China, Hope of the World

China has central plannning, individual freedoms are secondary. Western capitalist countries are incapable of responding collectively,except for an immediate threat as in warfare, which by the way generates profits for corporations. The global threat of climate change is even now being embraced by Russia with her smokey peak fires. But only China can mandate change from the top.

Religion and Politics in Lodge

For the sake of never having any contention among brothers save that noble contention of who best can work and best agree, we have foregone politics and religion in conversation. These two are natural topics for thinking men, and the passion runs deep. The unfortunate result is that we have little discourse amongst us. And yet outside of the lodge room there is no reason the reasonable men should avoid these. The situation is now so dire that we are extremely polarized, getting our information just from the television and news. I think that we should begin to get political again civil minded and with our brethren, and relearn the ways of such discourse.

Ground Zero Mosque

Is there something seriously messed up in fundamentalist Islam today...definitely. Is there something that Moslems could do to speak out against their brand of fundamentalism.....absolutely. When Jerusalem fell, a mosque immediately went up on the temple mount...the holy of holies. But it is geography....dont we wish they would all get over georgraphy and bury the hatchet, its all Gods green earth. Not any mans or any countries. If we meet their intolerance with like intolerance what do we prove ourselves to be. No better. If their religion is false...it will fall of its own weight. If Sharia law allows for women to be treated as chattel, and stonings, and an jealous vengeful God without forgiveness and compassion, who are we to give them fodder for that fire. Let them build...mostly to now they have torn down.

Brasilian Televangelism Yesterday and Today

Back in the eighties Rev. Rex Humbard and others used to be able to fill stadiums in Brasil with the evangelical show. The enthusiasm for the modern brand of American worship was hugely popular there and easily outshown the stodgy protestantism that was known previously. Some thirty years later and the power of these churches has flowered. Unfortunetly quite a bit of negative slander has been directed towards the Freemasons of Brasil. Not surprising really. Scapegoats must be found when new organizations are striving for power. This should eventually benefit the lodges there for freethinking men don't like being herded.

Masonic Family Night at the Ball Park

This Friday night, our local minors team the Rock Cats of New Britain Ct. affiliated with the Minnesota Twins, will be hosting a masonic family night themed gathering. There will be a masonic parade, masonic film clips, the Shrine Chanters I think will be doing the National Anthem and who knows all what else the Shrine has cooked up. Should be fun!

Connecticut Freemasons State Wide Open House 2010

The 2010 Grand Master of Freemasons in Connecticut Bro.Charles Buck has designated October 30th 2010 as the day when all 100 or so lodges in the state are encouraged to open their doors and lodge rooms to the public. The Grand Lodge has pursued this program for 3 of the last 4 years with varied results. One contention is that with all the public awareness of the fraternity in the media, it is good to back that up with actual exposure in the towns and communities where we continue to exist as we have for hundreds of years. Many still don't know who we are, or the proud history of the fraternity. But Seekers are finding their way to us. Our Grand Lodge web site gets hits every day of men asking to be contacted, men who often become Brothers, men who perhaps after seeing news of the open house later on decided to follow up, men who do not know a mason personally, but want to know more. The information gets fielded out to administrators in the districts who do the initial contact and then to designated men at the individual lodge level. It is very successful, these men are knocking. Should they be denied the benefit of our benevolent society?

The Masonic Chequered/Checkerboard Floor

The allegorical teaching of the black and white chessboard floor in masonic lodges hearkens back to the free will choice that we all make on whether we will serve the principle of selfishness or selflessness, separation or unity, darkness or light. The black and white mosaic flooring is a long standing mystical symbol, the square shape representing the physical world, as opposed to the circle representing spirit. As the laws of physics are founded on the spiritual law, and require balanced electrical polarity to exist and for work to occur, so too the spiritual in the free will creation. The checkerboard is therefore emblematic of the free will choice of service in the balanced and polarized world. Free will is one of the primary laws of this world, it is required for faith to develop in a environment where proof of Diety does not exist, it is a noteworthy achievement that Freemasonry has preserved the teaching of polarization, which emphasizes the seekers path of service. The daily choices that one makes are shaded towards either the selfish or selfless service in intent and in effect. As one moves toward either egoistic or altruistic pole, through belief, imagination and desire; the intentions and choices cause experience, which in turn draws on more catalyst, and so over time the purity of the metal of the soul is established. If one has conflicts: intending say ...benevolence but then acting maliciously..one will ineffectively keep bumping up against the same wall of confusion and stagnation, and the souls grade will reflect the lack of conviction. The free will density offers choice on a balanced field for the entity to gain, lose or be unchanged through self determination. The checkered floor is also analogous to the shepherds embrace, arms crossing the chest, signifying the choice, to serve either the right handed path, ankh of sacrifice in hand or that of the other hand, the path which pulls us to the illusion of separation, and control over others. It too is reminiscent of the two pillars to the temple, now known as Jachin and Boaz, strength and establishment, as all who remember the middle chamber long form can attest to, but anciently oft referring to the potentials of the mind in a polarized state. It has been said that a man can not serve two masters, and so it is, to establish a suitable grade within the confines here, one must choose to move upon the squares of darkness or light. The Creator turns from neither, as in reality, beyond the illusion, all is truelly One. Logoi, Infinite Intelligence, existing before matter, created means for the acceleration of soul evolution, in which faith is helpful to move towards light.

Texas Tea and the Green Revolution

The names have changed but the game remains the same. British Petroleum and the oil industry are the new British Crown. The tea which the American Revolutionaries threw overboard is now the black oil which is spilt, not into Boston Harbor but into the Gulf and the most impressive estuary of the great nation. Those who met at the Green Dragon, the Freemasons of the day have their corollary in those who met at Woodstock and rejected the status quo and brought the change which was upon the generation. They fought for a new way of governing, we fight for a new way of delivering energy. There was legitimate arguement, tehn, nothing was clear except that men knew things were out of whack. The corporations have a strangle hold on the hearts and minds of the people, just as did the monarchies then. A divine right to govern was the mantra, versus the ideals of free thinkers. In November we have a crucial election, those who supported the British Empire then , now the corporate empire, are pitted against a rag tag generation of hippies, who found that their generation was strengthened by drugs more than ideals. Will they sell out completely in November. We shall see. For the sake of Mother Earth lets hope that cap and trade legislation is done by then, and they arent put to the test. I wish that those of the Tea Party today could see what the real battle is about. Unfortunetly they are blinded by their allegiance to a hope of smaller federal government, vain hope. That battle was lost by Jefferson long ago. Where is Tom Paine when you need him. And the masses of people who just wanted food in their belly and a scrap of land then, are now those who just want to get along, run a business without onerous regulation or keep a fat pension spooned out by corporatations as they devour the earth.


the status quo.

Past Master Emblem Apriori

I have had freemasonry emblems on all my cars for years now. Rarely have I gotten a wave or a quesion. I suppose like me, when I pass another car with the emblem, the driver is looking straight at the highway ahead. I have never been so proud to afix the emblem though, to a car. After years of waiting, I finally bought a Prius Hybrid. 100% made in Japan, the 1st car company to do it with any real effort and still the best. The car is averaging 52 miles per gallon and as the oil continues to kill the Pelicans and Sea Turtles while destroying the lives of people on the coast, I am particularly focused to participate. Interesting that in Canada, every single deep well is required to have a relief well to begin with, just like with the coal miners, they have many more safetly rooms deep in the mine. You can be anti-regulation all you want, but when disaster happens you've no one to point the finger at. Like Bobby Jindal, crying now. Never heard a word from him about rig regulation before the spill.

Greek Social Unrest

In the bad old days whenever there was social unrest brought down by government due to austerity measures, the Freemasons would be looked upon as possibly having something to do with it. The Greek economy has exposed the shambles that has become the Euro zone debt crisis. Well intentioned efforts to bring up the weaker Euro countries funded by cheap debt has led to unsustainable finance measures imposed by the IMF and the Euro bankers. And who do we find again at the table creating finance packages for the Greeks when things started to go bad.....Goldman Sachs! Well done Wall Street.