Although I have not had the pleasure of visiting a foreign lodge, I have had the opportunities to visit the GL of Scotland and Solomon #1 in Savannah, GA. Although neither were in session the visits were extraordinary. Both were steeped in history, the Oriental Chair in Solomon #1 having been first crafted and the donated by George Was…
Although I have not had the pleasure of visiting a foreign lodge, I have had the opportunities to visit the GL of Scotland and Solomon #1 in Savannah, GA. Although neither were in session the visits were extraordinary. Both were steeped in history, the Oriental Chair in Solomon #1 having been first crafted and the donated by George Washington. I was in awe of the GL of Scotland’s history, hundreds of years of heritage and memories. What I saw and experienced in both lodges was the same as when I walked into my home Lodge for the first time and when visiting Lodges in the jurisdiction. We all have our histories, whether they’re relatively short or, hundreds of years. Visiting these lodges and meeting the brothers, what I learned and tried to bring back to my lodge was the warm feelings of Brotherly Love and Friendship I’ve experienced in my travels. I’ve learned things don’t make us Masons. Getting up everyday and being better than you were the day before and adhering to our obligations, that’s what makes us Masons.
I've never been able to visit an extremely old Lodge building like you mention, but I've always found my own Masonic travels to be very rewarding.
With the exception of a very small handful of Lodges, all Lodges in the United States practice the York Rite version of the Craft (EA, FC, MM) Degrees. In some other countries this is reversed. I've not sat through a Lodge that practices the Scottish Rite version of the first three Degrees, but I have visited the Lodge room of one. Things there are different, for example, the Perfect Ashlar is shaped differently. (That SR shape, and what it signifies is outlined in quite a few books I've encountered.) There were many such small changes to the 'decorations' of the Lodge that we are used to.
I feel that I also learned a great deal about providing Masonic education during Stated Meetings from visiting Lodges within Mexico. And I did bring all of that home to my own Lodge when I served as its Master.
While certainly not the same as visiting a foreign Lodge, I've also found tremendous opportunity to meet extremely diverse Freemasons, through the chance I've had to attend the Conference of Grand Masters. For example, one fellow I've followed on Facebook for years rose to GM of a very large and powerful Jurisdiction. For reasons I don't know, the MWGL of Washington doesn't recognize his Jurisdiction, but many other North American GL's do. So, he was in attendance and it was great having the chance to meet someone I'd never have an opportunity to meet otherwise. For that reason, I was very saddened when the Conference in Seattle had to be postponed, as through hosting it so many of our members will have similar opportunities. I'd encourage everyone to attend in 2024.
Although I have not had the pleasure of visiting a foreign lodge, I have had the opportunities to visit the GL of Scotland and Solomon #1 in Savannah, GA. Although neither were in session the visits were extraordinary. Both were steeped in history, the Oriental Chair in Solomon #1 having been first crafted and the donated by George Washington. I was in awe of the GL of Scotland’s history, hundreds of years of heritage and memories. What I saw and experienced in both lodges was the same as when I walked into my home Lodge for the first time and when visiting Lodges in the jurisdiction. We all have our histories, whether they’re relatively short or, hundreds of years. Visiting these lodges and meeting the brothers, what I learned and tried to bring back to my lodge was the warm feelings of Brotherly Love and Friendship I’ve experienced in my travels. I’ve learned things don’t make us Masons. Getting up everyday and being better than you were the day before and adhering to our obligations, that’s what makes us Masons.
I've never been able to visit an extremely old Lodge building like you mention, but I've always found my own Masonic travels to be very rewarding.
With the exception of a very small handful of Lodges, all Lodges in the United States practice the York Rite version of the Craft (EA, FC, MM) Degrees. In some other countries this is reversed. I've not sat through a Lodge that practices the Scottish Rite version of the first three Degrees, but I have visited the Lodge room of one. Things there are different, for example, the Perfect Ashlar is shaped differently. (That SR shape, and what it signifies is outlined in quite a few books I've encountered.) There were many such small changes to the 'decorations' of the Lodge that we are used to.
I feel that I also learned a great deal about providing Masonic education during Stated Meetings from visiting Lodges within Mexico. And I did bring all of that home to my own Lodge when I served as its Master.
While certainly not the same as visiting a foreign Lodge, I've also found tremendous opportunity to meet extremely diverse Freemasons, through the chance I've had to attend the Conference of Grand Masters. For example, one fellow I've followed on Facebook for years rose to GM of a very large and powerful Jurisdiction. For reasons I don't know, the MWGL of Washington doesn't recognize his Jurisdiction, but many other North American GL's do. So, he was in attendance and it was great having the chance to meet someone I'd never have an opportunity to meet otherwise. For that reason, I was very saddened when the Conference in Seattle had to be postponed, as through hosting it so many of our members will have similar opportunities. I'd encourage everyone to attend in 2024.