Chris Hodapp Needs Our Prayers

Many men talk of change or talk of writing or talk about doing this or that and Brother Chris Hodapp has been a big part of the progressive Masonic landscape. He has worked in building Lodge Vitruvian, traveled and written of his experiences for Masons and for the uninformed providing a nice balanced approach, he does lots of speaking engagements and otherwise motivates members of the Craft.

Now he has found himself in need of our thought and prayers. Brother Chris is hospitalized with his lungs filling with fluid and a growth found behind his thyroid.

Please keep him in your thoughts.

You can likely find updates to his condition at:

http://freemasonsfordummies.blogspot.com/

The Real Treasure

He was an old man by most standards and few would feel comfortable in a debate of historical fact, as it seemed that he had personally witnessed most that had occurred. He was a presence to say the least. Tall and thin as the years had withered away at the once opposing man, but it was clear he should not be approached with an attitude of arrogance or a lack of respect.

He seemed in a perpetual state of grumpiness. Not because of his demeanor, few actually had the courage to approach the man long enough to get a true read on his demeanor. It was the eternal frown that his weathered face now wore as the wrinkles around his mouth and eyes made his eyes appear half closed and his mouth downturned. It was not his true expression, if one had the courage to peer deep into his eyes there was fire, spirit, and passion—time had little effect on this spirit of the man. If anything, it had grown from what was a spark of soul to a full on explosion of wisdom, thought, understanding, and experience. If Masonry , in deed, had a hidden treasure, this was it. More valuable that any paltry pile of gold and silver. This was the kind of treasure that possessed the value that would be weighed when a man faced Peter at the Gate.

Call it courage, I call it Scotch. Anyway, if one had enough of it to decide that the mystery was too much and struck up conversation with this pillar of the southeast, this man who never missed a meeting, what could he learn? What had this man learned that we could learn from him?
· Life is short, find a job that makes you happy and do it well.
· Spend as much time with your family as you possibly can. They will pass away into that next existence and your memory of them will hardly be sufficient to fill the void that the richness of their personality and loving spirit filled in your life.
· Don’t fear death, fear your own cowardice. You can live a long life if you do what is right regardless of fear, but you will do little if fear guides your intentions.
· Regardless of what you call it, sitting on your arse all day, does make you lazy. The worst thing about laziness it that it effects the mind and most lazy people are ignorant. It is okay to confront ignorant people. Someone needs to.
· Seeing a newborn child that is yours is the closest you get to God.
· Swearing makes you sound like an idiot sometimes, sometimes it is the most effective way to communicate, in a swift manner, your intentions.
· Speak well of those who need a boost, don’t waste your energy speaking ill of those who deserve it. Their actions speak for themselves and allowing them to show their true colors does not reflect poorly upon you like speaking ill frequently does.
· There are paradoxes and it will only give you a headache trying to resolve all of them.
· Make love a lot. You will miss it.

What is the relevance of Masonry? A young man sitting at a local eatery, drink in hand, speaking with a man he would never have met otherwise and being changed by someone who has the ability to change you if you have the courage to listen and remembering, with pride, that this man considers you an equal, a brother, and the cornerstone of the next generation.

---The Relevant Mason……who still has much to learn, experience, and embrace..........

My Father is My Brother

I sat in lodge yesterday for my good friend’s installation as Master of his lodge. I have been to more than one installation, and although I normally enjoy the process for what it is, I had no idea, walking into the lodge room that day, that I would be reminded at a deep and spiritual level of the profundity of Masonry in a man’s life.

The installation had gone well. No hiccups as is the standard it seems. It was following nicely, moving along at a nice clip and I was looking forward to the fellowship at the formal dinner that would follow.

My Brother took the podium in the East and began to speak. His voice quickly choked as he began to tell his story about how he came to Masonry. A little background here will prove necessary for the uninformed. My Brother was adopted at as an infant. He found his biological father in 2003 and this is where his story begins.

He sat across from a man in a small café, far from his home in Colorado, yet he felt altogether at peace and at awe as he stared into familiar eyes. The glow that emits from my friends eyes is unique. It has a glimmer of love, passion, fire, and determination each separately but all at once.

To hear my friend tell it, he will say that the gaze of the man he looked at felt familiar. He could feel a tie that years of separation could not break. As a man who knows them both, I can describe that look and I knew, probably better than my friend what he meant, because I had just seen that same flame flickering behind the eyes of his father when I had just been introduced to him.

The conversation with his already familiar, but newly discovered, father in that little café turned to Masonry of all things.

My friend’s father had missed a lifetime of experiences with his dear son. First words, first steps, first loves were all a distant memories for my friend and they would never be known by this man who was his father. There was of course a desire to express, to share, to understand one another. I believe there was love, a synergistic connection, that was immediately understood and this is why this desire for shared experience was fostered.

So, the father, this man, this person who wanted to impart not just those things that occur genetically, but he wanted to imbibe those values, morals, and truths that he held dear. How should he accomplish these ideas, these principles in such a way as to say, “Long lost son, these are the things I value.” He told his son that he was Freemason and his son, my friend, shortly followed suit.

So there he stood in the East having made two journeys that have changed him forever. One to the rough and rugged lands of Montana to stare back at his own eyes and meet a man that would be his father, the other from darkness to light to arrive as Master of a Lodge.

His voice chocked, his eyes glassed with tears he said, “I want to say thank you.” There upon the steps of his lodge, he beheld his friend, his father, and his Brother and he continued, “..for many things, mostly for Freemasonry.”

It appears that a father and son both understood the message. They had found one another and both had received some light.

No Strings Attached

I drove past a medium sized local church the other day. King Solomon’s Baptist church (no relation for the Brothers who just gave a smile). They have one those standard church signs that have the name of the church on it and the replaceable letters below the name so that they can post kindly messages or church special services times and the like. Nothing extraordinary about it, quite to the contrary, it was quite ordinary. But, because of the King Solomon reference, I found myself reading the inspirational message illuminated upon it at the present time. It read, “True love has no strings attached.”

It seems on its face a reasonable and inspirational enough message and is likely intended to remind us that G-d’s love “has no strings attached” and because of this, you should strive for such a lofty goal.

As I whizzed by in my present mode of transportation, I initially thought that it was nice enough little message. Then, as is normally the case when I get into trouble, I got down to thinking. And I concluded the message is bunk, bologna, hogwash, fallacy, false, etc….

Let’s try, at first, for the sake of argument to define “true love.” This, in and of itself, would allow for much philosophical debate, which is not the intent of this particular espousal and would not be a judicious use of words. For the purposes of this particular address I will use the definition I believe was intended by the drafters of this wonderfully disguised little falsehood.

For the purposes of this discussion the definition of true love is: Loving someone or something the way G-d loves us.

Allow yourself to examine that love. Does it come with “no strings attached” as this message would indicate? No, you bet it doesn’t. There is a major tome called the Bible for the Judaic or Christian faiths teeming with strings. You might say that the strings allow us an avenue to express faith as an action and not sit back on our duffs doing nothing. In short, regardless of your current religious affiliation it is likely you are charged within your holy book or writings with:

String 1—Doing good. Doing unto others as you would like done unto you. This is also taught in the Christian faith in Biblical versus that reference doing things like picking up your cross to follow Jesus and the like. The Christian dogma is a moral dogma and requires allowing the “Christ within” to be the rule of guide of your conduct. This is a major string. [Side note: for those claiming G-d still loves you in spite of these. No, he sends you to hell for not following these and that is not love folks.]

String 2—Having faith in G-d and/or his representatives on earth. [Again a lack of faith equals damnation]

String 3—Valuing the proper things in life and in people. Most holy books speak to the inner part of our being and not the outward appearance being the important part of mankind. [Harder for a rich man to get into heaven…you know the rest]

String 4—More important than faith is not misplacing your faith in things such as worldly goods or riches.

String 5—Following the dictates and precepts of the particular religion, the 10 commandments for instance.

Now, the Evangelicals will be up in arms at this point screaming that it is through grace alone and no such strings our attached. I say your Evangelical actions speak louder than your words. This particular group heaps a few more strings upon its devotees in the form of its orthodoxy which it claims not to have. We will call these E-strings:

E-string 1—You need to believe the Bible is inerrant.

E-string 2—Lots of people go to hell when they don’t believe correctly.

E-string 3—We believe correctly and we are some of the few who do and even other Christian denominations are going straight to the fiery place.

E-string 4—Real Christians come to church, join small groups, and get active.

I guess no strings attached might be true as we have enough here to braid a nice rope.

Now, let’s look at what our own human experiences teach us. Because this is empirical evidence of how we administer love. Don’t get me wrong here. I am not picking on the religions of the world for doing something wrong. I think it is right and proper that love have strings. I am pointing to these contradictions to the original statement as evidence that love does, and maybe should, have strings attached.

Marriage, hopefully unions between to people that have found true love, right? So what do we do to seal the deal when we have found this true love? We bind ourselves under a marriage obligation. We give an oath to be faithful and true to one another. We agree to abstain from sex with others and to be honest with one another. We stand before a judge, priest, pastor, or whatever, and take an oath and attach a bunch of strings.

Love should have its limits. When it does not, a bunch of people believing that questioning love and using reason and logic are bad, take a bunch of grape Kool Aid and never wake up. Heck, if there was just one little string attached, like “I will never ask you to harm yourself for me” the tragedies of Jones Town and Heavens Gate would never have occurred.

Those who have managed to this point without being enraged in religious fervor may well be asking themselves what all this has to do with Masonry. Recognizing the value of an obligation as a vital and critical part of true and brotherly love is what Masonry has to do with this.

The light of Masonry provides, in allegorical format, a vivid picture of the importance of a man’s Word. It is recognizing that a man can keep his word that he is brought into the fold of the Craft and loved like a Brother.

An essential aspect of true love is the obligation. The obligation we make to our G-d in following the precepts of our religion. The obligation we make to our spouse to be good and true to them. The obligation we make to our children in rising to the challenge of raising them and sacrificing for them. The obligation we make to ourselves to do the right thing even when no one is looking because we have learned to love ourselves. The obligation we make to our Brothers at the altar of the Craft.

True love is honorable because you have honored the obligation of it, because it is hard work sometimes, because we rise to the occasion to honor our obligations in it; true love has strings attached.

The Warrior Poet

Remember a time when men could dance the tango, quote Shakespeare, hold a door for a lady, but hold his own in a fight? Me neither. I am a Gen X’r, the generation of fatherless sons who learned who have mixed ideas about manhood being either that a man who wears pinks Polo shirts and cries at lots of movies or some hypermachismo blockhead who goes through life kicking and punching.

So in comes the lost art of Masonry. Chisel and maul in hand, the speculative Craft seeks to hone men from the rough stone of youth, uncertainty, and intolerance.

Masonry raises warrior poets. A man that can hug a his brother, pray with a widow, and wield a sword. The man who received little in the way of training in discourse, is taught to stand up in lodge, provide a detailed plan, and make a motion for an idea that he believes could benefit the lodge and his brothers. He practices rhetoric in explaining the logical progression of his theory, he practices logic in refining his theory when presented with obstacles that prove correct and help to improve the idea. He moves through the chairs and one day wields the gavel of authority and, in doing so, he learns the necessity of humility and discretion. He learns the hidden allegorical meaning taught in many holy books when an aspect of All Power is presented as a servant of mankind and his brothers.

The obligations, although improper to discuss in detail, are not the obligations of a weak spine. They teach the necessity for a gentle spirit in carrying for widows and orphans, at the same time recognizing the necessity for action, allowing that we should not strike in anger, providing the whispered message of the necessity to know how to strike being one of the tools of a Mason. We are taught that establishment should be strong and that strength in spirit and that courage in faith, hope, and charity are more powerful wielded by a man of his word, than the sword of metal by a despotic man or government.

We learn to appreciate “art” and recognize the downfalls and pleasures of power as we are faced with the dangers of mob rule, organized orthodoxy, and misguided desires in our Master Mason degree. At the same time, the road is perilous and we are confronted with the need for real courage in the face of physical danger. The need for physical consequences for weakness of spirit in the penalties inflicted upon these unjust and uncaring Fellows of the Craft. We learn that an apology is correct, but that it does not negate the requirement for justice.

We are taught the art of the Warrior Poet my friends. Educate yourselves so that we can educate others, arm a society with a sword of truth and public education against the tyranny of despotism whether material or spiritual.

Secrecy and Faith

There are many different groups, evangelical and fundamentalist Christian groups, conspiracy theorist, self proclaimed moralist all screaming that secrecy is evil and nothing good need remain a secret. Now for the Christian groups claiming such, never mind that the most ancient translations of the Bible provide that Jesus taught his disciples “secrets” and his “secret” teachings such as in Matthew 13, “The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ He replied, ‘The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.’”

This country was formed because of the secret meetings of likeminded men working together for change to bring freedom to the people from under an oppressive king. The Underground Railroad operated in secret to remove men, women, and children from the bondage of slavery. There are a number of instances throughout history, when clearly; the protections of secrecy are evident. Yet, we have our detractors claiming that nothing “good” need be done in secret.

Here is what they are missing. Secrecy breeds trust and courage. There are many reasons we may love our spouses, but believing we can share anything with them is an important aspect to a healthy relationship. The idea that your closest companion will not share your private moments with anyone else is what allows you to trust them. The idea that we can trust them gives of the courage to share with them. This is the basis of the secrecy of Masonry.

In a world where everyone cannot line up fast enough to share their deepest, darkest moments on television for all to see, when peoples most intimate moments end up as the next video download on the Internet, when you share with a friend and before you leave the room, the information has been text messaged or e-mailed to someone not intended to hear it, Masonry teaches the value of a secret.

When the leaders of the Church claim there should be no secrecy, what they are really claiming is that they fear they would not be able to manipulate information if they did not have access to it. The Earth being round was a secret because the Church locked up the men who professed the hard science behind it. That man can attain inner peace without the intervention of a man in a white robe still needs to be a secret in some circles less you are ostracized in your local church community.

Sometimes we forget how valuable closing our mouths and keeping them that way can be. Listening is often an unintended consequence of maintaining secrecy and, low and behold, we even learn something here and there.

Lastly, trust and courage are the ingredients of faith. There would be no birth of faith without the establishment of secrecy.

The power of the secret is the power of faith.

The Lesson of Friendship

I learn daily in Masonry and not from written by-laws or studying Constitutions, but from the simple interactions with my friends and Brothers. We can sometimes, it seems to me and I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, that we miss the simplier lessons in Masonry. The Craft teaches that instruction should occur from mouth to ear. What can this archaic method have to offer? Human interaction folks and in this world of text messages and nuclear blogging there is a lot to be said for the simple and complete lesson of mouth to ear.

How much more does one learn from the man who puts his arm around a friend and communicates his message in a personal way from the heart. Too often mean heartedness is couched as honesty. “If he did not want an honest answer, he should not have asked” is many times an explaination for rude and inciting speech. It is possible to be honest without being hurtful. It is honest to call a man’s decision a poor one without calling the man an idiot.
One on one verbal communication is a flow of energy between two humans that can not and should not be replaced. Fellowship is not negotiable in the arsenal of tools in developing our behaviors and responses. It gives us insight into others and, therefore, through the collective consciousness, insight into ourselves.

I sat with a man tonight, my Brother, we talked of life, ladies, mysticism, good Scotch, and friendship. We shared our experiences at work and at home as we worked upon our ashlars and upon his proficiency and we were richer for it. It was not drab memory work, it was human interaction. It was a sharing of friendship and experiences that create a bond that would be ineffable for those that truly can’t appreciate what Brotherhood means to the Mason.
Masonry teaches the lost art of sitting down across from your friends, from your family, from your Brothers and listening and sharing in their day, in their week, in their happiness, and their pain. Masonry teaches caring, because when you are connected it simply occurs.

When we rush a man through the degrees of the Craft we lose this experience and Masonry is one of the last places we find this. Let us not forget the relevance of the human experience as we type away in front of the luminous screens of our computers or vegetate in front of the tube.

Masonry is relevant, because our Brother’s and their lives are relevant. Let us not forget our greatest asset, the Brother.