So true Grand Master. Allow me to cut and paste a brief editorial that I published a few months ago in the District 7 News about my Uncle Chung, a native and resident of South Korea.
You might think you don't see any Korean lineage in me and you’d be right: there isn’t any. But I spoke to Uncle Chung on the phone a few years ago and he told me he was my uncle. He seemed pretty sure of himself. His reasoning was simple. He said that my father was his brother.
My father, our good Brother Ed Gebhart, Jr., deployed to Seoul Korea in 1951. Thankfully this was after the events that led up to the Battle of Inchon, otherwise he might not have come back. I’m grateful that he was a company clerk stationed behind the lines with the 19th Engineer Combat Group, therefore not exposed to enemy fire. But he was exposed to an enemy: the bone chilling cold of the South Korean winter while living in a tent.
I was born after Dad came home from Korea. As a young boy there were only three channels on our black-and-white TV so on occasional nights we enjoyed 35mm slide shows that often featured pictures of Korea. Many were of Chung, a teenaged war orphan. In the early 60s he sent my father a couple letters, but nothing after that.
Fast forward to the mid-80s. One summer afternoon as Dad walked off the 48th Street beach in Ocean City, NJ he noticed a black limousine parked near the jetty. As he cleared the jetty the limo’s back door opened and out stepped Chung, now a high-ranking officer in the South Korean CIA. A joyous reunion ensued and later that day my phone rang. I said hello and the caller, in broken English, said, “I am Uncle Chung, your father is my brother. He saved my life.”
I told my father what Chung said. His modest response was that all he did was scrounge a winter coat for Chung, shared a few rations, and snuck him into the tent on cold nights.
To our good Brother Ed it didn’t seem like much. To Uncle Chung it meant everything. It’s a vivid illustration of a lesson we learn as Masons: No gift is too small.
One of my old bosses was very well off. Both him and his wife worked and made significant amounts of money. His wife did their taxes every year.
One day the subject of charity came up in the office. His response was that he let his wife handle all that, and as far as he was concerned, the taxes he paid was enough charity.
Much like that old boss, some masons think the dues they pay is enough charity, or giving away the lodge funds to support one thing or another is being charitable.
Being a mason is more than carrying around a dues card, or raising your left hand to vote on giving a couple hundred dollars to the rainbow girls. You should be active in your lodge, and the community, not to raise awareness of freemasonry, but because it is the right thing to do. There should never be an ulterior motive attached to good works. Or, to put it another way, would you still support a particular cause if you couldn’t attach the square and compasses to it?
Charity is its own reward.
One woman made a comment on some church group doing a charity event that “you’re only doing it because it makes you feel good”. Well, yeah? Shouldn’t we feel good about ourselves doing something nice for other people? Much like Scrooge waking up on Christmas Day and rejoicing that he didn’t miss it, and having a joyous heart to be a better man, we should also fill our hearts with that same feeling. That is the charity the fraternity refers to. A love for humanity that manifests itself with doing good for others.
That shows your character, as well as bro Johns father. I think most people relate moral or ethical stories, how they have shared love and compassion for others, which is noble, no doubt. Love and compassion is harmony, a gentle vibration, if you will. You and Ed created harmony for the someone who did not have that vibration. That would not have been the case if, first of all, yourself or Ed didn't have harmony within.
I hear a lot of talk in various circles about destroying the ego, which to me sounds counter productive. Ego is defined as self esteem. If you don't have harmony with your ego, how can you share it? My point is, we should also think of this, and setting time to calm the mind and become harmonious with ourselves.
In the myth of Hermes, who was said by the Greeks, to typify and preside over the powers of the mind. In Masonic literature, Hermes is also allude to the Biblical Enoch, who transitioned to the seventh heaven. Symbolically, the Seventh chakra, is the chakra of the mind. By concentration in meditation, the mind may be held so that it is not subject to anxiety or anger. If your mind was not in harmony with yourself, i'm sure the story would have been different and added distress to everyone's energy. Both are great examples to emphasis the little things that add positive energy and harmony to mankind.
As a gentle reminder, if we remember to take time to be in harmony, first with ourselves, by controlling and silencing the thoughts of our mind, and persists in this practice we can enter into a harmonious relationship with the Divinity within (the seventh Heaven) and from that source gain knowledge, which is the result of the soul's own experience while passing through the 'pillars of the Temple.' If it is true, "from God we came, to God we return, life is but the attainment of that consciousness which is God.
A few years ago, I was over at the Appliance store next to where I work, and the wife and mother of one of our Lodge Brothers was just finishing purchasing a microwave. I knew they needed it hauled to their vehicle, so I picked up the microwave, and Tina barreled out ahead of me, opened the door the the store, then her vehicle, and I put the microwave in the vehicle. I think I was thanked, but I honestly can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure Tina and her mother-in-law both thanked me.
So, fast forward a few years, and our WB Craig Sullivan, Tina’s wife, mentioned that I will always be good with Tina and his Mother. I wasn’t sure why I achieved such status, and Craig said “it’s because of what you did for them a few years back.” I drew a blank. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He tried to prompt me as to what I did, but I was struggling, until it finally dawned on me that Craig was talking about the Microwave. I didn’t really regard what I did as a big, profound thing; it was something that simply needed to be done, and I was available. But it meant a LOT to them. Rather than brush it off, I told Craig I understand, and I’ll keep that in mind in the future.
Another time, I was walking down the back street back to work, and behind the appliance store, a gentleman needed help getting an appliance out of his truck. I went over and grabbed it, carefully pulled it out of the truck, and set it up right for him. He thanked me, and as I continued on, he approached me carrying his wallet. I immediately informed him I work next door, not at the Appliance store, but he wanted to compensate me for my efforts. I politely declined. But after he got things cleared with the Appliance store, he came in to my shop and stuffed a handful of bills in my pocket and thanked me again. It drew ire from some in our Shop, but no matter. He was insisted on doing what he did, and it would have been rude of me to continue to refuse him.
Both of these are examples of what those small acts can mean to those you help.
Like WB Glenn said about that woman saying, “you’re only doing it because it makes you feel good.” Glenn’s answer is totally valid, but even more so, for me, it’s not even that. I do these things because, well, they needed to be done, and I was available and capable of doing it. It’s just… that. If a lady is thankful that I helped her, that’s cool, and it does put a smile on my face. And 99% of the time, I do get a positive acknowledgment for my assistance. Even in those cases where I don’t get acknowledgment, it can be discouraging at first, but it’s not going to stop me from helping in the future. Heck, you never know… that act might cause that surly person to reflect on what you did for him in the past, kind of like changing that Scrooge around. And that makes it worth it.
So true Grand Master. Allow me to cut and paste a brief editorial that I published a few months ago in the District 7 News about my Uncle Chung, a native and resident of South Korea.
You might think you don't see any Korean lineage in me and you’d be right: there isn’t any. But I spoke to Uncle Chung on the phone a few years ago and he told me he was my uncle. He seemed pretty sure of himself. His reasoning was simple. He said that my father was his brother.
My father, our good Brother Ed Gebhart, Jr., deployed to Seoul Korea in 1951. Thankfully this was after the events that led up to the Battle of Inchon, otherwise he might not have come back. I’m grateful that he was a company clerk stationed behind the lines with the 19th Engineer Combat Group, therefore not exposed to enemy fire. But he was exposed to an enemy: the bone chilling cold of the South Korean winter while living in a tent.
I was born after Dad came home from Korea. As a young boy there were only three channels on our black-and-white TV so on occasional nights we enjoyed 35mm slide shows that often featured pictures of Korea. Many were of Chung, a teenaged war orphan. In the early 60s he sent my father a couple letters, but nothing after that.
Fast forward to the mid-80s. One summer afternoon as Dad walked off the 48th Street beach in Ocean City, NJ he noticed a black limousine parked near the jetty. As he cleared the jetty the limo’s back door opened and out stepped Chung, now a high-ranking officer in the South Korean CIA. A joyous reunion ensued and later that day my phone rang. I said hello and the caller, in broken English, said, “I am Uncle Chung, your father is my brother. He saved my life.”
I told my father what Chung said. His modest response was that all he did was scrounge a winter coat for Chung, shared a few rations, and snuck him into the tent on cold nights.
To our good Brother Ed it didn’t seem like much. To Uncle Chung it meant everything. It’s a vivid illustration of a lesson we learn as Masons: No gift is too small.
One of my old bosses was very well off. Both him and his wife worked and made significant amounts of money. His wife did their taxes every year.
One day the subject of charity came up in the office. His response was that he let his wife handle all that, and as far as he was concerned, the taxes he paid was enough charity.
Much like that old boss, some masons think the dues they pay is enough charity, or giving away the lodge funds to support one thing or another is being charitable.
Being a mason is more than carrying around a dues card, or raising your left hand to vote on giving a couple hundred dollars to the rainbow girls. You should be active in your lodge, and the community, not to raise awareness of freemasonry, but because it is the right thing to do. There should never be an ulterior motive attached to good works. Or, to put it another way, would you still support a particular cause if you couldn’t attach the square and compasses to it?
Charity is its own reward.
One woman made a comment on some church group doing a charity event that “you’re only doing it because it makes you feel good”. Well, yeah? Shouldn’t we feel good about ourselves doing something nice for other people? Much like Scrooge waking up on Christmas Day and rejoicing that he didn’t miss it, and having a joyous heart to be a better man, we should also fill our hearts with that same feeling. That is the charity the fraternity refers to. A love for humanity that manifests itself with doing good for others.
That shows your character, as well as bro Johns father. I think most people relate moral or ethical stories, how they have shared love and compassion for others, which is noble, no doubt. Love and compassion is harmony, a gentle vibration, if you will. You and Ed created harmony for the someone who did not have that vibration. That would not have been the case if, first of all, yourself or Ed didn't have harmony within.
I hear a lot of talk in various circles about destroying the ego, which to me sounds counter productive. Ego is defined as self esteem. If you don't have harmony with your ego, how can you share it? My point is, we should also think of this, and setting time to calm the mind and become harmonious with ourselves.
In the myth of Hermes, who was said by the Greeks, to typify and preside over the powers of the mind. In Masonic literature, Hermes is also allude to the Biblical Enoch, who transitioned to the seventh heaven. Symbolically, the Seventh chakra, is the chakra of the mind. By concentration in meditation, the mind may be held so that it is not subject to anxiety or anger. If your mind was not in harmony with yourself, i'm sure the story would have been different and added distress to everyone's energy. Both are great examples to emphasis the little things that add positive energy and harmony to mankind.
As a gentle reminder, if we remember to take time to be in harmony, first with ourselves, by controlling and silencing the thoughts of our mind, and persists in this practice we can enter into a harmonious relationship with the Divinity within (the seventh Heaven) and from that source gain knowledge, which is the result of the soul's own experience while passing through the 'pillars of the Temple.' If it is true, "from God we came, to God we return, life is but the attainment of that consciousness which is God.
A few years ago, I was over at the Appliance store next to where I work, and the wife and mother of one of our Lodge Brothers was just finishing purchasing a microwave. I knew they needed it hauled to their vehicle, so I picked up the microwave, and Tina barreled out ahead of me, opened the door the the store, then her vehicle, and I put the microwave in the vehicle. I think I was thanked, but I honestly can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure Tina and her mother-in-law both thanked me.
So, fast forward a few years, and our WB Craig Sullivan, Tina’s wife, mentioned that I will always be good with Tina and his Mother. I wasn’t sure why I achieved such status, and Craig said “it’s because of what you did for them a few years back.” I drew a blank. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He tried to prompt me as to what I did, but I was struggling, until it finally dawned on me that Craig was talking about the Microwave. I didn’t really regard what I did as a big, profound thing; it was something that simply needed to be done, and I was available. But it meant a LOT to them. Rather than brush it off, I told Craig I understand, and I’ll keep that in mind in the future.
Another time, I was walking down the back street back to work, and behind the appliance store, a gentleman needed help getting an appliance out of his truck. I went over and grabbed it, carefully pulled it out of the truck, and set it up right for him. He thanked me, and as I continued on, he approached me carrying his wallet. I immediately informed him I work next door, not at the Appliance store, but he wanted to compensate me for my efforts. I politely declined. But after he got things cleared with the Appliance store, he came in to my shop and stuffed a handful of bills in my pocket and thanked me again. It drew ire from some in our Shop, but no matter. He was insisted on doing what he did, and it would have been rude of me to continue to refuse him.
Both of these are examples of what those small acts can mean to those you help.
Like WB Glenn said about that woman saying, “you’re only doing it because it makes you feel good.” Glenn’s answer is totally valid, but even more so, for me, it’s not even that. I do these things because, well, they needed to be done, and I was available and capable of doing it. It’s just… that. If a lady is thankful that I helped her, that’s cool, and it does put a smile on my face. And 99% of the time, I do get a positive acknowledgment for my assistance. Even in those cases where I don’t get acknowledgment, it can be discouraging at first, but it’s not going to stop me from helping in the future. Heck, you never know… that act might cause that surly person to reflect on what you did for him in the past, kind of like changing that Scrooge around. And that makes it worth it.