Trestleboard
Upcoming events can always been seen on the lodge website, http://www.berwynlodge.org as well as on the Berwyn Lodge Facebook page maintained by Bro. Alejandro Cabral. Our newest Masonic education event is a two-part showing of Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” with discussion of the Masonic symbolism. Act 1 will be shown on November 1, and Act 2 on November 15 at Berwyn Lodge. We are likely to have several degrees coming up, and the lodge holiday party on November 29.
If you haven’t been to Berwyn in a while, come back and see us!
Why are you a Mason?
One of the best things about having a lot of people coming to talk about petitioning a lodge is that the lodge members get asked what Masonry is all about, why they joined, and what they get out of it. These are important questions for each of us to ask ourselves.
Masonry has ritual and symbols, but is not a religious society. Masonry promotes fellowship, but is not a social club. Masons give generously of their time and money, but Masonry is not a charity club. Masonry is all of these things – a school for the enhancement of brotherly love, relief, and wise truths – and yet, for each Mason, it is something a little different and unique.
Some men join for one aspect, some for another. Some join because their fathers, or uncles, or grandfathers, or other men they respect are Masons. Some join because they are looking for secrets or a new way to think about what it means to be a man in this place and at this time. Some stay because they find what they joined for; others stay because they find new friends who share their values. And some, of course, choose not to stay at all, often because their lodge did not find out what they sought and help them in the seeking.
What’s Masonry and why did you become a Mason? Have an answer, my brothers, because men are coming, and asking these questions.
Oriental
At our last stated meeting, a potential petitioner asked me where Oriental Lodge got its name. “Oriental” is no longer considered an appropriate term to use to refer to people of Asian descent, and the petitioner didn’t think the brethren were all Asian anyway. I explained, as you probably already know, that the word “oriental” means “from the east” (it comes from the Latin word for “rising”, as in the sun), and that in Masonry, wisdom symbolically is found in the East, where the sun rises. The opposite word, “occidental” (from the west), is no longer such a familiar term.
Word puzzle
Hidden in each sentence below are words related to Freemasonry. These words may appear within other words, or across two or more words. How many can you find? The first sentence is solved for you.
- ThoMAS ONly eats fish. (MASON)
- The soup was inedible due to a broth error.
- I have Chanukkah fears, Christmas terrors and Kwanzaa nightmares.
- He won the award entirely through his own work.
- The official target is only 3 inches.
Reminder
The lodge is seeking someone to take over the position of Temple Topics editor. Please give the W.M. a call or email if you’re interested.