what happens when a majority of an organization’s culture takes an artless stance, then hones and passes on that stance through generations who cling to the belief that adequate fundamental instruction and education beyond passing through ritual is unnecessary.
Read More
We don’t think much about polishing our shoes these days. In fact, interest in durable leather footwear has been declining for quite some time. The preference for the more casual convenience offered by a variety of informal footwear continues to alarm the leather and the old shoe industry. Droughts over the past decade have affected, and will, for years to come, continue to affect the cattle market, where most leather is produced, which, of course, affects costs in the manufacturing of leather shoes. Also, the onset of more ethically conscious shoppers demanding more alternatives to leather has led designers to utilize fake leather, as well as to companies switching to various other materials to signal their environmental awareness.
Read MoreMasonic Perspectives is a project created by Past Masters John W. Bizzack, Ph.D. and Dan M. Kemble intended to bring the writings about controversial topics of the past in American Freemasonry and provide readers a second look and contemporary perspective on the topics to serve as a catalyst for further discussion. This project is a joint venture of Lexington Lodge No. 1, The Rubicon Masonic Society, and William O. Ware Lodge of Research, Covington, Kentucky.
Read MoreThe first time American Freemasonry shot itself in the foot was in the final decades of the 18th century. A December 1779 document tells us the state and condition of the Fraternity and offered a bold recommendation to address the condition. The failure of existing Grand Lodges to act on the recommendation cocked the pistol. The failure to do anything about the condition of the Fraternity that led to the recommendation pulled the trigger that led to the limp. The call for Grand Lodges to examine the 1779 recommendation would be made thirteen more times before the end of 1860. Each call was rejected. The indifference and failure to recognize and acknowledge the serious underlying issues that caused the recommendations to resurface for decades led to an aggravating, lasting limp.
Read MoreSpeaker of the U. S. House of Representatives Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill (D-MA) was fond of using the phrase, “All politics is local.” Speaker O’Neill meant that any elected official first needed to determine how a position on any given issue would be received by his constituency before announcing his stance on the matter. Among Freemasons in recent years, it has become trendy to modify the phrase to, “All Freemasonry is local.” Roger S. VanGorden, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Indiana (2002-2003), is frequently attributed with coining the phrase, and it has been enthusiastically repeated by Masons nationwide, most notably by author and blogger Christopher L. Hodapp.
Read MoreJudging from the number of times we find references to Masonic ignorance in books, essays, articles, and Grand Lodge Proceedings from the mid-1800s through the 1900s, one can reasonably conclude that there was much of it. The same conclusion may be drawn with respect to the first two decades of the 2000s. Some voice a concern that the term Masonic ignorance is offensive, inappropriate, and unacceptable language today, which sounds like an affirmation to others that there is an ignorance about what it is that the term itself actually refers and describes.
Read More
In The Canker Worm On the Rose – The Story of the Struggle in Kentucky From 1800-2020 to Develop a Consistent Approach in the Observance of Freemasonry, John W. Bizzack, Ph.D., Past Master of Lexington Lodge No. 1, traces the explosive growth of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky and explores the ensuing issues that the Grand Lodge, and all of Kentucky Freemasonry, faced as a result of unplanned and unrestrained growth. Such a study is not necessarily new. Other Masonic writers have addressed similar aspects of this subject at different times. What is new about Worshipful Brother Bizzack’s work, however, is that he allows the story of Kentucky Freemasonry to be narrated by those who actually made it.
Read More