My new Masonic year

Two years in the East. A long journey for a relatively new Mason. My journey started in 2003 after my father was diagnosed with cancer. It was discovered during another test and they didn't give him long.

I had been putting off joining a Lodge when we lived downstate as I knew my wife's plans included moving "up north" to be closer to her family. I didn't feel right having my father's Lodge putting all the work into bringing me in, then with a quick wave, leaving for another Lodge.

Now was the time to join as he has talked about it in the past. Only one of my brothers had already joined the Lodge, I called my other brother and talked with him about joining also. With that, my dad was on the phone with our secretary and had my application and dues already in the mail.

Within a few months, I was on my way. The key night was my raising to MM which occurred on my birthday and had my father and brother both present and taking part in my raising. What a great night to think back too. He planned ahead during his life and made sure to have three rings that he wore throughout his 40 years. This allowed all of his sons to wear a ring that belonged to his father. I wear mine with pride.

Through all his years of Lodge activities, pancake breakfasts, plays at the Detroit Masonic Temple and the great Shrine Circus I realized this was something I wanted to be part of my life.

Once I finished my degree work, I was asked to fill a seat in the South for the rest of the year. What a challenge that turned out to be. Did I mention that they forgot the tell me I get to serve dinner? We don't just do sandwiches or a snack. We think that having a good dinner helps keep those on the fence coming in. I know over the years that it draws Brothers from other Lodges in also.

I continued my next year sitting in the South and worked into the West and then the East during the next years. Without help from the Master before me I would have still been lost. His help during my early years helped to steer me down the right path.

I then spent two years in the East, either because they liked what I was doing or thought I was a big enough sucker, they still will not tell me which. During this time I took the momentum from the previous year and built on it. We restarted our breakfasts, continued going to other Lodges (up to 100 miles each way is a normal trip) to assist with degree work and started working on community events to promote our Lodge.

After my two years in the East I have decided to take a shot at DDI for my district. I am hoping that what we accomplished at our Lodge, including the Brothers getting off the sidelines and helping with building improvements and gearing up for a county wide MiChiPs event, can be spread to other Lodges also, sharing our zeal and recharging them also.

Any help or suggestions are welcomed to help me improve this blog to make it an effective tool for education and communications. If we don't try to make our Lodges more visible and inviting to the communities, we won't have long until we shut our doors. A bigger problem, I think, in our small Lodges up here.