The World is My Lodge and Getting to Know it

 

Photo thanks to NASA

The World is My Lodge and Getting to Know It

Tom Hendrickson-PGM and Lodge Education Officer Red Wing Lodge #8

 

 

“Knowledge must enlighten the mind and heart for the application of our ideals’ is one of the goals for the Lodge Education Officer.

Tonight, I would like to review a couple of our principles in contrast to the world in which we live today.

As Freemasons, we believe in the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man. We also believe that we are to conduct ourselves in the same manner in Lodge as well as outside of the Lodge. I have always believed that the world is my Lodge, and its inhabitants are my Brothers. And for me to be a better man, I should learn more about my fellow men, to help me understand more about this planet that I reside upon.

Like many of you, I like to travel, and I enjoy meeting and talking with people who reside in the places I have visited. Traveling has certainly broadened my views and understanding of the world. However, I think a quote from our departed Brother and Master Mason Mark Twain, from Polar Star Lodge #79 of St. Louis, Missouri, is very appropriate.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s life.” (From his book Innocents abroad)

The last two years travel has been severely limited due to COVID and the associated lockdowns. During this time, our travel adventures may have been confined to a weekly outing to the grocery store or maybe a trip to Walmart or Target. Now with the current war in the Ukraine, and the fears that the conflict will spill into Europe and surrounding countries, it may be that we will be staying close to home for some time to come.

I would propose that since we may not be imminently packing our bags, getting roadmaps, airline tickets or renewing passports, I suggest we become armchair explorers to expand our horizons.

As a child, I explored many states and countries, never leaving my home by reading.  Reading can be a great way to explore or the next best way to learn about people, places and other cultures. Reading can open your eyes to new perspectives and places without the hassles or hazards of traveling there.

One of my favorite things is reading which is something that has been a constant in my life. Reading is a natural way to help all of us make daily advancement to becoming a better man. That’s what Freemasonry is all about right? Becoming a better man.

First, reading creates cognitive engagement in the brain that improves vocabulary, thinking skills, concentration, speaking skills, and creativity. It also increases our knowledge and reduces stress. By developing these skills, we can move our attention on to other improvements.

For many of us boomers, when we were boys and teenagers, I think most of us read about the great celebrated explorers who ventured off to the far, exotic and unexplored parts of the world that captivated our attention and filled our imaginations. Their stories of suffering, hardship and survival kept us spellbound.

I, like many of you, had my favorite adventurers. Lewis and Clark and Zebulon Pike were my American explorers of choice, but I also had a strong fascination with the artic and Antarctic explorers, Amundson, Scott, Perry, Byrd, and Shackleton.

I thought that what to me was the golden age of exploration, had passed, all the great adventures had been done and all those blank spaces have been mapped. Heck, you can see any place in the world on Google Maps, so what could be left to explore?  With eco-tourism you can make a day trip to the South Pole, and I would guess that there are thirty people sitting on Hilary Step waiting their turn to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. Even Pongo Pongo has a nice swimming beach and cold beer today.

There are modern day explorers, and I am sure there are some good one, but many of the accounts I read fell flat. I’m sure there are other excellent adventurers I just have found them yet.

Last year I discovered Levison Wood who has a fresh angle, and a new approach to exploring. Levison is a British Parachute Regiment Officer who spent four years in combat in Afghanistan. His tough military training provides him with the ability to navigate and when paired with his passion for exploring exotic places provides the reader with an exciting adventure.

When Leveson was transitioning out of the active military, he wanted to find a way to earn a living that would also fulfill his passions for writing, photography, and travel.

His envisioned projects that would need to be big and bold enough to write about, but it would have to be something that no one else had done before. His military career had provided physical conditioning and had prepared him for adventure. Levison’s first adventure, he decided to walk the length of the Nile River.

Walking the Nile was his first book that encompasses his adventures over the nine months that it took for him to walk the 4,250 miles.

For his second book, Walking the Himalayas, he walked 1700 miles in six months.

Walking the Americas, 1,800 miles, Eight Countries and one Incredible journey from Mexico to Columbia, was his 3^rd book.  

His fourth book Arabia: A Journey Through the Heart of the Middle East. A 5,000-mile circumnavigation of the Arabian Peninsula.

I think you get a sense of his adventurous spirt by the titles of some of his books.  I think his writing strength is that his books are not just a travel diary.  He shares the stories he learned of the geography, history, civilizations, cultures, and the current day situations that he is walking through. He includes the viewpoints of his local guides and the local people he encounters during his journeys. This helps the reader comprehend and understand the lives of the residents. He informs the reader yet is thoughtful and entertaining.  His books do not bore you to tears, but instead I find myself wanting to read more and more.

I have brought these four books with me tonight, and they will be in the library for you to look at.  

Levison Wood’s approach to travel is very different compared to most others. He does not utilize helicopters, Range Rovers, and a support team of fifty. He simply takes a traveling companion, finds a local translator and walks with a backpack. When they find a local village along the way they purchase food or whatever is available. The daily fare ranges from fish, rice, dried goat and even rats. They sleep in a hammock to avoid snakes and many times rely on the hospitality and kindness of the people they encounter along their path.

One thing that really brought his books alive for me is that even though Wood’s travels have been in the 21^st Century, he experienced the hardships and suffering of many of those explorers from years ago. He journeyed thru jungles, rainforests, swamps, burning hot deserts, and into the freezing temperatures of the high mountain terrains. He was faced with the possibility of catching any number of tropical illnesses from insects or water borne illnesses. Then there was the wide assortment of poisonous snakes, spiders, fire ants, crocodiles, hippopotamus and other such predatory animals. But also, he faced the complexity of attempting to traverse modern day wars, conflicts, human and narcotic traffickers, your normal run of the mill kidnappers, and robbers.

But also important is the human element of his writing. While walking the Nile Wood’s traveling companion was overtaken by heat exhaustion and Wood desperately tried to save his life, but his traveling companion dies. There were a multitude of hazards he faced, but this was particularly difficult for Wood yet he made the decision to go on and complete his journey.

While perhaps my travels do not compare in intensity to Wood’s, I have always viewed traveling as an opportunity to look beyond my immediate world and learn about the other 7 billion people who also inhabit this earth.  I love to look and learn of their cultures and what they value, to learn their history and views of the world. I have also learned that while we may have different faiths, different cultures, and very different ways of life, we have much more in common than we expect and share many of the same concerns regarding our families and our world.  Yet, we can come together, have dinner, and celebrate the brotherhood of man.

Though I live in Minnesota, in my little corner of the world, I can travel the entire world via reading and will travel in person again, I know.  While there are times, I may think we live in an uncivil and thoughtless world, the people that I have met traveling have proved me wrong.  They have provided any number of heart-warming experiences that always restore my faith in humankind.

I never leave home without my Masonic Dues Card, and it also has been my passport to many other wonderful experiences.

The world is vast and full of differing styles, perspectives, people, customs and conflicts.  Wood’s books bring these to life for me in my subzero cosmopolitan Minnesota home, but I have learned a lot from my armchair travels with him.

The World is My Lodge