Dear Freemason: The Universality of Freemasonry

DearFreemason:

The Universality of Freemasonry

Marshall N. Wilner

Grand Director of Ceremonies

Let me begin, once again, by saying thank you Meeting. I believe most of you are familiar with this to the various comments received on the last unique gathering of Brethren from our constituent article. If you would like to submit a question or lodges. This meeting showcases the diversity of comment, feel free to email me at dearfreemason@ languages represented by our various lodges. At gmail.com. I will remind everyone again that it is this meeting we were able to see the chartering of a important to include your name and Lodge Number new lodge as well as witness the twinning of a lodge so that I am able to know your question or comment from this jurisdiction with a South American lodge. to be valid. The affirmation of the diversity of our membership DearFreemason, highlighted the unity of our Craft, is once again, an incredible thing of which to be a part. Keep in mind We spoke last week when you came to visit my that although I had not met some of the Brethren who Lodge. One of the topics you talked about at length participated, the rehearsals and the meeting itself was the Universality showed the supportive of Freemasonry. What nature of the Craft. exactly does this mean and why do you find it so important? During this meeting, I also had the privilege of spending time with visitFraternally, ing Grand Masters and Brother from a Faraway Land Grand Lodge officers from various countries. With the help of BrethDear Faraway, ren from our bilingual With so many definitions of universal and universality, I think it is essential to start with a few operational definitions before even beginning a discussion of Universality in Freemasonry. DearFreemason welcomes your questions. Write to him at: dearfreemason@gmail.com Lodges who acted as interpreters, we talked about how Masonry operates in other parts of the world. It was interesting to discover that wherever Brothers call home, that Mystic Tie still binds brethren • Present or occurring everywhere together, regardless of religion, race, politics, socio• Adapted or adjustable to meet varied requirements economic status, etc. • A behavior pattern or institution existing in all cultures Finding all of this on a global scale and inherently knowing this to be true within our own jurisdiction Wherever Freemasonry exits on this planet, there is moved me to visit many of our bilingual lodges. These a certain set of tenets under which we operate. The visits were eye-opening for me, as a new dimension of specific language may be different, but the message cultural awareness was revealed. Honestly, I did not is crystal clear: brotherly love, relief, and truth. As always understand what was said, but the underlying with the definitions listed above, these three tenets message was loud, clear, and consistent – we are all are adapted to meet any number of circumstances. trying to achieve the same general goals. For example, earlier this year I was tasked with organizing the Universal Brotherhood Lodge As I have mentioned in previous articles, I am a firm believer in individual lodge culture. The concept of