Sunday Wisdom

From One Mountain, Many Paths
An American Freemason Speaks Out for Peace

by Dr. Patrick Swift
Click book or here to go to the page and buy it for yourself,


This week in the chapter on prayer:

See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of the prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-22
Christianity

Cast your burden on the lord and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 55:22
Judiasm & Christianity

It is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life to forget about God. These two verses remind me that I need to "pray without ceasing." What is that prayer? It is a constant communion with the Deity. Not to ask for something but to just say "God I acknowledge you and what you are and what you have already done for me - That is everything.

In yesterday's York Rite Festival in the Council Degree Hiram Abif goes and kneels in prayer. The prayer he gives is beautiful Evidently the folks who put our ritual together thought so also. It was written by Max Ehrmann and was co-opted for our Ritual I will put the few changes we made in parenthesis as I go through. It goes like this.

A Prayer by Max Ehrmann

Let me do my work each day; and if the darkened hours of despair overcome (overtake)me, may I not forget the strength that comforted me in the desolation (sadness) of other times.

May I still remember the bright hours that found me walking over the silent hills of my childhood, or dreaming on the margin of a quiet river, when a light glowed within me, and I promised my early God
to have courage amid the tempests of the changing years.

Spare me from bitterness and from the sharp passions of unguarded moments. (May I not forget that poverty and riches are of the spirit- line omitted). Though the world know(s) me not, may my thoughts and actions besuch as shall keep me friendly with myself.

Lift up my eyes from the earth,( and let me not forget) teach me the uses of the stars. Forbid that I should judge others lest I condemn myself. Let me not follow the clamor (glamor) of the world, but walk calmly in my path.

Give me a few friends who will love me for what I am (and not for what little I may posses) (; and keep ever burning before my vagrant steps the kindly light of hope. - omitted)

And though age and infirmity overtake me, and I come not within sight of the castle of my dreams, teach me still to be thankful for life, and for time's olden memories that are good and sweet; and may the evening's twilight find me gentle still. (Amen)

- Max Ehrmann

(Ehrmann also wrote Desiderata another of my favorite pieces of writing)

That is enough for today. We should always keep God with us in our hearts. To me that is prayer and while I "miss the mark" (sin ) more often than not I at least try. And I am always grateful when hurts are mended and we move forward as also happened yesterday. It was good to listen to the degrees and be reminded of the obligations I and all York Rite Masons are under in our "society of obligated men."

Wordzzle

As always click on the button to see the guidelines.
And don't forget to go to Raven's Nest to see all the others.


Ten words: pipe organ, ravages of time, lottery tickets, angelic music, five x five, boxes of books, flattery will get you nowhere, yodelling, pig tails, knitting needles

Mini challenge: canary yellow, grizzly bear, out of the frying pan into the fire, simpleton, Ministry of Crazy Walks

Sallyie and Saydie had been reunited. They decided that they were going to open up the Lodge of the Order of Salamanders to non-members in the hopes that they could get new members. They had the pipe organ, (which was suffering from the ravages of time) tuned (they would pay for it with profits from the lottery tickets.) so that once again they would be able to produce angelic music. They got some five x five and two by fours to build shelves so that they could put the boxes of books up off the floor and keep the bugs from getting into them. Sara Jane looked at them and said, "that looks wonderful!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere!" replied Sallyie. Saydie began yodelling as she took her sister's pig tails and stuck knitting needles through them.

LaGi walked through the door. He had turned a canary yellow from ingesting saffron instead of cinnamon and looke quite monstrous.

"You look like a grizzly bear who has jumped out of the frying pan into the fire!" said Saydie.

"Don't be a simpleton!" said Sara Jane. By the way I have a summons here from the Ministry of Crazy Walks They want you to come in to talk about using the Lodge Hall for a Walk around the City next month.

Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: posthumous, flagrant, seven days a week, cheese and crackers, pyramid, civil war, clarinet, microwave, absent without leave, blue jeans

Mini Challenge: sugar-coated, thermometer, tractor pull, evangelical, masquerade

Awesome Day - York Rite Festival

Today was the York Rite Festival in Des Moines.

Kurt has his post up about the Festival. It is worth popping over to read.


You can view the on line album by clicking here.
Click on the pictures to embiggen them.

The Temple is decorated for the Jingle Bell Bash as I told you before and looks really nice.







The Festival began at 7:30 AM which meant that I was up at 5:30 to drive to Des Moines (35 miles) and I got there early enough to open the front door. It is a huge bronze door and I love opening it up.

The Festival brings Masons from all over the state to get their degrees. There were guys there from as far away as Dubuque. The guy in the center is one of my Blogreaders. It was neat to meet him but I am disappointed that we didn't get a chance to visit.

The degrees of the York Rite are very important and meaningful degrees. They depict the building and completion of King Solomon's Temple and the dedication ceremony.

Next they move to the rebuilding of the Temple after the Babylonian Captivity and the finding of the long lost Master's Word which was lost during the Third (Master Mason) Degree. The council Degrees show how the word was saved and preserved for future generations.
















David Dryer is the Secretary Recorder of the Des Moines York Rite and a mainstay for the Festival. He works hard to get the cast lined up and performs in many of the degrees. This year he is the Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery for the state and is also going all over the state and he is just amazing.











The Amaranth served the traditional "maid-rite" and green-been lunch. I look forward to that each year.








Charlie Smithson performs in all of the degrees except the communicated Orders. He does many of the longer lectures. He is also amazing and is working for his Royal Arch Ritualist Award. In order to do that he had to take the part that I generally did and he did a masterful job. Much better than I did. I took a part I had not done for 30 years. When I was Grand Captain of the Host in 1978 the Grand High Priest decided that the Grand Officers would all do the parts of their office. I don't remember ever doing it since. I did OK I think. It was work to bring it "back"






Lighting the candles for Commandery.

This is an impressive ceremony but it was getting really late so I "escaped."








The class. There was one other person who joined the class later in the day for the Commandery Orders but wasn't in this picture. It was my pleasure to be Class Marshall and to take the Class from place to place and line them up for their obligations I really had a great day and made a couple of new friends.






In Des Moines it had been snowing but there wasn't any snow on the ground when I went outside.

In Ames there was snow on the bushes.

Not excited about that.

Thanks for stopping by, Have a great rest of the week-end. ARTYAL. Hugs, j

Specialis Procer

They are decorating the Scottish Rite for the Jingle Bell Bash. It sounds like a wonderful event. I am enjoying seeing things start to appear. If you are interested in the "Bash" click here to find out about it. It will be December 7 at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center.
There is to be a York Rite Festival tomorrow at the Center. I was working in the office this afternoon (stuffing envelopes and getting them ready to mail out) and the York Rite fellows were working to get the place set up for the Festival. You can see them enjoying lunch after a full morning of getting ready. It starts at 7:00AM tomorrow morning and I will have to get up at 5:30 to be there. I think I told you I am doing a part I haven't done for 30 years. Wish me luck.


The auditorium really looks different. It is set up for ritual and has all this holiday decoration around it. It is actually kind of pretty. It will be fun.
We had our Specialis Procer meeting tonight and Kevin brought a couple of hats which he had a drawing for and Lucas won one of them I won the other one but I have been the recipient of three hats courtesy of the generosity of my good brother Kevin so I passed it on to Brother Kurt because he is really responsible for taking my idea of a Masonic dinner club and wondering if we could make a real Lodge out of it. We did and in January we will initiate our first petitioning member. I am really excited about it.



One of the things which we do is go out to a nice restaurant for dinner and we have a paper presented. Brother John Clearman presented tonights paper and we had a lovely discussion after he presented his paper. I am so very pleased that we have this Lodge and the Brothers who participate are "top of the line" Masons. %:30 AM is going to come early so I just have to say Thanks for stopping by, ARTYAL. Hugs, j-bear

Found For Friday

Jesus Has Left the House.

After flipping His hydroplane, Jesus quickly leaves the scene before His Father finds out!

What love means to a 4-8 year old

'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'

Rebecca- age 8


'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'

Billy - age 4


'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6


'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'

Terri - age 4


'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8


'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)


'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)



'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7


'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6


'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'

Clare - age 6


'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'

Elaine-age 5


'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'

Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'

Mary Ann - age 4


'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'

Lauren - age 4


'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)

Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6


'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8


And the final one

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

'Nothing, I just helped him cry'

A man kills a deer and takes it home to prepare for dinner.

Both he and his wife decide that they won't tell the kids what kind of meat it is, but will give them a clue and let them guess.

The kids were eager to know what the meat was on their plates , so they begged their dad for the clue.

Well, he said, "It's what mommy calls me sometimes".

The little girl screams to her brother

"Don't eat it, it's an asshole."

1.The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a-head.'
14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery
7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
12. Atheism is a non-prophet organization
17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
18. It's not that the man did not know how to juggle, he just didn't have the balls to do it.
19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium, at large.
20. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
21. A backward poet writes in-verse.
22. In democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
24. Don't join dangerous cults, practice safe sects

Praise The Lord...

During the service, the pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for prayers which had been answered. A lady stood up and came forward. She said, "I have a reason to thank the Lord. Two months ago, my husband, Jim, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."

You could hear an audible gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Jim experienced.

She continued, "Jim was unable to hold me or the children and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation. They were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Jim's scrotum and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."

Again, the men in the Congregation squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Jim.

She continued, "Now, Jim is out of the hospital and the doctors say that, with time, his scrotum should recover completely."

All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had anything to say. A man rose and walked slowly to the podium. He said, "I'm Jim. I would like to tell my wife something important. The word is "sternum."

This Blog

The Typealyzer says that I am a Mechanic:

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.