The Brethren

A Brother:

He is strong in the face of adversity, but in a quiet and reasoned way.  He is loved by all that know him for the most part.  I say for the most part, because he is so loved that those who don’t care for him wouldn’t dare voice there opinion any more because it would just simply be too unpopular.  I had walked down the stairs one day to quit Masonry.  He spoke gently to me, this is his way.  He doesn’t charge hills the way I tend to do.  He is more subtle, but often more effective.  With a quiet, but deep voice, he said those things I needed to hear along the way and he give me a voice.  He recognized what I needed and without fan fair, without need for thanks or adoration, he provided it.

A Brother:

He is filled with desire and, in some ways, ambition.  Not for himself so much as for the Craft.  He wants to be a part of something that changes the universe, not for himself, but for the Universe.  And if he knows this...then it is enough.  He would punch you as soon as look at you in certain circumstances.  He has as much love as he does anger.  In this we are similar, but it seldom best him, unlike me.  He has let me vent, he has agreed and disagreed with me.  He has held me up, and he has knocked me down.  He has been gentle, and firm.  He is a leader in ever sense.  He probably considers me a peer, but I consider him a mentor.  

A Brother:

Forceful change drives him nuts.  He considers me a bit of a grenade, but has loved some of the explosions when he someone has pulled by my pin.  He is loving as the day is long.  Patient as all get out.  When he loves you, he loves you.  When he can’t stand you, it shows on his face, in his jaw, and in every part of him once you know how to read him.  He sat with me on the couch one day and guided my Masonic journey in many ways.  In some regards I believe I have disappointed him, in other ways, I have excelled beyond his expectations.      He doesn’t realize how much I love and respect him.

A Brother:

Is not quiet when he should be, and quiet at others when he shouldn’t.  His heart is one of the largest I have had witness of.  His depth of intellect astonishes me.  He grasp of situations is staggering, his grasp of others sometimes not so much.  He loves, hurts, and practices Masonry in a well so deep I have not grasped it yet.  He has given so much in friendship and conversation I can never repay.  I trust him utterly, but sometimes he makes me wince.  You should return Brother.  

A Brother:

Looks like a dang convict.  He is smarter, faster, and harder working than any man I have ever met.  His heart is bigger and better than mine.  I am not certain there is a dishonest bone in his body.  He is better than me.  Yet, he trust me as a friend, peer, and sometimes mentor.  He is bourbon, not Scotch.  He is a metaphysical soldier of sorts.  An old soul in some ways, new in others.  I will get out of his way.  I should.  I love him.

A Brother:

Has done more for my personal life than I can ever repay.  He will be a Masonic Great.  He will be Grand Master someday I am of little doubt.  He would utterly deny this.  For him Masonry is real, constant, and lived with every breath.  We sat on my porch or in his basement and his real and gentle wisdom guided me when I was supposed to guide him.  I would participate in discussions with world changers, and his wisdom I would repeat.  He probably changed the world.  I trust him more than I trust myself.  He is goodness in a way that speaks to his many lives.  He is a suburban Gandhi of sorts.  I miss our talks.  

A Brother:

Has a voice like thunder.  His presence is dang near Deific.  He is a true leader.  He gives voice and platform to so many who need it, happy and contented to see the philosophy of Masonry in the lives of men who need men like him to give them a voice.  He feels Masonry in his veins and does good as a constant.  He gives little concern to gossip and simply does good like a stone against the waves.  He doesn’t even realize the power of his labor in this world.  He looks a little like Santa.  

A Brother:

Is so much younger in person than I imagined him.  Smart in a scary way.  Magical almost.  He has changed the world.  He knows it, he enjoys the labor of it and will continue to labor to the end of his time here and will actually prepare for his next life I am certain.  I hope we meet again.

A Brother:

“Looks like he was dumped out of a bag” is what he said about himself.  Its not true, but he is unassuming in some ways.  He is a wizard.  Not in the Harry Potter goofy way.  In the celestial wonderful way.  His mind is something I can’t completely comprehend.  He loves art in all its forms and cries when he thinks of the complete beauty of the world and the people in it.  He is my dad, the one assigned by God, not the one given at birth.  He keeps me honest and says things to me that speak to my soul.  It is almost as if the world wasn’t ready for him, but Masonry was.  He kept the esoteric tradition alive when others would have it die.

A Brother:

Understood rites of passage in a way my immature mind cannot yet wrap around.  Someday I’ll get it, he has forced me to study.  He is mature, eloquent, and distinguished.  He has changed Masonry for the better.  People love him, fear him, and kiss up to him a bit.  He will labor in the quarry everyday of his life and I wonder if the world will understand the great contributions he has made.  I do.

I could go on, probably forever.

I write these few descriptions down because I wanted to answer a question and provide a little something of an epiphany I had.

First, the question.  Why am I a Mason?  Because of them.  I didn’t know why I was a Mason in the beginning.  God made me a Mason so that I could be exposed to these men.

Second.  I realize that as I grow in Masonry, there is little that is me.  

I am my Brethren.  

They each touch me in such a wonderful and powerful way, that the old ego driven me has been molded and changed by these extraordinary men I am humbled to call Brother.

Thank you Brother.  You changed me, you made me, you continue to raise me.