a publication of Beaverton Masonic Lodge #100 AF&AM From The East

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1 a publication of Beaverton Masonic Lodge #100 AF&AM Volume 122, Issue 9 In This Issue: From The East...1 From The West...3 From The South...4 News & Notes...6 Upcoming Events: Stated Communication...11/1 Dinner - 6:00 PM Followed by Bake Sale Lodge - 7:00 PM ELECTION NIGHT General Election...11/6 Masonic Education Night...11/8 Thanksgiving...11/22 Officers Meeting...11/29 Stated Communication...12/6 Dinner - 6:00 PM Lodge - 7:00 PM Installation of Officers...12/13 Open Ceremony, 6:30 PM NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS Christopher Martin 11/1 Jason Morrow 11/4 Jon Mitchell 11/5 Allen C Engen 11/6 Will A Fessler 11/7 Fred L Johnston 11/9 John R Stobie 11/9 John C Swiski 11/9 Gordon T Spry 11/15 Richard L Knight 11/19 Phil Myers 11/26 Wayne Brooks 11/28 From The East A s the holidays approach, I ve been pondering more than normal on Charity. Following is an article written by Bro. J.M. Hamill, a member of Quatuor Coronati Lodge No Freemasonry, we say, is founded upon three Grand Principles-- Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. It is with the second of these Grand Principles--Relief--that this article is concerned. In simple terms our early brethren understood Relief to mean the alleviating of the suffering of a brother, or the dependents of a deceased brother, by giving money or sustenance until circumstances improved. In modern terms we see Relief in its wider context of Charity, that is not simply providing money to relieve distress but actually caring and giving of our time and talents in the service of our communities as a whole and not just to our brethren and their dependents. The practice of Charity has been so inextricably linked with our Institution that I would claim it as a landmark of the Order. If we define a landmark as being something in Freemasonry which if it were removed its removal would materially NOVEMBER 2012 alter the essence of our Institution, then Charity is certainly a landmark. Without the second of its three Grand Principles Freemasonry would be a different organization. That Charity was important is clearly shown in our earliest surviving documents. In operative terms the Old Charges enjoined the stone masons to assist a strange mason with up to two weeks' work and lodging. In speculative terms they enjoined a mason to succor the needy and act with Charity towards all mankind. This is not the occasion to discuss the origins of Freemasonry but it has been suggested in recent years that charity might have been one of the reasons for the founding of Freemasonry. Box Clubs were known to have existed in many trades and crafts in the 1600s. Members of a particular trade or craft would meet on a regular basis in a local inn or tavern to socialize and discuss the affairs of their craft. Prominent at their meetings would be a box into which the members would pay their dues at each meeting and into which would go the fines levied on members for misdemeanors occurring during their enjoyment of 'innocent mirth' at their meetings. If a member became sick, had an accident or was prevented from working for lawful reasons he

2 Page 2 THE TRESTLEBOARD BEAVERTON #100, AF&AM Volume 122, Issue 9 could claim sustenance from 'the box' until he recovered his health or regained employment. Many of these box clubs are known to have had primitive entrance ceremonies and to have begun to admit as members men who had no connection with the particular trade or craft. It has been suggested that Freemasonry may have developed out of just such a series of box clubs originally limited to operative stonemasons. Whatever its origins, it is certain that even after the formation of the premier Grand Lodge of England in 1717, Masonic Charity was carried out on a very casual basis, and that casual relief of necessity has continued to be an important function of Masonic Charity. In 1725 the Immediate Past Grand Master, proposed that Grand Lodge should set up a central Fund of Charity to provide financial relief to brethren or their dependents. Their new scheme was accepted in 1727 and resulted in the formation of the Committee of Charity. To be comprised of the Grand Officers (then only the Grand Master, his Deputy, the Grand Wardens and Past Grand Masters) and the Masters of Lodges 'within the Cities of London and Westminster' the Committee of Charity was empowered to receive and deliberate on petitions and to grant assistance of up to five guineas to each case. If they believed that a case warranted greater assistance it could be recommended to a meeting of the Grand Lodge itself. Lodges were invited to make voluntary contributions to the Charity Fund and a Treasurer-to become the Grand Treasurer in was appointed to receive the money, invest it, make disbursements and keep accounts which had to be submitted to the Grand Lodge for approval. The Charity Fund proved popular and throughout the 18th century much time was taken at Grand Lodge meetings in calling over the list of lodges to enable their Masters to pay over to the Treasurer their contributions to the Fund. Contributions from lodges overseas occasionally caused problems for the Treasurer. Usually paid in gold it would have to be assayed, which occasionally revealed that the gold was not as pure as it should be. The Treasurer's accounts would include on the credit side the supposed value of the gold and on the debit side a deduction for 'short gold' to the difference between the supposed and actual value of the gold. In the late 1730s the work of the Committee of Charity was greatly extended. Compared with today's meetings of the Grand Lodge those in the 18th century were much less structured and all manner of subjects and proposals would be raised from the floor and complaints and quarrels would be aired at great length. Not surprisingly this led to lengthy meetings and on a number of occasions the minutes end with the statement that 'the hour being late the Grand Lodge was adjourned without the business being completed'. The Committee of Charity having proved its worth began to be used as a general committee of the Grand Lodge having referred to it for investigation, report and recommendation, complaints, discipline cases, proposed amendments to the Book of Constitutions and many other matters of general policy. In effect from the late 1730s to the Union of the two Grand Lodges in 1813 the Committee of Charity had a dual function of looking after Grand Lodge's charitable affairs and being a forerunner of the Board of General Purposes and its Committees. Is there a future for Masonic Charity? In what seems to be an increasingly selfish and materialistic world constantly at the mercy of economic forces over which no one seems to have any real control I think that the answer to that question is not only a resounding YES, but a yes carrying with it the implication that we will have to dig even deeper into our pockets. One thing that is often forgotten is that charity in its widest sense is more than just collecting and disbursing money. It is also the giving of time and talents selflessly in service of the community. One of the things that came through in the evidence to the Bagnall Committee in the early 1970s was the unquantifiable evidence of lodges, groups of brethren and individuals adopting the local hospital, children's or old people's home and in addition to providing money and equipment doing the simple things such as providing a new face, a new ear to hear someone's troubles and in many cases providing the only social life that long stay residents ever have. That non-financial aspect of Charity is one which I think that we will see emphasized more and more in the future. Over the last decade Freemasonry has come under considerable attack from outside. Many brethren have asked how they can help to counter the misinformation peddled by the media. Surely the best counteraction is to show by example that we live by those principles and tenets which we obligate ourselves to uphold as we go through the three ceremonies to become Master Masons. By showing the world that we do not just give in-service but put into practice those three Grand Principles--and in particular, the greatest of all: CHARITY. Nick McKimmy, WM

3 Volume 122, Issue 9 Whimsy From The West B rethren, I'd like to pen a few words on a subject that doesn't often come forward in our conversations, but often comes up in our ritual. I'll "talk around" the point where it is obvious in our MM ritual, keeping in mind my EA obligation. The subject I'd like you to think about today is the "Pilgrimage". Most often the word refers to a journey specifically designed to increase one's spiritual enlightenment. However, as the concept appears in our Master Mason Degree, it is obvious that the meaning is intended to have a much broader context. My wife and I recently traveled to Maine in search of that family history which had been lost to our family recollection. We visited the five locales where my family lived during two "Maine" centuries. These are the years after the initial Gray immigrant was convicted of treason in London, given a free ticket to cross the "pond", and forced to work in the Great Sawmill of Berwick, making masts for the King's Navy. Next year we hope to travel to Scotland, and visit the little village of Lanark, where George Gray lived before being captured in 1650 in the battle of Dunbar by Cromwell's army. The recent trip was extremely enjoyable. We thoroughly enjoyed the fall colors, and we met many very nice people. At each place we visited, we collected information about what life was like for those Gray ancestors living there. We learned incredible things about Indian wars, the logging industry, the seafaring industry, the wool industry, and farming in cold climates. We visited graveyards beyond my ability to recollect numbers, reading inscriptions and trying to imagine the lives lived by those commemorated in cold stone memorial. I believe this trip qualified in every way as a pilgrimage. The concept of pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam. If you are of the Islamic faith, you make a pledge to make at least one trip to Mecca during your lifetime. If you are of the Judaic faith, you THE TRESTLEBOARD BEAVERTON #100, AF&AM Page 3 quickly become familiar with the very personal meaning of the phrase, "Next year, in Jerusalem". If you are Hindu, you look forward to not just one, but to regular pilgrimages. And in both the Hindu and Buddhist faiths, it isn't just the "getting there" that is the important factor! The entire travel period is devoted to contemplation of one's place in the universe! During a pilgrimage you don't hear the Hindu pilgrim ask, as our children ask on long trips, "Are we there yet?" because the entire trip is devoted to individual growth. I should also mention the essential place of the pilgrimage in our Native American culture. It was essential that every man take a "vision quest", sometimes lasting several weeks. The recounting of these ambitious journeys formed the "basic education" curriculum in Native American education. This forces obvious questions about the Christian faith: "What the heck happened to the Christian pilgrim? Where and when did the Christian pilgrim get so lost that we never heard from him again?" The pilgrimage seems to have been an essential part of early Christianity. Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" of the 14th century are tales of Christians travelling to the tomb of the Saint Thomas Becket. The 12th century role of the Knights Templar was to assist Christians in this important part of their spiritual journey. Yet it would seem that the mandate for pilgrimage has become minimalized in modern Christian doctrine. The Knights Templar organization today maintains, as a central focus of their mission, support of clerical travel to the Holy Land. Members of the Portland Commandery enjoy, every year, a presentation made by a minister who otherwise would not have been able to afford this trip. These presentations always include acknowledgement of the importance of the trip for spiritual growth. Certainly it is much more than a really great vacation. Certainly the spiritual growth of our clerical community is important. But isn't it important to us all? On the web you will easily find blogs, logs and diaries of "Masonic Pilgrimage's". Just search for the

4 Page 4 THE TRESTLEBOARD BEAVERTON #100, AF&AM Volume 122, Issue 9 phrase and you will get over 2000 hits. These range from descriptions of personal growth during Masonic experiences to contrasts and comparisons of visits to different lodges. In places I see a "Masonic Open House" described as a "Masonic Pilgrimage". Even the phrase "Internet Pilgrimage" is used to describe a writer's research. Some uses of the phrase don't quite fit with what I'd suggest we try to do in our lives. I'd like to challenge each and every brother of the Thoughts From The South O ne of the many perks of being a Mason is the opportunity to join concordant and appendant bodies, and participate in their activities. (Another, of course, is the opportunity to wear many lapel pins.) This past week, I attended events at both the Portland Valley Scottish Rite and the Al Kader Shrine Center. While I enjoy both of these groups for the work they do and the additional light they provide, I also enjoy attending their events for the opportunity to converse with Masons from other Blue Lodges, to compare notes on what's going well for each of our respective lodges, and in some cases, what's not. Lodges are a bit like people. Every local lodge looks different, sounds different, and has its own unique personality. Some are casual, while others are very formal, and many are somewhere in between. Some have old historic buildings, while others meet in newer, more modern venues or shared spaces. Some lodge's members represent a wide range of ages and backgrounds with diverse beliefs, while others are more homogenous. Some take pride in offering great feasts before their meetings; others may be more interested in the scotch to be partaken of after. Some may focus their activities more upon fellowship, or charity, or ritual, or history, or the more mystic elements of Masonry. Despite the wide variety of lodge personalities, many lodges have much in common. For most lodges, there aren't as many new members now as there used to be, attendance at stated communications and degrees are down a bit, and often a lack of funds is causing their building to fall into disrepair. At our last stated communication, one of our newest brethren presented many ideas as to lodge to answer questions, for himself, or to discuss during our Masonic Education Night, "What will I do for my personal pilgrimage?" "Where do I need to go?" "What do I need to discover?" "When do I plan to begin this journey?" I think these are good questions for all of us to seriously consider. Dan Gray, SW how we could revitalize our lodge, make our lodge a more active member of our community, attract new members, and help retain the interest of those already involved. These are all ideals that I think we would want to embrace, even if we disagree a bit on the details of how to do it. The response, though, seemed mixed. I understand the skepticism. Some (perhaps many) of these ideas have been tried before, with the outcome perhaps not meeting expectations, but unless we as a lodge are completely satisfied with where we are and what we are doing now, I feel we should be open to striving for improvement. Masonry aims to make good men better. Should we not as Masons strive to make our good lodges better as well? Before delving any further into this topic, I am compelled to say that I believe our lodge does many things very well. For starters, our ritual is excellent. Our officers, led strongly by our Worshipful Master, know their parts and floor work well and perform them with confidence. When an officer is absent, we have several Past Masters willing to step in and cover any part that is needed at the same high level of proficiency, even on short or no notice. It was not until I started visiting other lodges that I came to fully appreciate just how smoothly we open and close lodge, and how well our degrees are presented. Nothing makes you appreciate quality ritual work more than sitting in a lodge that is struggling a bit to get through it. We have excellent coaches and mentors within our lodge. Our new brethren receive excellent instruction not only in learning their proficiencies, but also in understanding what the many archaic words and phrases mean. When an assigned coach is unavailable for study with a new brother, other brethren step in to assist in the instruction. We are also now in the black financially.

5 Volume 122, Issue 9 THE TRESTLEBOARD BEAVERTON #100, AF&AM Page 5 Thanks to the tireless efforts of our treasurer to track our finances and keep us on budget, our rental manager to attract new renters, and our janitorial crews and other brethren who have stepped up to help make our building look much more presentable, our lodge is not currently in the position of watching our savings dwindle every year and being forced to consider selling our building and/or merging with another lodge to make ends meet. Many other lodges cannot say the same. Still, our attendance is not what we would like it to be. Is there something we are doing, or perhaps not doing, that is directly or indirectly causing this? When I mentioned earlier that many lodges are currently experiencing lower attendance levels, it implied that some are not. What can we learn from those lodges that are growing that we could implement here to help reinvigorate our lodge? I'm not suggesting that we should copy their activities and become the Beaverton branch of their lodge, but rather that we could incorporate our own version of some of their activities here. Perhaps, though, all we really need to do is ask ourselves what we want our lodge to be. For example, what do we want more or less of at our communications? Many of us initially petitioned our lodge for membership because we sought knowledge, fellowship, a connection with an historic past, or some combination of those and more. Are we receiving enough to meet our needs, or is the necessary (but not particularly exciting) business of our lodge taking too much of our time? Since we are currently in the black, perhaps now is the time to revitalize our lodge building as well. While we could not afford to address all of the many issues our old building has, we could certainly tackle a few to make our lodge a more comfortable and visually appealing locale for us, our renters, and potential new members. Once we have established what it is we want our lodge to be, we have another, larger challenge follow through. In the few years I have been a member of Beaverton Masonic Lodge, many great ideas have been brought up, several great programs have been started, but most have flickered out shortly thereafter. We lack follow through. This is not necessarily our fault. Many of us lack what is likely the single most important ingredient to achieve follow through time. You have probably all heard the joke that the true secret word of a Mason is "no". We have a hard time saying no to anything that seems like a good cause. Thus, many of us are involved in too many activities, Masonic and otherwise, to enable us to put a lot of time into any one endeavor. Unfortunately, implementing a new idea requires that someone, or better yet, a group of us, not just come up with an idea, but leads the charge to put it into action. While our lack of follow through is not necessarily our fault, it is our responsibility to overcome it. If we do not put our ideas into action and improve our lodge, we risk our lodge itself. We have not had a repeat Worshipful Master in over a hundred years, which is something very few lodges can claim. Without new dedicated members, that will not continue. If only a few brothers attend, though, only a few will know. What do we want our lodge to be? If you have ideas, big or small, I encourage you to share them with us at an Officers' Meeting, or with the Revitalization Committee, or with any of us in the lodge. More importantly, though, if there is an idea you feel strongly about, I encourage you, with the Worshipful Master's permission, of course, to take the bull by the horns and put it into action. Our lodge is what we make it. Brandon VanDyke, JW

6 Page 6 THE TRESTLEBOARD BEAVERTON #100, AF&AM Volume 122, Issue 9 NEWS & NOTES From The Secretary We have sent out the annual dues notices for Please review your notice and send in your payment as soon as possible. Along with your dues, there are additional requests to consider that would benefit The Grand Lodge of Oregon and our own Beaverton Masonic Lodge #100. Grand Lodge requests added donations to the Home Endowment Fund and the Model Student Assistance Program. We will colect any funds received at this time for the benefit of the Grand Lodge. For our Lodge, please consider added donations to our Century Trust, Solomon Trust, or our General Fund. The letter details how these funds have grown from the generosity of the Brethren. We have also enclosed requests for updates to your personal information so that we can keep our records up to date, and a place to add questions or comments. Please return the forms with your information, or me at beavertonmasoniclodge@gmail.com with any updates. Art Geary, PM Secretary, Beaverton Masonic Lodge A Thespian Among Us Trustee WB Ted Felt is appearing as Teddy Shub in A Dickens' Christmas Carol: A Traveling Travesty in Two Tumultuous Acts from November 2nd 18th, 2012 (Friday & 7:30 PM, 2 PM) at The Stage at Calvin Church, Southwest Canterbury Lane, Tigard, OR Wayne and Nancy Ford plan to attend Nov 3, and want to encourage our other Masons and friends to join us and show our support once again for Ted and his thespian avocation. And we are led to believe there will be some laughs as well! Wreath Sales O ur Jobbies at Bethel #20 are once again having wreath sales for the holiday season. You may have seen them at the last Stated Communication. Order forms for the 2012 wreath sales are available from our website and the Jobbies will have them at our Stated Communication. HAPPY Famous Freemasons courtesy of Travis Apollonius - THANKSGIVING!

7 Page 7 THE TRESTLEBOARD BEAVERTON #100, AF&AM Volume 122, Issue OFFICERS Nick McKimmy Worshipful Master Daniel Gray Sr Warden Brandon VanDyke Jr Warden Wayne Ford Treasurer WB Art Geary Secretary WB Tom Binkerd Sr Deacon Dave Potter Jr Deacon Dustin Miller Sr Steward Doug Pringle Jr Steward WB Bruce Dyar Chaplain WB Bryan Bukin Marshal WB Rick Komraus Tyler Dave Potter TB Editor/Webmas ter BeavertonMasonicLodge@gmail.com Lodge Phone Our Stated Communications are the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM, Dinner at 6:00 PM. Officer meetings are open to all Brothers - The last Thursday of each month at 6:00 PM. Keep our Legacy going, please remember our Lodge in Your will. Contact our secretary or Master for more details. Visit Us Online At: OUR MASONIC FAMILY Order of the Eastern Star Beaver Chapter #106 2nd and 4th Wednesdays 8:00pm Contact: Karen McClain, Order of DeMolay, Donald B. Berntson Beaverton Chapter (currently inactive Boys meeting at Tigard DeMolay) International Order of Job s Daughters Bethel #20, 1st and 3rd Mondays 6:30pm Guardian: Ginger Bedford mrsgbedford@gmail.com / Guardian Secretary: Debbie Beers beersd@comcast.net / International Order of the Rainbow for Girls, Meridian Assembly #80 2nd and 4th Mondays 7:00pm Contact: Janet Lovelin, Beaver Nile Club 4th Thursday 10:30am Contact: Lorraine Garde Grand Lodge of Oregon Calendar of events is available online: src=beavertonmasoniclodge@gmail.com LODGE RENTAL INFORMATION Tom Binkerd tombinkerd@comcast.net BEAVERTON MASONIC LODGE #100 AF&AM 4690 SW Watson Avenue Beaverton, OR Hunt Compton Grand Master of Masons in Oregon