I'm not familiar with the drama within the concordant bodies, so I can't comment specifically on those issue(s). But it does beg the question, how did that particular mason become a mason? Much less rise in such lofty stations all the while being completely unfit to be one?
I just get the impression that there was a generation of freemasons that spent zero time guarding the west gate, and all sorts of ill suited men were admitted into the fraternity. While there were a great number of good men, there were also undeserving amongst them, and as the saying goes, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. More than once I've found circumstances where a single mason can destroy a lodge, and I am sure that most or all of us can say the same. It doesn't take much, and it's usually done by someone with the best of intentions. they can think it's for the "good of the lodge" but in reality they drive away men by their actions.
And to those four remaining grand lodges still refusing to recognize PH masonry I say boo. Boo to you.
The actions of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana this year are the culmination of 7+ years of work by a number of worthy Brothers (some of whom are no longer with us, but I’m sure are smiling) to work out a way to make this happen in spite of the local jurisdictional challenges, and to build a coalition of brothers behind the scenes who would overwhelmingly support this step. There was another step taken that has not been widely reported, but is probably even more interesting. I’ll follow up with some details once I can confirm them.
Grand Master, On the matter of Prince Hall recognition you and I already know that we whole heartedly agree. I'm shocked at the degree of racial divide that still exists in our country, but I'm also kind of grateful that cell phone videos now capture and broadcast the incidents that may have previously been swept under the carpet. We can't contribute to a solution unless we the problem is clearly defined. And it seems to me that an obvious contribution is that Freemasons everywhere demonstrate that we're a united Brotherhood. It's an embarrassment that any Grand Lodge continues to refuse to recognize Prince Hall. And it sounds like the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Louisiana needs a wake up call too.
On the matter of advancing the wrong leader, in my short 14 years as a Mason I don't think there's anything new about this. The only thing new in the case your described is that the Knights finally did something about it. Much better to lose one bad apple than alienate scores of Brothers who can't stomach the wrong leader. In the last year or two I've seen what I consider our Grand Lodge's first efforts toward genuine Leadership training. We've done things in the past that we've called leadership training but it's really been management and governance training. I believe that Masons who aspire to higher offices should learn early and often that leadership isn't the practice of giving a bunch of orders. And we as a Fraternity should openly declare that we shouldn't select leaders who have in any way demonstrated a need to give orders.
MWGM SK Cameron, your bunkai is deep Brother!; concerning the two historic events you have posted. (Egregore is an occult concept representing a distinct non-physical entity that arises from a collective group of people. Some of today’s luminaries refer to this as a Group Consciousness Entity.) I Believe there is a difference between an established egregore and the current person that is in power of it’s governance. In the case of the ME Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar USA, his removal is a testament that some men are not qualified to be in office and there is a criteria and process to safeguard the East.
Concerning Prince Hall recognition: to the Brothers, Lodges and Jurisdictions that are stilled mired in discrimination and racism, they would do better to truly learn and understand the words in our rituals, obligations and charges; As opposed to just parrot the words and be oblivious of the deep meaning of such. I am very grateful that the majority of our Brothers, Lodges and Jurisdictions continue to learn, accept and evolve for the betterment of our craft and be the exemplar for the benefit of all our human kind. W PEC SK Ricardo Rico Barrientes
I'm not familiar with the drama within the concordant bodies, so I can't comment specifically on those issue(s). But it does beg the question, how did that particular mason become a mason? Much less rise in such lofty stations all the while being completely unfit to be one?
I just get the impression that there was a generation of freemasons that spent zero time guarding the west gate, and all sorts of ill suited men were admitted into the fraternity. While there were a great number of good men, there were also undeserving amongst them, and as the saying goes, one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. More than once I've found circumstances where a single mason can destroy a lodge, and I am sure that most or all of us can say the same. It doesn't take much, and it's usually done by someone with the best of intentions. they can think it's for the "good of the lodge" but in reality they drive away men by their actions.
And to those four remaining grand lodges still refusing to recognize PH masonry I say boo. Boo to you.
The actions of the Grand Lodge of Louisiana this year are the culmination of 7+ years of work by a number of worthy Brothers (some of whom are no longer with us, but I’m sure are smiling) to work out a way to make this happen in spite of the local jurisdictional challenges, and to build a coalition of brothers behind the scenes who would overwhelmingly support this step. There was another step taken that has not been widely reported, but is probably even more interesting. I’ll follow up with some details once I can confirm them.
Grand Master, On the matter of Prince Hall recognition you and I already know that we whole heartedly agree. I'm shocked at the degree of racial divide that still exists in our country, but I'm also kind of grateful that cell phone videos now capture and broadcast the incidents that may have previously been swept under the carpet. We can't contribute to a solution unless we the problem is clearly defined. And it seems to me that an obvious contribution is that Freemasons everywhere demonstrate that we're a united Brotherhood. It's an embarrassment that any Grand Lodge continues to refuse to recognize Prince Hall. And it sounds like the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Louisiana needs a wake up call too.
On the matter of advancing the wrong leader, in my short 14 years as a Mason I don't think there's anything new about this. The only thing new in the case your described is that the Knights finally did something about it. Much better to lose one bad apple than alienate scores of Brothers who can't stomach the wrong leader. In the last year or two I've seen what I consider our Grand Lodge's first efforts toward genuine Leadership training. We've done things in the past that we've called leadership training but it's really been management and governance training. I believe that Masons who aspire to higher offices should learn early and often that leadership isn't the practice of giving a bunch of orders. And we as a Fraternity should openly declare that we shouldn't select leaders who have in any way demonstrated a need to give orders.
MWGM SK Cameron, your bunkai is deep Brother!; concerning the two historic events you have posted. (Egregore is an occult concept representing a distinct non-physical entity that arises from a collective group of people. Some of today’s luminaries refer to this as a Group Consciousness Entity.) I Believe there is a difference between an established egregore and the current person that is in power of it’s governance. In the case of the ME Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar USA, his removal is a testament that some men are not qualified to be in office and there is a criteria and process to safeguard the East.
Concerning Prince Hall recognition: to the Brothers, Lodges and Jurisdictions that are stilled mired in discrimination and racism, they would do better to truly learn and understand the words in our rituals, obligations and charges; As opposed to just parrot the words and be oblivious of the deep meaning of such. I am very grateful that the majority of our Brothers, Lodges and Jurisdictions continue to learn, accept and evolve for the betterment of our craft and be the exemplar for the benefit of all our human kind. W PEC SK Ricardo Rico Barrientes