I Am The Guy.....

Have you ever wondered what happened to the Brother(s) you raised awhile back?

Here is a idea that may help answer those questions. Hope this helps.

I am the guy who asked to join your organization

I am the guy who paid his dues to join.
I am the guy who stood up in front of you and promised to be faithful and loyal to the Fraternity
I am the guy who came to your meeting and no one paid any attention to
I tried several times to be friends but they all had their own buddies to talk to and sit next to.
I sat down several times alone but no one paid any attention to me.
I hoped very much that someone would have asked me to take part in a fund raising project,
activity, or something. No one saw my efforts when I volunteered.
I missed a few meetings after joining because I was sick and could not be there.
No one asked me at the next meeting where I had been.
I felt it did not matter very much to others whether I was there or not.
The next meeting I decided to stay home and watch TV.
The following meeting I attended but no one asked me where I was at the last meeting.
You might say I am a good guy, a good family man, who holds a good job, loves his community and his country.

You know who else I am? I am the guy who never came back.
It amuses me how the heads of the organization and the members discuss why the organization is losing members.
It amuses me to think that they spend so much time looking 

for new members.When I was there all the time.
All they needed to do was make me feel needed, wanted, and welcome.

                                                 

Its getting pretty busy around here

The fall  Minnesota Masonic activities are ramping up. Lots of things going on...here is just a peak.

A New Knight Mason

Today I had the honor and privilege to have been invited to join the ranks of the Minnesota No.34, Knight Masons.

The Green Degrees have their origins in the earliest records of Masonry.There are indications I that the Knight Mason degrees may have had their development before the Master Mason. Based in the ancient rituals of the Irish Masonic Canon.

 Here's a little more information if you wish:

The Knight Masons arrived in this country in May, 1936 when three Councils were chartered in North Carolina by the Grand Council in Ireland. The degrees of Knight Masonry were anciently styled the "Green Degrees". In the 1960's control of these degrees in the U.S. passed from the Grand Council in Ireland to a Grand Council in the U.S.A., which meets annually during the Allied Bodies Meeting in Washington, D.C. Membership is by invitation and is predicated on membership in the Royal Arch Chapter. The degrees conferred are:

Knight of the Sword

Knight of the East

Knight of the East and West

Installed Excellent Chief

                                                                                   

A Place in the Lodge: Dr. Rob Morris,Freemasonry and the Order of the Eastern Star

Author Nancy Stearns Theiss grew up a stone's throw away from the home of Rob Morris, an influential member of the Freemasons and founder of the Order of the Eastern Star. She details his life in a new book released by Dog Ear Publishing. Morris, a prolific writer, created poetry for special events such as funerals, dedications and Masonic gatherings across the United States and in Canada, earning him the title of poet laureate for Freemasonry in the 19th century.

"A Place in the Lodge: Dr. Rob Morris, Freemasonry and the Order of the Eastern Star" is based on more than 200 letters Morris and his family members composed while Morris was traveling. His family was numerous - he and his wife, Charlotte, had nine children, seven of whom made it to adulthood. From the beginning of his initiation March 5, 1846, in Mississippi, Morris worked to spread the message of the Masons, who considered education as something for the country's rising middle class, not just the wealthy.

Morris worked as a teacher, traveling salesman and, eventually, Masonic lecturer. He founded the Order of the Eastern Star, a fraternity open to both men and women that was one of the first organizations to give women a voice in local and national issues. (Today that organization has more than 430,0000 members belonging to 4,600 chapters all over the world.) Morris' letters are a snapshot of the 19th century, touching on issues about education, pioneer living, the women's movement and the growing divide between the North and the South. This intriguing book shines a light on a pivotal historic figure whose legacy has remained. Masonic lodges still revere his most famous poem, "The Level and the Square."

Nancy Sterns Theiss is the Executive Director of the Oldham County Historical Society which is located in LaGrange Kentucky.
The historical society runs a history center that includes the J. Chilton Barnett Archives and Library, Peyton Samuel Family Museum and Rob Morris Educational Center, which is in the former Presbyterian church where Morris lectured and recited his poetry.

Stearns Theiss and her husband, Jim, live on the family farm close to LaGrange, Ky., where Morris' name still resonates today.

For additional information, please visit www.robmorrisfreemason.org

"A Place in the Lodge: Dr. Rob Morris, Freemasonry and the Order of the Eastern Star"
Nancy Stearns Theiss
Dog Ear Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4575-3917-6 164 pages $19.99 US
Nancy Stearns stated in Goodreads:

" It took me two years to write this book that I transcribed from letters written by Rob Morris and various family members. I also visited sites that he either visited quite frequently of lived. I was impressed with his determination to seek a place for women in the fraternity of Freemasonry- many charities and communities have benefited from Morris's efforts

Information provided by Dog Ear Publishing, Goodreads and Wisdom Digital Media