On The Level

Where Masons share stories of their masonic journey

***Recorded on March 30th, 2016***

Its really about the people

“I grew up throughout West Europe, I originally from Bosnia, and unfortunately due to the war I was ethnically cleansed and ended up travelling and lived in numerous countries in West Europe and eventually came to the United States. So I had this philosophy in life that it is really the people...you know, it’s not that we divide each other based upon religion but really good people, ya know, that always stood out to me. So I always looked at peoples actions and religion as a universal thing…..I found that hard to find, in the regular objective world, so one day when I was reading that excerpt (from Manly P. Hall) it really blew my mind I was like, what, there’s other people that are like minded like I am? Is this real, is this what Freemasonry is? Before that, ya know, I watched documentaries, you know, and I always thought that freemasonry was this abstract arbitrary thing that perhaps doesn’t even exist. So, after I read the piece, of course, I’m at home very eager, very hungry and I started researching lodges and sure enough, we had lodges here in Arizona.”

Worshipful Brother Mustafa was initially raised as a Master Mason in Paradise Valley Silver Trowel Lodge No. 29 and is a Past Master of that lodge. You can hear this quote and a lot more conversation by listening to the full interview here: https://soundcloud.com/on-the-level-297954005/on-the-level-75-mustafa-onbeing-ethnically-cleansed-from-bosnia

In 2022, the Masonic Charities of Arizona approved 33 grants totaling $73,000 to worthy organizations throughout Arizona. These 501c3 charitable organizations provide much needed services to their communities all over Arizona. Those services include Veteran assistance, domestic abuse shelters, child learning disabilities, training and assistance for people with special needs, support for soldiers abroad, adult literacy programs and personal hygiene kits for the working poor and homeless.

We are able to award these grants from the income of our investment fund, lodge and personal donations and support from Grand Lodge. In order to keep up with the desire to expand our grant distribution to more organizations and communities around the State we ask for your help.

The Board of Directors of the Masonic Charities of Arizona extends our appreciation to all of you for your support.

Fraternally, Roger Biede III Secretary, Masonic Charities of Arizona www.masoniccharitiesaz.com

Rcbthree@hotmail.com