Cross Keys Masonic Magazine March 2014

The Cross Keys The Monthly Newsletter of Lodge Houstoun St. Johnstone

March 2014

Walking the Road / Seeking the Light

In this issue: Continually Boring members The Art of Memory The Foundation Club The Soldiers’ Charity Presentation UGLE & HMRC Lodge Coronati No.520 GRC

Cross Keys March 2014

Number 174

Continually Boring our Members?

The Spirit stood among the graves, and pointed down to One. He advanced towards it trembling. The Phantom was exactly as it had been, but he dreaded that he saw new meaning in its solemn shape. "Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point," said Scrooge, "answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?" Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood. "Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.

Say it is thus with what you show me." The Spirit was immovable as ever.

Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol Sit down and chat for about ten minutes with an insurance agent, and let him quote you chapter and verse about the death rate among the World War II generation. Okay, I'll grant you, there's a certain ghoulish aspect to it. I'm bringing it up because, like Scrooge's portentous Spectre, Freemasons have spent the last fifteen years pointing an empty sleeve at the grave, and blaming our declining membership numbers on the four-million Masons who were members during our boom years, who have had the very bad timing to pass on to the Celestial Lodge Above in record waves over the last dozen or so years.

Once you're sufficiently bored by your insurance guy, give your Grand Secretary a call and ask him how the numbers compare between the death rate of members every year, versus the losses from demits and non-payment of dues. Prepare yourself for a shock. In most jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, the losses of members from deaths has been statistically tapering off, while the losses due to Freemasons walking away from the fraternity have been rising at an alarming rate. Oh, we're initiating a very healthy dose of new Masons every year all right. But men whom we have initiated, passed and raised are deciding in increasing numbers to say no thanks to what their local lodge offers. Masonic membership rolls are still dropping, but not from natural causes. The truth is, we are boring our members to death.

It has long been understood that the Baby Boom generation didn't join the Masons. As a result, there is a five-decade difference between the generation of men who kept Freemasonry alive for us and the men who are now moving into leadership positions throughout the fraternity. At any other time in the history of Freemasonry, each succeeding generation came along approximately in twenty-five year intervals, making changes in their lodges, and in Freemasonry as a whole, to reflect their needs and desires. Masonry has always adapted to serve the societies in which it resided. Until recently. Now, instead of a twenty-five year adjustment in direction, Freemasonry is suffering from fifty years of habit and hardening of the arteries.

Not long ago, I visited a lodge that had fallen on hard times - very hard times indeed. At one time, their rolls held the names of more than 1800 members. Today, they are down to 200. That's not an unusual state of affairs for a fraternity that artificially swelled in size after World War II, but for men who see success and failure only in the narrow terms of numerical statistics, it is an emergency of epic proportions. There were members in that lodge who Cross Keys March 2014

remember those heady days like they were yesterday. They remember the degree nights with 150 Masons on the sidelines. They remember the dances, and the Christmas parties, and the big group trips. They remember the dinners when the dining hall was packed to the rafters, with their kids running up and down the room, while some successful member from the civic or business world tried to give a speech. They look on those days fondly, and are bewildered by the fact that no more than eight members show up for the average meeting today. They'd had no candidates in four years, and they literally begged their members to come and participate. No one did.

The men who kept that lodge barely alive tried to do things the way they have been done when most of them joined a half century ago. The same eight men met for a meager meal before their monthly meeting. They opened lodge with perfect ritual. They read the minutes and the bills.

There was rarely any business, new or old. They closed and fled the building, and were home by 7:30, before prime-time network programming got started for the night. Over the last five years, the same eight members have been trading officers' positions, and they just got tired. They were fed up. So, they decided to merge with another lodge and be done with it.

As with any turning point of this magnitude, all 200-plus members had to be notified of the meeting. Only twelve cared enough to show up to vote to euthanize their lodge. They had no fight in them to save their lodge. They wanted to simply slip into the ranks of another, give up their charter and their 140-year history, and vanish from memory. They had killed their own lodge with their own failure to embrace any change, and in fact, many of them were enraged that some brethren from outside of their lodge had come in to try to resurrect them at the eleventh hour and interfere with their plans for a quiet suicide.

They didn't do anything to appeal to new members. But neither were they serving their existing ones. They weren't broke. These were children of the Depression. They had almost $200,000 in the bank. So why did they do nothing to interest their aging members? Bus trips to Branson. $100 cruises to the Caribbean. Casino boat trips. Tours to Masonic sites in Britain. Trips to the Holy Land. Catered dinners. Sponsored movie nights. Loads of public awards. Medicare drug program presentations. Estate planning seminars. Computers at lodge to send emails to the grand kids.

Power-chair races in the halls. In short, give their existing members a reason to keep coming to lodge, to keep enjoying it, to love it.

Neither did they do anything to attract new members. They rent the lodge room in the big downtown Temple building, so like most tenant/landlord relationships, they figured they didn't have to put a dime into the place if they didn't own it. That's somebody else's job. Really? If only they had tried investing in their lodge. Put in new lighting so members could see three feet in front of them. Upholster the sad looking chairs and benches that have the original leather from World War I on them. Tear up the worn and moldy carpet and replace it - maybe with one of the only black and white checked carpets in the U.S. that we talk about in our ritual but almost nobody seems to have. In short, make it look like something worth coming to. Make it look like something worth joining.

Then start kicking the members into participating in lodge - not worrying about who was going to be what officer or memorize which part of the ritual. Actually talk about Freemasonry, its history, its symbolism, its philosophy. Actively visit other lodges and help with their degrees. Get Cross Keys March 2014

members interested in other activities in the building, or volunteering to help some of the community groups that have been meeting there with greater frequency. We talk a big line about charity and helping the community, so let's start giving time, and not just checkbook generosity.

And if they still didn't have a full lineup of guys willing to be officers, just sideliners, it wouldn't matter.

Because, once the place looked like living inhabitants occasionally might be in the place, and that it was actually a vibrant, active lodge, maybe, just maybe, some of their grandkids might get interested in Freemasonry, because they were seeing Freemasonry in action, instead of Freemasonry inaction. The business author James O'Toole says, "People who do not think well of themselves do not act to change their condition." Even a lodge that only has eight regular attendees has within its active ranks the resources to wake itself up, to do things that make them truly happy to be there, and sometimes to even surprise themselves.

Leadership has no age, and there are no limits on imagination. But a lodge has to mean something to its members. It has to remain part of their lives, every day, every week, every month. Because once it's more fun, or less hassle, to stay squeezed comfortably in the LaZBoy, curled up with a remote control, than it is to go to lodge, we have lost them. No one would ever voluntarily join a memorization club, and no one wants to join the oldest, greatest, most legendary fraternal organization in the world, only to be sentenced to a lifetime of cold cut sandwiches made with suspicious meat, generic cola, and monthly meetings of nothing but minute-reading, bill-paying and petulant sniveling over why no one comes to meetings anymore. Be honest with yourself.

What rational human being seriously wants to go to the trouble of leaving home to go and listen to someone spend twenty minutes reporting that nothing happened at last month's meeting either?

It will be the lodges that provide programming for their active members - whatever their age may be - that will survive and prosper into the future. But those that stubbornly cling to the notion that lodge is no event, that lodge is just one more meeting to be borne, that lodge is that most terrible of things, Ordinary - those are the lodges that will literally bore themselves to death. Those are the lodges that will slip silently away in the night. And the shadows of things that Might Be will have faded into the concrete Reality of a deserted lodge room.

"Ghost of the Future!" Scrooge exclaimed, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen. But as I know your purpose is to do me good, and as I hope to live to be another man from what I was, I am prepared to bear your company, and do it with a thankful heart."

- Source: Bro. Christopher Hodapp

Cross Keys March 2014

The Art of Memory Current research suggests that Masonry will experience further difficulties in the future unless we adapt to new technology. The average person switches between devices as many as 21 times an hour, a new survey has revealed. Research revealed our attention span is smaller than ever thanks to the growing presence of smartphones, tablets and laptops. Advertising researchers tracked the online behaviour of 200 British people to discover how much time they spent on one device before picking up another. The method of research is favoured by Facebook and Google who try to follow users between gadgets so they can later prove to the success of online adverts. The websites try to monitor users' devices to prove that an advert seen on a smartphone at lunchtime encouraged someone to later make a purchase on their laptop, for example. But the research carried out by OMD produced startling results that come months after it was revealed the number of people simultaneously using devices has increased by 500 per cent in three years.

Things like skipable ads on YouTube are almost priming people to expect that after the first five seconds of an ad, you can choose to stay with it or move on. In September it was revealed that 90 per cent of people switch effortlessly between gadgets to perform simple tasks. In addition, 77 per cent of online searches carried out from a mobile phone occurred in places where the user could have used as easily used a computer. Google has described the phenomenon as 'constant connectivity' and has welcomed it as a means of effective marketing.

Another study looked at how consumers used over 500 news apps across 100 million iPhone, Android and Windows smartphones between July 2012 and July 2013. It found that consumers spent on average 26% less time interacting with the apps during each session, but that they opened the apps 39% more often, for an average 25 times a month, up sharply from 18 times the previous year. The whole goal of mobile is to get people the information they need as quickly as possible and with weather apps, people are not expected to be on for more than a minute. Likewise, instagram allow video uploads if they are less than 15 seconds.

Looking at kids on devices, they probably switch even more and are comfortable with changing apps every few seconds. In schools, formulae sheets are given in mathematics and sciences, dictionaries are used in language exams and few seem to memorise quotes.

Memorising is a dying art as everything is now at our fingertips and memorising facts is not relevant. The emphasis is on understanding methods not reciting formulae, etc. So what does this mean for the Craft? Schaw in his Statutes mentioned the Art of Memory which has been that standard method of conveying masonic ritual for years. However, as much as we look at kids playing with phones or other hand helds as being strange they are now looking at us equally as strangely reciting ritual. I predict that in the next 5 years, there will be few brethren under 30 who learn significant parts of the ritual, in 10 years none!

Now all is not bleak. The Craft has survived over the centuries as one of the few organi-

Cross Keys March 2014

The Art of Memory (ctd) sations that had adapted to change. Let’s embrace the new technology and use it to enhance or ceremonies. Before I cause some older PMs to have a seizure, the following are only suggestions—some lodges might like it, others definitely won’t; if it keeps a lodge from returning it charter then it can’t be a bad thing. Young brethren are used to a changing environment and for lodges to continue attracting young masons, we must provide something similar. What can be done?

When a lecture is to be given, if there is no brother who knows it well (and by this I mean avoiding a prompter saying more than the lecturer) then why not have it read from a lecturn using slides to depict what is said. Alternatively, (and easier) give the candidate an iPad or equivalent to see the images related top the lecture. Young people expect images today so why not provide a tracing board which can be zoomed into?

Some masters already have sheets on the dias—why not use an iPad with the ritual?

There is nothing wrong as long as it is discrete. Obviously, if a master requires to do ritual moving about then this needs to be learned. Do obligations need to be recited (and as long)? It may be a matter of choice for each lodge, but most obligations taken elsewhere are read by a scribe, lawyer, etc.

Honorary Grand Rank

Bro. Douglas Pratt MM 242 PM No.877 was given the honorary rank of Assistant Grand Secretary a few weeks ago. Bro. Douglas (2nd from the right) left Johnstone for Kelty and was secretary for many years. He is seen with Bro. Andrew Paterson PGM Fife & Kinross, another good visitor to 242 over the years. Well done Dougie from all at 242!

Cross Keys March 2014

The Foundation Club The PGLRE is looking into the possibility of starting a ‘study group’ where brethren can come together with other like minded brethren to discuss aspects of masonry as well as socialising. Although the province will have a mentoring system, this will probably be informal with no stipulation about attending or assessing. The PGL of Surey has taken some first steps towards that goal: The Foundation Club is a new Provincial initiative created to provide a relaxed and informal platform for new and young Freemasons in Surrey to meet and socialise, whilst encouraging visiting, organising Masonic related events and promoting a pride in our membership and enjoyment of the Craft.

Being based in such a large county as Surrey with Masonic Centres spread all across the Province, it is not always easy for new Brethren to meet and form friendships. The Foundation Club aims to bridge this divide and to bring together these Brothers, giving them a Club which will serve their needs, at the same time expanding the members’ experience and enjoyment of Freemasonry.

We will be organising various Masonic events such as seminars on ‚the history of Freemasonry‛ and ‚the meaning of our ritual‛. We also intend to receive talks on various degrees ‚beyond the Craft‛ and plan on organising trips to other Lodges and Provinces to see the various workings and diverse ritual to be found in Freemasonry today.

We will also be organising various non-Masonic events aimed at promoting Freemasonry and what we do to interested friends and potential candidates and including our family members. These events will range from monthly social get-togethers at various centres throughout the Province to summer barbecues and inter-centre sports days.

The Foundation Club is open to all Masons living, working or meeting in Surrey, regardless of age who have not received Provincial Rank; so everyone from Entered Apprentices to Installed Masters can come together to share in their passion of Freemasonry and all it has to offer.

We need your help to really push this initiative, we know it’s wanted and we know it works, as we’ve seen the success of similar clubs in other Provinces. What we need to do is make sure our club succeeds and this will be done by giving the club the best start possible. We need to make sure every Brother in every Lodge is aware and promoting The Foundation Club to all their junior Brethren and giving the Club and its members the best chance possible. We will be holding various launch events throughout the province and urge every Lodge which uses the centres to invite their eligible Brethren and Lodge representatives to find out more about The Foundation Club and what we have to offer.

The launch events are free and on weekday evenings, and are designed to give the Brethren an overview of what The Foundation Club aims to achieve and to receive feedback to find out what the members want from their club.

Cross Keys March 2014

The Foundation Club (ctd)

Cross Keys March 2014

RAC 150th Anniversary In 2015, Sir William Wallace RAC N0.109 will celebrate 150 years.

The following items are available from the Chapter or James Gregory directly. Prices to follow.

Fees Returned?

In 1877, the case of Robinson v. Yates City Lodge, 86 Illinois, US, a court ruled that an expelled Mason was not entitled to the return of his degree fees. The court held that the plaintiff voluntarily paid the fees and the expulsion under the provisions of the rules of the organisation does not constitute the rescission of a contract under which the fees were paid.

Would it be the same ruling today?

Cross Keys March 2014

From the Columns Both meetings this month were conferred by the office-bearers of the lodge.

The candidate was Bro. Alistair Griffiths who received his FCD and MMD with an attendance of about 80 on both occasions. It was great to see visiting masters and office-bearers attend the lodge this month.

Let there be Light

The lodge of l’Amitié in La Chaux-deFonds in Switzerland commissioned a completely new lighting system to make its restored temple look even larger and more impressive than before. Quite stunning now—perhaps lodges with spare finances should look into this more carefully.

Cross Keys March 2014

PGL News 2nd March, 2014—Seminar for Progressive OBs in Lodge Nitshill No.1478 at 10am.

Sunday 20th April, 2014—PGL Divine service in Stowe Brae Kirk, 82 Causeyside Street, Paisley. PA1 1YP at 3pm. All brethren welcome—regalia to be worn.

Monday 28th April, 2014—Tri-Annual Communication of the PGL in Craigends No.1042, Linwood Thursday 1st May, 2014—Rededication Ceremony of War Memorial by PGL followed by a lecture on Military Lodges at 7.30pm.

Q& A—the letter B BRANT, JOSEPH Q. Who was Joseph Brant?

He was a Mohawk Indian who was made a Mason in London in 1776. During the War of American Independence he was in command of some Indian troops on the British side, who had captured Captain McKinsty, of the United States Army. The Indians had tied their captive to a tree and were preparing to torture him, when he made the mysterious appeal of a Mason in the hour of danger. Brant interposed and rescued his American Brother from his impending fate, took him to Quebec, and placed him in the hands of some English Masons, who returned him uninjured to the American outposts.

BROKEN COLUMN Q. Why the ‚broken column‛ in American Freemasonry?

Among the ancients, columns or pillars were used to signify princes or nobles, as if they were pillars of state. A broken column would signify a ‚fallen Prince,‛ the weakening of the state. Thus we have the broken column as a symbol of the fall of one of the chief supporters of the Craft.

Cross Keys March 2014

PGLRE Cheque to The Soldiers’ Charity (ABF)

During the meeting, the PGM presented a cheque for £4500 for the Soldiers’ Charity - the Army Benevolent Fund - to Bro. Alex Braceland of Lodge Kirkliston Maitland No.482, who served for 36 years with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and is now liaison officer for the ABF. The money for the charity had been raised by lodges throughout the Province. Bro. Alex thanked the Brethren for the generous donation and promised it would be put to good use in supporting soldiers and their families in times of need.

Lodge Room in Two Countries At one time Golden Rule Lodge No. 5 of Stanstead, Quebec, occupied a lodge room bisected by the international boundary. It had entrances from the Canadian and Vermont sides, and the membership was just as international as the site.

Cross Keys March 2014

UGLE & HMRC The United Grand Lodge of England has been denied a multi-million-pound VAT rebate on subscriptions paid by its members over 20 years, after a judge ruled that its emphasis on caring for fellow Masons meant its giving was not ‚wholly philanthropic‛. It had argued in the tax tribunal that its charitable giving benefitted the public, not just Masons, and sought to be exempt from VAT on subscriptions paid by its members over more than 20 years.

But HMRC objected and this week Judge Hellier ruled that Freemasons' ‚hope or expectation‛ that the organisation's Grand Charity would help them and their families in times of need meant their donations had elements of ‚self-insurance‛ and ‚personal benefit‛.

During the case Judge Hellier noted that only between 25 and 30 per cent of the Freemasons’ Grand Charity donations went to causes with no Masonic connections.

The United Grand Lodge of England argued that Freemasonry’s ‚peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols‛ is driven by charitable giving and community involvement. It said its ‚aims of philosophical, philanthropic and civic nature‛ benefited the public in general. The Grand Secretary said that misconceptions about Freemasonry may have skewed the decision.

An interesting angle taken by the courts, but could this lessen some brethren’s interest in raising funds for non-masonic charities? We will need to see. This could have a huge effect on charitable givings.

March Events in 242

Thursday 13th—EA by OBs Thursday 27th—PGL AV and James Donald Lecture by Bro. Bob Cooper Grand Lodge Curator.

Visit to Lodge Garthland St. Winnoch No. 205 to confer the FCD on Monday coming (3rd)

Cross Keys March 2014

Lodge Coronati 100th Anniversary Coronati Lodge No. 520, G.R.C. which was instituted on January 2, 1914 is under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Canada in the Province of Ontario. It meets every 2nd Thursday of the Month at 7:00 p.m., except during the months of July and August at the Pickering Masonic Temple and is a member of the Toronto East Masonic District.

What makes Coronati Lodge strong and vibrant is the 90+ members who are contributing and participating in its activities and the pool of Past Masters who are ever reliable in mentoring the younger members. The lodge experienced a rejuvenation in the year 2005 when new members were accepted into its folds. Special programs were introduced to mentor and train these young Masons. Later, they were given the opportunity to display their talents by participating in the floorworks and by assisting the Worshipful Master as Committee Chairman or mere doing chores for the lodge.

Currently, it has a strong core of membership well-trained in the works of a Mason and well-prepared to take higher responsibilities in the Lodge as officers.

The master Bro. Ron Cada, with Toronto East District Deputy Grand Master Bro. David J Neave to his immediate right, to the master’s immediate left the current Grand Master MW Bro. Donald A Campbell, next Bro. Ed Drew PGM, next Bro. Terrence Shand, Past Grand Master who is the current Grand Secretary and along with current Grand lodge officers 2013-2014.

Cross Keys March 2014

242’s other Name!!!

At a visitation by 242 to 370 in Paisley, the name of the lodge is reported at Houston Street, Johnstone. Unfortunately, today this cannot take place as both lodges meet on the same night. Both lodges have changed addresses—242 is now in their lodge in Collier Street, Johnstone but RCK have moved from the cross to Maxwelton Road still in Paisley.

There is no Houston Street in Johnstone and the designation is PRWM rather than the usual PM.

Cross Keys March 2014

Croydon makes the News The Croydon Masons have opened their doors, to give the local paper a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at their temple, in Oakfield Road (the hall in which 242 have visited Lodge 5005). Many of you might imagine dark halls, secret corridors and elderly, middle-class white men drinking a gin and tonic at the bar.

But, according to Jim Cook – a Freemason in Croydon for more than 25 years – what you would actually find is a club which celebrates friendship, community and charity, with people from, it would seem, many walks of life.

"People think we have secrets to reveal" said Mr Cook, "but to be honest, we don't have any secrets." The Masons are currently recruiting for new members; men to carry on the generations of tradition that they represent.

Mr Cook, who was born and bred in Addiscombe, said: "I have loved my time as a Mason, I have met some of the best people I have ever met here, and there are so many different walks of life.

"It enables me to get to know people that otherwise I would never have met. I am immensely proud of the Masons and we want to shake off this idea that we have secrets, that we have rituals, that we are not open.

"For a long time there was a cloud of secrecy over the organisation, but we are very proud of what we do and we want to share it."

As Mr Cook guides the Advertiser through the Masonic temple, pointing out a banner here or the meaning of a particular object there, he explains: "The Masons used to be very public, they would have parades through the streets.

"Then in the Second World War, the Nazis tarred the Freemasons just as they did the Jewish or the Polish or the Romani, and I think the secrecy came from there.

"Some members also enjoyed that part of it I suppose, but we are eager to move away from that.

"Obviously in our meetings we have certain things that are private, but is that not the same with any club or society?"

Cross Keys March 2014

Croydon makes the News (ctd) The Croydon Lodge of Freedom seems to be mostly split into two different areas; the public area, the dining room, the bar, all places that can be hired out to anyone for a wedding, wake or any event you wish. ("Brilliant catering", adds Mr Cook).

But go upstairs and this is where you will find the Temples; one big, a few small. Small blue chairs line the room, with three large throne-like seats placed in there too. Large pieces of stone – some rough, some smooth – are placed on a pedestal next to these chairs, along with different crafted candlesticks, each representing a different style of architecture. The walls are lined with banners and tapestries, along with portraits of past Masters in full regalia. ‚The Masters of the Lodge will sit in the large chairs during the meetings," explains Mr Cook.

"Each candlestick represents a different architecture. One stone is rough, another smooth, and this represents to us learning your trade. The carpet is also black and white chequered, and to us this represents your path through life. Sometimes you will have black periods, sometimes white periods."

These symbols are scattered throughout the Lodge and seem to be the foundation of what Freemasonry is about.

Mr Cook touches on the private meetings that are held four times a year, saying: "These will take the form of one-act plays that display an allegory as such; a lot of what we do is very symbolic.

"But what I love about Freemasonry, as I said, is the fact that you don't talk about politics, or religion. You must believe in one supreme being but that can be anything that is special to you.

"In Israel, the Master of the Grand Lodge there is a Palestinian, which just proves my point."

Older members may be hesitant to welcome in photographers to their Lodges, but younger members know that if they want Freemasonry to continue, they must modernise.

Mr Cook explained: "I have literally just finished the Surrey province Freemason site. If you're not on the internet, you might as well not exist, and we want to show people what we're about.

"People can hire our rooms downstairs. Many people who are not Freemasons have seen our temples, we really don't have any secrets. I am just so passionate about Freemasonry and if a younger man was interested in joining, I would tell him to do it, because you will make lifelong friends. It's not just about old middle class white men anymore, it's about everybody.

"You can go to Cuba and find a Masonic Lodge. Six million people throughout the world can't be wrong. I just feel we've got so much to offer."

From This is Croydon Today, May 2013 Cross Keys March 2014

242 ADVERT 242 was 200 years old in 2011 and commissioned a stamp sheet from the Royal Mail (http://www.smilers-info.com/ RBCS-011.htm). These are currently available from them at £37 OR from the lodge at £10 (see or email Bro. Grant Macleod).

The A4 sheet depicts images of the lodge and is legal tender.

Thought of the Month ‚The whole world is but one republic, of which each nation is a family, and every individual a child. Masonry, not in anywise derogating from the differing duties which the diversity of states requires, tends to create a new people, which, composed of men of many nations and tongues, shall all be bound together by the bonds of science, morality, and virtue.

In every age its device has been, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," with constitutional government, law, order, discipline, and subordination to legitimate authority government and not anarchy. But it is neither a political party nor a religious sect. It embraces all parties and all sects, to form from among them all a vast fraternal association‛ Albert Pike, Morals & Dogma

Cross Keys March 2014

Masonic Hotel

The Masonic Hotel is situated in Saint Andrews which is a small town in the south Canterbury Region of New Zealand's South Island. It is located on State Highway 1 five kilometres south of Pareora and 15 kilometres south of Timaru. The only masonic connection today is the name.

In Memoriam The dead are like the stars by day … withdrawn from mortal eye… yet not extinct that hold their way In glory through the sky… .Spirits of bondage thus set free… .Vanish amidst immensity… While human thought… .Like human sight… .Fail to pursue…. Their trackless flight.

It is with deep sadness and much regret that we have to inform you of a loss sustained to the craft in Renfrewshire in the passing to the Grand Lodge above of the following Brother: Bro. Tom Murphy Snr Cross Keys March 2014

To submit an article, contact the Editor: Grant Macleod E-Mail:

sec242pm@yahoo.co.uk

Lodge Website

www.lodge242.co.uk

Thanks to Bro. Allan Stobo RWM for proof reading.

Don’t forget to support The Ashlar magazine— Scotland’s only Masonic magazine.

Just click on the magazine to find out more.

Cross Keys March 2014