It was my honor last night to install the officers of Laura Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star of Ames Iowa.
Below are some pictures from the evening.
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| Worthy Patron Brian waiting for the meeting to start. |
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| Continuing to wait. |
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| And the ladies wait |
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| And I sit in the ante-room and guard the door |
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2011 Officers of Laura Chapter #115, Ames, Iowa
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| Jay Simser, Past Patron (Me) |
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| Worthy Matron Tammy and Jay |
Tammy has been a friend of mine for years and years. I knew her in Rainbow girls and taught several of her children in school. We have had a lot of fun over the years and I was proud to be asked to Install her and her officers tonight. I was surprised at how much I remembered from the last time I installed.
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| Marty is Worshipful Master of Arcadia Lodge |
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| And like the trooper he is he pitched right in to help tear down the Chapter. |
I spent the last two days getting things ready to turn over to the new Secretary of Specialis Procer Lodge. I will not miss the work involved. Unless you have been Secretary you have no idea what is involved. I was Secretary of two Lodges for awhile and now I will be Secretary of none. Of course I will still be Recorder for the Red Cross and the Rosicrucians but they do not meet as often as the Lodge and the work is not as labor intensive. It took a lot of time and I was finding that I was not able to do anything else or at least I was missing out on some cultural events and I need to be around for Bailey and Miles and the bottom line is that it was time to give it up. "When it isn't fun, don't do it" was sage advice given me about 3 years ago. It was no longer fun. I am doing some other things which are creative and fun. Thanks for stopping by, Be gentle with one another, Hugs, j
8 comments:
To be honest with you, Jay, I have real problems with this splitting of the sexes in many forms of Masonry. It's only there because of the historical misogyny of the English lodges. Surely it is the complete antithesis of the Masonic aim of bringing back together the male
and female aspects of creation.
I recommend you read "Understanding Manhood in America" by Robert G. Davis. Or "The Builders" by Joseph Fort Newton. Both authors emphasize the need for men to be with other men to learn how to be men in society. Newton also has one called "The Men's House" - He likens Masonry's men only to the primitive man's Men's House where boys were initiated into manhood. There is more to it than historical misogyny.
However one of the things I like about OES is that we have both men and women in it and actually the women run things. The Worthy Matron is the head of the organization and the men play only a limited (althought important) role.
Yes. But then my question is, should Masonry be the place where that is achieved? Not only is such a role not one of its founding concerns but, as I said, surely it is contrary to its mysteries. This is, of course, pretty much the same argument I would have with a church that segregates.
Well if it is not being done elsewhere... or even if it is. If we want to do it why not? As to "the Masonic aim of bringing back together the male and female aspects of creation." I don't recall ever hearing that before.. Sounds more like Christian Science to me. (Father-Mother God)
If we want to do it why not?
Well I would say, and I'm obviously being idealistic here, because there are far more important tasks to be undertaken in Freemasonry and Rosicrucianism than social activities.
Don't get me wrong, Jay, I am not attacking organisations for men. I am interested in the historical development of Masonry from the point of view of a theologian.
Well then read the Newton Books. He was a Minister...You might be able to borrow it from the Iowa Grand Lodge Library. I don't know if they send them overseas or not but they do loan books to anyone and all you have to do is pay the postage to return it I am currently reading the excellent - The Origins of Freemasonry bu Margaret C. Jacob.
Since, at least the 17th. Century, I perceive that there have been two major viewpoints in Masonry as to how to get things done - that which seeks to effect change through the Establishment and, for want of a better term, the revolutionary strand. In my opinion, both, although starting out with good intentions based on the "secrets" of the Craft, ended up, rather quickly, in following human agendas rather than divine ones. Of course, what is regarded as needing to be changed now will be different to that which was regarded as needing change two centuries ago, whilst the reasons for wanting change will remain the same. On accidental issues, such as the male priesthood in Catholicism or the segregation of the sexes in Anglophile freemasonry, I don't think we should appeal to the world views of people from the past. Rather, we should go back to the original defining doctrines and apply them to our contemporary context. Of course, on the matter we are discussing, such an endeavour may well end up coming to the same conclusions that you yourself adhere to already. I am merely rattling the cage to see what might fall out and other than Dennis and yourself, most of my blogging friends would run away screaming if I started talking about the Craft from a position of respect rather than condemnation.
The w/v to this comment is "dogismat" which may be a divine hint to us that we should go back to discussing our pets :-)
No problem.
To be very honest I have been reevaluating my (over)involvement with Masonry, wondering why so many people seem obsessed with it and decided to spend more time on other things,,,like living and enjoyment of cultural events. With limited resources i am rather tired of giving to something that was not giving back what I needed.
Our dogs with the love in their eyes as you pet them never stab you in the back or betray the friendship as so often happens in human endeavors - Thanks for the conversation.
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