Sunday, January 28, 2018

Learning Freemasonry by Osmosis




Two ways of Learning by Osmosis

By Tom Hendrickson-PGM

Here are two examples of learning Freemasonry by Osmosis. The first method didn’t work, but the second does!

As a young Mason I asked one of my mentors, Ray Frandsen, how he mastered learning the Masonic Ritual. Ray said that he put his ritual in his lunch box and he would read it during his breaks at work. I always say when someone is successful at something you should follow that model. So, one summer, I put my ritual in my back pocket and had with me at work every day. One summer night at lodge I pulled out my ritual and one of the Brothers asked, “where has your ritual been, it’s falling apart and it’s all wet.

I replied, “well it’s been present at a few fights, involved in a high-speed chase or two, been at homicide scenes, with me while I played some kickball at the playground and I lost it during a foot chase.  Luckily, I found it later. It’s all wet because I left it on top of the squad car at the car wash and it made it through the wash but is drying out nicely.

I never had time to read it at work and I discovered that even though I kept it very close to my body, I never managed to learn anything by Osmosis.

On the second and fourth Wednesday of every month I attend Ark Royal Arch Chapter, Omega Council and Minneapolis Mounted Commandery. Twice a month we meet for a great dinner, excellent discussions, and Masonic education. It’s an environment that is very conducive to learning and we have a lot of fun as well.

All Master Masons are welcome to come and join us for dinner is at 6:00 and our meetings are at 7:00.

Just give us a call, so we can set a place for you at the table. Bring your appetite and you may learn something and not even know it.