Bro. Cameron Johnson

Cameron Johnson, our brother at Braden Lodge, passed away very recently after a hard-fought battle with Lymphoma.

Masonic funerals are, sadly, all too common in these last few decades, but Cameron was only 39 years old. He was an active Mason, our Senior Steward, and was soon to be our new webmaster. We new Cameron was in and out of the hospital, struggling with his health, but the last we had heard, he was doing well. And then he was gone.

Many brothers attended his memorial service this past Thursday, and our hearts and sympathies go out to Cameron’s family.

Braden Lodge Mourns its Brother

I was personally unable to attend, but I have my own fond memories of Cameron. Most of them involve arguing with him on Facebook. Cameron was a very intellectual and philosophical man, and not prone to give an inch to an intellectual opponent. But that’s what made him such an involved and effective Mason. He never shirked from giving his opinion, participating, or even clearing up the dishes after dinner.

Cameron Johnson was our brother. And he will be missed.

Minnesota Freemasons need to make social networking work for them. The recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted how we’re trying to use it to attract new members, but in truth, it’s much more useful as a tool to learn more about each other.

When I joined Braden 168 I was told, in no obscure terms, that if I had any aspirations of joining the line of Grand Lodge Officers, and perhaps even be Most Worshipful Grand Master of Minnesota, like our very own Tom, King of the Masons, Braden Lodge just ain’t the place to be.

Braden 168 isn’t your classic “networking lodge.” People join Braden for our dedication to Masonic ritual, education, and fellowship. They don’t join in hopes of expanding their client-base, new business opportunities, or becoming one of those super-powerful world-controlling masons we hear so much about. There are some lodges and organizations in Minneapolis and St. Paul where you certainly could go if you wanted to meet the kind of people who could introduce you to the kind of people who could help you on your way into Grand Lodge, or in business, however. And that’s great, because if there’s one thing Masons should be about, it’s helping each other with our goals.

If, on the other hand, you’re looking to network in the fields of independent filmmaker or blacksmithing, surprisingly, we’ve got you covered.

This is something that has got Masons in trouble in the past. It comes out of a Communitarian philosophy that people may, in perfect accordance with morals and ethics, choose to help their friends, family, and neighbors before strangers. People have used this to malign masons as some secret cabal for ages. Even today, in England, first-time judiciary candidates have to declare their masonic status. I suppose they’re worried about favoritism. But then, shouldn’t every government worker declare their group affiliations, and provide an accurate list of family, friends, and acquaintances?

In my time as a Mason, though, I’ve seen precious little networking from anyone. Maybe it’s done, but from where I sit, lodges are still so very private and independent. We have two other lodges that share our building, and in the end we don’t know that much about each other. But isn’t brotherly networking a good thing? Shouldn’t we dedicate ourselves to helping each other, and patronizing each other’s businesses and services?

I’d much rather have a Mason for a mechanic, and not because I’d think I’d get a discount. Brother’s may do that, but brothers would never expect it. What I would expect, however, is that I’ll get a square deal for good work. It certainly beats Angieslist.

Some things have been tried in the past, and all have failed, it seems. But I think there is one thing out there that has a chance. I stumbled on to the Minnesota Freemasons group on LinkedIn.

The group isn’t active, and isn’t very big…yet. But you know what? A lot of Masons already use LinkedIn. Why not join up? Let your fellow brothers know who you are and what you do. Maybe you’ll get a new customer. Maybe a new opportunity will open up. Or maybe you’re in a position to help another brother out in these hard times.

I intend to push this over the next year. In fact, I’d love to see the group reach 100 members by the end of 2011, which is infinitely doable. I hope any other brother reading this joins the group, and joins me in promoting it.

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I suppose we should mention this here. I would have earlier but everyone who reads this probably already saw it on Facebook anyway.

Braden Lodge, along with our friends at Minneapolis 19, another great Minnesota lodge, got a visit from a roving reporter from the WSJ, researching for a piece about Freemasnons using social media to appeal to potential, new members.

A generation of joiners, home from war, boosted Masonic rolls in America to four million by 1959.

But in the 1960s, hippies were turned off by establishment mysticism.

When the sons of hippies asked about Masonry’s secrets, their boomer dads didn’t have a clue. By the mid-2000s, fewer than two million members remained.

Faced with a choice between going extinct and going public, the Masons went public. The order has no central authority, but Grand Lodges in several states put up billboards, ran TV commercials and staged mass rituals, initiating hundreds of men at a time.

Mr. Hodapp calls all that “a travesty.” Many initiates never showed up. Many that did, he wrote in an internal paper, found “a desperate group of aging members” and “endless meetings about bill-paying, bad food, and who is going to iron the degree uniforms.”

The article goes on to quote several Bradenites, including Harvie Holmes, Brian Silverain, and Matt Gallagher, who has been trying to increase the lodge’s web presence in his year as LEO. Gallagher’s specifically trying to make the personality of Braden 168 stand out.

“We can’t tell you the secrets, but that doesn’t mean we can’t tell you what we do,” said Gallagher.

Still, there’s a struggle in Masonry between those who think Freemasonry’s greatest boon is its secrecy and private nature, and those who think privacy isn’t Freemasonry’s nature at all.

“It’s false to say that talking about the things we do on this blog contradicts our masonic ethos. It doesn’t. The rituals, the initiations, the secret handshakes, etc. That’s all dressing,” opines Gallagher. “It serves a vital purpose, like any dedicated ritual, from your church service, to your Christmas tradition, to the way you shave every morning. It’s suppose to take you out of your regular, everyday mindset, and put you into the moment, so you can shut all that other stuff out. But the ritual isn’t our ethos. We have very few secrets, and none of bar us from letting people know who we are, what we get up to when we hang out, and the kinds of stuff we talk about, because really, it’s just the same sort of stuff you and your friends get together and talk about. And because we’re all pretty good guys (which is pretty much the main requirement for getting in) we’re probably going to be a positive influence in your self-directed quest to become a better person. That’s Masonry. My God, man. Why would anyone want to keep that a secret?!”

Freemasons actually using this funny looking typewriter with the television on it is a fairly new thing, but this year there’s been a boom in Minnesota Masonic Lodges creating Facebook pages. Is your lodge using social media or the internet in an effective way? How’s it going? Let us know in the comments.

We just can’t afford to become adults.

In record-setting numbers, young adults struggling to find work are shunning long-distance moves to live with Mom and Dad, delaying marriage and buying fewer homes, often raising kids out of wedlock. They suffer from the highest unemployment since World War II and risk living in poverty more than others – nearly 1 in 5.

This is a particular problem for men. Women have been asserting themselves, successfully, for a generation, and while they are suffering the same employment troubles as their male counterparts, men had historically always defined themselves by what they do much more than women.

And when men aren’t doing anything, then what are they?

Put down the Xbox controller and slowly back away...

There’s a lot of reasons for the man-boy Peter Pan Syndrome that many of the 30-something generation are going through (and those in their 20s seem just as lost). It should really be know, however, that the inability to afford to grow up is not an excuse.

Yes, the job market is tough. Yes, it may not seem possible to get one’s own apartment out of college. Living with a half-dozen roommates or even going back home to one’s parents is a more appealing option. But just because you’re sleeping in your twin bed under your Buzz Lightyear comforter again, or you’re up at 3am with the rest of your roommates playing Call of Duty, it doesn’t let you off the hook for growing up and becoming a man.

You may have to live as a child for the time being, but you don’t have to act like one. Freemasonry is one affordable way to get a little focus and positive direction in your life, but it isn’t the only one. Finding interests is pretty easy for many men, so take the lead in those interests. Use your love of nerdery to carve out a leadership path. Organizing clubs and events is a surprisingly robust way of getting the only Experience Points that really matter. XPs for life.

Jim and Laszlo...Making Good Men Drunker.

Braden Lodge has made a recent tradition of throwing events at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. Last year we had a pretty damned awesome table lodge at the Feast of Fantasy, put on by FoF hosts and Braden Brothers, Laszlo and Jim. The year before we met there as well.

This year we’re doing something a little different. We had hoped to open and close a tyled meeting at Bad Manor, but apparently Masons can’t meet on Sunday or something, so instead we’re having an open-to-all informal Masonic get-together and educational meeting. Sort of an open house at someone elses house. So if you want to learn about the fraternity, look us up!

Here is all the info about Masonic Fellowship Day Sun Sep 25th at The Minnesota Renaissance Festival!

Ticket Info: Come to the Festival Box Office-GROUP WINDOW. It’s on the right hand side of the Booth as you walk up. Tell them you are with the Masonic Lodge. Families are welcome.

Children under 4 are free. Children 5-12 $8.50. $15.50 for Adults, discounted from $21.

At 7PM All Brothers or potential Brothers meet at Bad Manor for a Buffet $10 per Brother and an Evening of Fellowship with Masons from Local Lodges as well as Brothers whose Lodges are located around the country.

THERE WILL BE NO FORMAL MEETING NOR WILL WE OPEN THE LODGE!

This is just a chance for some camaraderie in an intriguing place…and time

ALL ARE WELCOME!! Brothers and their Families all day at The Festival and Brothers and potential Brothers at Bad Manor at 7PM. PASS IT ON!!

Hope to see you and other members of any Lodge on Sunday Sept 25th!

Here is info about Masonic Fellowship Day Sun Sep 25th at The Minnesota Renaissance Festival!

Ticket Info: Come to the Festival Box Office-GROUP WINDOW. It’s on the right hand side of the Booth as you walk up. Tell them you are with the Masonic Lodge. Families are welcome.
…
Children under 4 are free. Children 5-12 $8.50. $15.50 for Adults Discounted from $21.

At 7PM All Brothers or potential Brothers meet at Bad Manor for a Buffet $10 per Brother and an Evening of Fellowship with Masons from Local Lodges as well as Brothers whose Lodges are located around the country.

THERE WILL BE NO FORMAL MEETING NOR WILL WE OPEN THE LODGE!

This is just a chance for some camaraderie in an intriguing place…and time

ALL ARE WELCOME!! Brothers and their Families all day at The Festival and Brothers and potential Brothers at Bad Manor at 7PM. PASS IT ON!!
Hope to see you and other members of any Lodge on Sunday Sept 25th!

I read a lot of blogs, articles and books on Freemasonry. I see brothers concerned with the state of Freemasonry. Some are concerned with quantity and some are concerned with quality. Both groups are only trying to do what they feel is best. On one end, you have the “mason in a day” approach and on the other end you have the Traditional Observance Lodge movement. There are also some of us, probably most of us, who like the materials we have been given by our Grand Lodges and just want our brothers to use them. Just use them. That’s all. Get rid of the short forms, only do one degree per man at a time, enforce memory work, have a list of articles from the Grand Lodge to be read at each meeting on the hidden mysteries of Freemasonry, allow the consumption of alcohol after the meeting in the lodge and that’s it. No need to start new lodges. No need to force a dress code. Freemasonry can be done in casual clothes, too, if the ritual is spot on. It is all a matter of preference, not divine law. Just make a few, simple changes to the ones we have and we will REALLY see an improvement. Put more Masonry in Masons. If this plan is adopted and enforced by the Grand Lodges, we will maintain unity and quality AND…I think we will start to see some numbers again.

Give it a READ. It’s a good one.

In this final post, I would like to give you excerpts from another piece on another very male-centric website, The Art of Manliness. This article is written by Wayne M. Levine of BetterMen.org.

Many men feel far more comfortable in the company of women. That’s to be expected in our feminized culture. Most men of the last couple of generations were raised by their mothers, or other women, while their fathers were barely present. These boys didn’t receive their fair share of masculine modeling, guidance, and nurturing. It stands to reason that these men would feel more comfortable sharing their feelings, time, and trust with women.

So what’s the problem with that? If you’re still young, you may not have bumped up against the issues that will undoubtedly arise as you find yourself facing the challenges of long-term relationships, career choices, child rearing, mid-life, addictions, fidelity, and mortality, to name just a few!

Those of us who are longer in the tooth have had to confront our doubts, fears, and limitations as men who have been taught to rely primarily on women for advice. Women can teach us many things, but they cannot initiate us into manhood. For that, we require other men, fathers, and mentors.

Men who have continued to rely on their female significant others as their sole source of guidance, their only sounding board, or for their psychotherapeutic interventions, have seen their long-term relationships deteriorate. These men are asking too much of the women they love.

I’ve seen this in many men I know personally. They have no male friends. They had little to no relationship with their father. They have their mothers. Then their girlfriends. Then their wives (and often all their ex-girlfriends at the same time). And that’s their circle.

When they need advice they’re cuddled and coddled and their told how important and valid their feelings are.

And their actions suffer.

Now, my own experiences are entirely anecdotal, but I suspect they’re not uncommon.

I think we all know what happens when a man has no positive male role-models.

This is especially tough on wives, because wives don’t have the luxury of being relatively unaffected by the poor choices of their husband, like a husband’s friends are, or even his mother. Wives must live, intimately, with every bad choice her husband makes. They must make up the difference for poor choices. And that wares thin.

By revealing themselves to other men, these courageous men have invited others in. They’ve learned to ask for help to become better fathers and husbands. They’ve owned up to their own fears and doubt, making it safe for others to do the same. And as they’ve come to know each other and help each other, the distance between them has diminished.

Now, rather than feeling all alone when a relationship has hit a speed bump, a business transaction has turned bad, or a child has become impossibly defiant, these men now have somewhere to turn, a man to call, and an opportunity to get the help they need to turn things around, sometimes very quickly. Though it may sound a bit dramatic, this kind of support is literally life changing.

A group of men offer a perspective that many men don’t get from their usual circle, and on top of that, Freemasons often offer something even more valuable: experience.

Whether a brother is in his 30s, 40s, 50s, or even 80s, what they have to offer is experience. They’ve been places. They’ve seen things. They’ve run those same races we find ourselves in, and that experience can be leveraged. At Braden I can get advice on pretty much everything from how to negotiate a raise to better blacksmithing techniques (seriously, we’ve got, like, three blacksmiths in lodge. How manly is that?!)

The entire article can be read HERE, and I highly recommend it.

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My wife is a Co-Mason, and I’ve been asked to share what little I know of their tradition.  First of all, I’d like to point out I have never been in attendance at one of their meetings.  I know some of her Brothers and generally enjoy interacting with them.  With that said, I’ll launch into my perspective on the organization.

The organization I am acquainted with is called the AFHR – an acronym for the “American Federation of Human Rights”.  It is a spinoff of La Droit Humain which originated in France in the late 19^th century.  The AFHR is headquartered in Larkspur, Colorado.  The Order is made up of the Blue Degrees, the York and Scottish Rites and an interesting collection of a few other degrees.   The Blue degrees follow the Emulation ritual fairly closely, but with the addition of the “American Style” second half of the Third Degree.  The York degrees have the Mark Master, Royal Ark Mariner, and Royal Arch degrees.  I’m not sure if the Scottish Rite part of the tradition has any other degrees than the traditional terminal degrees of the 14^th, 18^th, 30^th, and 32^nd.  I am aware that they confer/communicate the 33^rd.  Unlike the A:.F:.& A:.M:. structure, they have a fairly elaborate set of requirements for advancement to the next degree.  Beyond the “posting lecture” there are requirements for attendance and time in degree.  They also require the submission of “architecture” – a symbolic term for a paper examining or exploring some facet of the work.  Also, at some point advancement is by invitation only.  You can’t petition for some of the degrees.

Another thing I’d like to point out is there is a strong connection between the Co-Masonic organizations, La Droit Humain and the AFHR among them, and the Theosophical Society.  Two of the principal actors in the Co-Masonic movement in the United States were Charles Leadbetter and Annie Besant.  They were also the motivating force behind the Liberal Catholic Church.  I am not aware of any requirement to be a member of the LCC to become a member of the AFHR, but a significant number of the people I’ve met from Colorado and Michigan are also clergy in that specific church.  This to me seems to be very similar to the close relationship between the African Methodist Church and the Prince Hall Lodges.

The lodge structure differs from what we as “regular” Masons are acquainted.  Given the numbers of co-masons is significantly smaller than the recognized fraternity; they have different designations to accommodate fewer human and monetary resources.  I am aware of three different classifications of groups: 1) Circle, 2) Triangle, and 3) Lodge.  They represent increasing abilities to do the work and to administer the day-to-day activities of the lodges.  Usually, it is my understanding the first two designations can only do degree work with the assistance of a Grand Lodge officer or other high degree individual.  The Lodges are capable of doing the Blue Degrees, but will often get assistance from the Grand Lodge.  With the difference in designation, there is also a difference in leadership.  Lodge Masters in many cases are appointed by the Grand Lodge in Colorado and the term is not specified.  I’m not sure if it is ad vitam, or dependent on the decisions made in council.

On discussing this with my wife, she informed me that regular Masons can attend their meetings with permission from the Grand Lodge in Larkspur.  Attendance at one of their meetings would be something an individual brother would have to reconcile for himself and would depend on your definition of “Masonic conversation”.  I’ll leave this with you and offer to answer any questions that could be reasonably address without violating any of my oaths or compromising the confidence I’ve earned from my “clandestine” friends.

Parting on the Square,

Otto C.

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Masonry is, perhaps naturally, enigmatic. This isn’t just due to its requirements of secrecy. Whenever a group of men get together behind closed doors, away from women, and particularly away from wives, girlfriends, and partners, it becomes a mystery. What the hell are these guys doing in there? What is my husband up to?

For today’s installment of No Chicks Week, Worshipful Master Jesse Williams addresses this particular mystery.

***

My wife comes from a masonic family. Her grandfather was an active and accomplished Freemason in South Dakota. From the beginning of our relationship she respected my participation in the craft. She showed support of my participation and interest in my successes at lodge. But she was always understanding and respectful of the somewhat clandestine nature of our activities.

On the Thursdays I am not at home but she knows that I am with the guys. Some times she waits up for me to come home but not always. Nights at lodge which run until one or two in the morning are not uncommon and she does not worry about where I am or what I am doing because she knows the men I am with and is familiar with the schedule. Most Thursdays she enjoys as evenings to herself when she sows and watches her shows.
I suppose wives of masons or of perspective masons ought to be affirmed of a few things

• When men are at lodge they are mostly chatting amongst themselves about daily life, interesting observations, and potential projects they may start which another brother at the lodge may have an interest.
• If you were a fly on the wall you’d probably be disappointed by the utter lack of scandal and gossip which is passed around.
• When we go to lodge we stay there. Some groups have an “outer lodge” a restaurant or bar they like to attend but these are well established and rarely change.
• If you are interested in the ritual we perfomr and the nature of our secrets then read Joseph Campbell’s “A Hero with a Thousand Faces.” That book will explain the universal nature of male myth and offer an insight to what we do. Though it does not reveal any specific about our fraternity.

Thursday nights at Braden are events for the men involved. We look forward to the comradery and the repetition of our ritual. You can enjoy a care free night with yourself or with whomever you chose certain of where we are and what we are doing.

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