INSIDE. Happenings, Events, and Masonic Light From Around the District. A Cockamamie Etymology March Events Who Am I? LODGES OF THE 18TH DISTRICT

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1 G G G Happenings, Events, and Masonic Light From Around the District LODGES OF THE 18TH DISTRICT Audubon-Parkside #218 Collingswood-Cloud #101 Laurel #237 Lazarus #303 Merchantville #119 Mozart #121 Rising Sun #15 USS NJ #62 INSIDE A Cockamamie Etymology March Events Who Am I? and Much More!

2 From the DDGM ARTICLE: A Cockamamie Etymology TRIP: Travel with the Worshipful Master 18th District Communications Schedule 2015 DLI/GLI and OV Schedules March Events Calendar & Masonic Home Visitations Event Flyers PUZZLE: Who Am I? PUZZLE: A Study in Masonry Crossword Puzzle Solutions The District Light - Journal of the 18th Masonic District Editor-in-chief, Keith Josepayt... kjosepayt@gmail.com Art Director, David A. Frankel...dafrankel@comcast.net 2

3 The Masonry You Make Carl H. Claudy "Well, I know you'll be glad to hear I am through learning the Work!" announced a young brother to the Old Past Master, "One more lesson and I'll know all about Masonry!" "That's fine, son. I congratulate you!" answered the Old Past Master. "Some conceit!" murmured another brother, as the satisfied young brother moved away. "I've been studying Masonry many years and I don't think I know all about it, by a long chalk!" "Of course you don't, and neither does he. But we all have to learn of the Masonry we make for ourselves." "Oh, do you think so? I thought we learned of the Masonry our ancient brethren had made for us!" "That, too, of course. But the Masonry they made for us is the Masonry which can be written down, or put in symbols, or taught by word of mouth. It is a concrete thing; a thing of words and phrases, of symbols and figures, of stone and wood and temple and rough ashlar and square and compasses. But the inner Masonry... that we make for ourselves." "Do you ever read Ingersoll? Somewhere he says 'an honest God is the noblest work of man' and thousands of people have shuddered away from the sentence and called it blasphemy. But they fail to understand what the great agnostic meant. Our modern conception of the Great Architect of course falls infinitely short of reality, but at least we do not do him the injustice of con- (Continued on page 4) Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. Harry S. Truman 3

4 (Continued from page 3) fining Him within the limits of our human frailties. But up through the ages man has limited his gods and his God, according to himself. The gods of Greece and Rome (to go no further back) were gods and goddesses who felt jealousy, anger, revenge. They interfered in the affairs of men for their own pleasures. They were made in the image of men who made them! Later, God was a cruel tyrant, who sanctioned the torments of the Inquisition and loved those who were wicked in his name... at least, such was the middle ages' conception of Deity. Only within a few hundred years has the world as a whole come to consider God as the all-wise, all-loving, all-merciful, all-tender Father of us all. This was what Ingersoll meant when he spoke of the honest God as the noblest work of men; and honest conception of a God infinitely wonderful and beautiful, is a noble conception. "Masonry is a conception. After one gets through learning the ritual, the mere words and phrases, he begins to absorb the philosophy and moral system of Masonry. Still later he begins to carry Masonry in his daily life and live by it. Later on... but wait a minute. We have word Masons to whom the ritual is the whole. We have Masons to whom the symbolism is the whole thing, and who see nothing beyond the inner meanings to squares and compasses and stones and angles. We have others who add to this, philosophy of Masonry, but to whom Masonry is yet a perfect system which can be learned in its entirety by those who apply themselves. "But there are others... more every year, thank God!... who make their own Masonry, beyond that of the books and the lodge, the word and the symbol. To these, Ingersoll might have said that 'an honest Masonry is the noblest work of the Craft' with no more irreverence than he intended in his famous epigram. "Masonry, to such thinking men, is illimitable. It has no end. It is as infinite as space, as unending as time, as distant in boundary as the faintest nebula. It is not a thing of earth only; it encompasses the universe, and joins man's hands with God. This is the Masonry we make for ourselves, and, could what we make be measured, its proportions would be exactly the proportions which are our own. For the hidden Masonry we make is large or small, wide or cramped, beautiful or ugly, grave or gay, useful or ornamental, fine or doss, exactly as are we. (Continued on page 5) 4

5 (Continued from page 4) "In each of us is an idea conception of all we would attain. We have our ideal man, our ideal woman, our ideal job, our ideal position, our ideal happiness. Some of us are so inarticulate we cannot express them; some of us are so inchoate in our thinking we cannot clearly visualize them, but they are there, these ideals, each and every one a measure of what we are. "And we have, also our ideal of Masonry, the hidden Masonry we make, each man for himself. Your inner temple is not like mine and mine is not like yours, though each may be beautiful and perfect; two faces may be equally lovely, you know, yet totally unlike. "To my way of thinking, we are better Masons as we grow our inner Masonry for ourselves, as we perfect it and polish it, and raise it higher and higher. It is sadly true that no man may teach another how to build this hidden temple, but it is beautifully true that all of us may build the better by getting for ourselves better working tools. And the working tools with which we as Craftsmen build our own inner, hidden temple of Masonry, into which none may ever step but ourselves and God; the rough and perfect ashlars, square and plumb, trowel and compasses, by which we build this edifice, are available for us all. Our young friend has one, when he secures a perfect working knowledge of the ritual. The student has another, when he has mastered most of the symbolism. The doctor has a third, when he understands and can formulate the philosophy of Masonry, and all of us get a new edge to our tools as we live according to Masonic light and gain in Masonic experience." The Old Past Master stopped and looked off, as if he saw a vision. The brother to whom he spoke sighed. "I wish," he said, "I might have the inspiration of looking at your temple of Masonry, that I might make mine better." Brethren, look well to your Inner Temples. Treat one and other with the love and compassion we deserve as we grow together in Brotherhood. Fraternally, Dale 5

6 Adapted and edited from: A Far-Fetched Etymology That Seems a Little Cockamamie, by Ben Zimmer, January 13, 2015 (for the Visual Thesaurus at E tymology can take some peculiar turns as a word criss-crosses different cultures. Take, for example, the word cockamamie, whose history might seem stranger than fiction. Improbably enough, the journey begins in Paris in News was emanating from the city about a brand-new fad for ornamentation by means of "transfer pictures," going by the name decalcomania. By the following year, Anglicized as decalcomania, the fad had spread to Britain and Ireland, and in another year, the ornamental fad had crossed the Atlantic, even in the midst of the Civil War. Originally, decalcomanie referred to the fad itself: it was a "mania" (manie) for transferring pictures by means of a process called decalquer, literally "tracing (as with tracing paper)." The name for the fad then became the name for the process, and in English, the transfer pictures used in the ornamentation could themselves be called decalcomanias. That's a mouthful, and over time, beginning in American trade journals, decalcomania got shortened to the two-syllable decal. But in the meantime, another shortening of decalcomania developed on the streets of New York, where the transfer pictures became popular in the form of cheap temporary tattoos that children would put on their skin. Decalcomania lost its first syllable, and the remaining calcomania then ended up getting pronounced (and spelled) as cockamanie or, you guessed it, cockamamie. There were many variant spellings of the word that the children were using. But however it was spelled, these temporary tattoos gave rise to a new meaning of cockamamie, originally a noun referring to something of little value or even fraudulent. The actress Shelly Winters, raised in Brooklyn, self-deprecatingly likened most of her movies to cockamamies. The word could also be used for an odd or frivolous person, as in Sidney Kingsley's 1935 play, Dead End. The first known use of cockamamie as an adjective comes from the 1942 film Woman of the Year, the first to pair Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. In the (Continued on page 7) 6

7 (Continued from page 6) film, bar owner Pinkie Peters (played by the great character actor William Bendix) ensures that Tracy & Hepburn s characters are served the good stuff by instructing the bartender to not "give 'em none of that cockamamie bar stock. In that usage, cockamamie still means something like "low-quality" or "knock-off," but subsequently, the adjective got extended to all manner of nutty, hare-brained or untrustworthy things. At first glance, even this etymology might appear cockamamie, but the historical record supports all the crazy twists and turns. A room without books is like a body without a soul. (Marcus Tullius) Cicero 7

8 ... to The Dominican Republic Summer of 2015 Worshipful Master Jorge A. Martinez, of Merchantville Lodge No. 119, wishes to invite all Masons, family, and friends to join him on a group trip to his homeland, the Dominican Republic, this summer, August 26 thru 30 (5 days & 4 nights, Wed thru Sun). Arrangements are being made by Sea View Travel, the Agency which handles many Grand Lodge Trips & Cruises. Come join Worshipful Master Jorge in the Fun. Visit the Grand Lodge of the Dominican Republic and enjoy an All Inclusive Vacation. $1308 pp covers ALL: airfare, meals, hotel and gratuities. Everyone is Invited Ladies, Guests and Non-Masons as well as all Brethren of area Lodges. Contact lodge Secretary RW Ray Taylor, WB Martinez, or Trip Chairman WB Jay Seguinot for further Information. Payment Plans are being accepted. $ down payment per person is a MUST by March 1st. Send Deposit Check payable to Merchantville Lodge. Balance of $1,108 PP is to be Paid directly to SeaView Travel, Attn. "Margie" by Credit Card or Check, by July 1st. Spots are going fast! Don t miss out! MAJESTIC ELEGANCE PUNTA CANA RESORT Fabulous Facilities for Guests of All Ages 8

9 Join Worshipful Master Jorge A. Martinez MAJESTIC ELEGANCE PUNTA CANA RESORT Refreshing towel upon arrival Welcome cocktail upon arrival 24 hour All-Inclusive 6 restaurants 5 of them a la carte, unlimited visits 1 after hour snack bar shared with t the Majestic Colonial 11 bars located in different areas of the hotel (hours vary) 4 additional bars for Elegance Club Clients Room service included (6am Midnight main section) (24hrs Elegance Club) Mini bar re-stocked daily Sports bar shared with the Majestic Colonial Cocos Disco, drinks included 300m/985ft free-form, lagoon style swimming pool Two integrated Jacuzzis within the swimming pool & water fountain Casino shared with the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana, drinks included Spacious two story gym, equipped with a wide variety of cardio and weight machines, second floor rooms for Pilates & spinning Theatre for shows and entertainment day and night Live Music at the Plaza bar ( nightly per schedule) Live piano at the Lobby Bar (nightly per schedule) Live piano at the Limited Gourmand Restaurant adults only Pioneers supervised Kids Club and Babyland for children shared with the Majestic Colonial Teenagers game area with pool tables, Babyfoot, mini soccer, ping pong, connect four, giant chess Catholic Church with services one day per week shared with the Majestic Colonial Palapas, towels and lounge chairs at the beach & swimming pool Guest Services Team available for flight confirmations, rent- a- car, excursions, and help with any special needs or requests ATM machine, located in lobby for withdrawals (in pesos only) Major credit cards accepted Tennis courts lighted for night play Basketball court. Water sports available. Elevators in each building 9

10 AUDUBON-PARKSIDE LODGE No st Friday 305 East Atlantic Avenue Audubon, NJ COLLINGSWOOD-CLOUD LODGE No nd Tuesday 790 Haddon Avenue Collingswood, NJ LAUREL LODGE No st & 3rd Friday Atlantic Avenue and Stone Road Laurel Springs, NJ LAZARUS LODGE No st Monday Rising Sun) 16 East Kings Highway Haddonfield, NJ MERCHANTVILLE LODGE No nd & 3rd Friday 6926 Park Avenue Merchantville, NJ MOZART LODGE No st & 3rd Tuesday Audubon) 305 East Atlantic Avenue Audubon, NJ RISING SUN LODGE No. 15 1st & 3rd Wednesday 16 East Kings Highway Haddonfield, NJ USS NEW JERSEY LODGE No. 62 3rd Monday Audubon) 305 East Atlantic Avenue Audubon, NJ

11 Wednesday Lodge/Location January 14 Audubon-Parkside #218 February 11 Collingswood-Cloud #101 March 11 Laurel #237 April 8 Lazarus #303 (@ Haddonfield Temple) May 13 Mozart #121 (@ Audubon Temple) June 10 Merchantville #119 September 9 Rising Sun #15 October 14 USSNJ #62 (@ Audubon Temple) November 11 Qualification Teams (location TBA) 11

12 Date Lodge/Location February 13 Merchantville #119 February 16 USS New Jersey #62 Audubon Temple) February 20 Laurel #237 March 2 Lazarus #303 (@ Haddonfield Temple) March 3 Mozart #121 (@ Audubon Temple) March 4 Rising Sun #15 March 6 Audubon-Parkside #218 March 10 Collingswood-Cloud #101 12

13 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 LZ OV 3 MZ OV & Chili Cookoff CC OV US 22 LL Masonic Home 23 LZ Prince Hall Guest Speaker 17 MZ EA Deg St. Patrick s Day 4 RS OV 11 LL 18 RS PA Grand Lodge 5 6 AP OV LL Ashbrook Burial Ground Presentation MV Tbl Lodge LL Ladies Nite RS St. Patty s (Taproom) LL MM Deg MV MM Deg by Scottish Rite Team 7 LL Family Bowling Nite MV Murder Mystery Nite MV Easter Egg Hunt & Lunch LZ Masonic Home 30 CC & RS DVD & Dinner Brunelleschi s CC 31 Masonic Home Visitations Laurel Lodge Sunday, March 22 Lazarus Lodge Sunday, March 29 AP = Audubon-Parkside CC = Collingswood-Cloud LL = Laurel LZ = Lazarus MV =Merchantville MZ = Mozart RS = Rising Sun US = USSNJ 13

14 The following pages contain advertisements for individual events, submitted by the event sponsors and printed as a courtesy by the District Light. The District Light is not responsible for the accuracy of information nor for accepting reservations for these events. For information or reservations for a particular event, please follow the instructions in the event flyer. 14

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16 e á Çz fâç _Éwzx Announces No. 15, F. & A.M. The Official Visitation of District Deputy Grand Master RW Dale A. Lynch, Jr. Wednesday, March 4, 2015 Haddonfield Masonic Temple Dinner - 6:30pm / Lodge Opens - 7:30pm Dinner Menu Surf & Turf Bacon-wrapped Scallops Filet Mignon & Lobster Tail Honey-glazed carrots, Potatoes au gratin Dinner Rolls Coffee and Soft Beverages Dessert: Port Wine & Cheese Please make dinner reservations by Sunday, March 1st Bro. Michael Phillips gmail.com or (856) Dinner is $20 with a reservation by the deadline $25 thereafter

17 REGULAR COMMUNICATION on March 6 Ashbrook Burial Ground Presentation Enjoy a 30 minute reading on the history of Ashbrook s Burial Ground located in Glendora, NJ Seven short histories will be read by the Worshipful Master Histories include the Indian Village of Armewamex and the Hessians and the Battle of Fort Mercer October 21-22,

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20 e á Çz fâç _Éwzx aéa DH? YA 9 TA`A PRESENTS 6 to 9 pm 427 Crystal Lake Avenue Westmont, NJ Friday, March 13th Come Out n Join Us! $20 gets you Unlimited beer, wine, wings, panzarotti bites & sliders AFFIRMATIVE RSVPs ONLY PLEASE to Bro. William Foltz mrmailman333@gmail.com

21 Merchantville Lodge Meetings & Events FRIDAY, March 6:00PM 49th Consecutive Annual Table Lodge Guest Speaker: MW Gerald J. Sharpe Grand Master of Masons of the State of New Jersey "Hooked on Freemasonry" Filet Mignon or Maryland Crab Cakes with 6 Servings for 7 Toasts. Reservations by Monday, March 9th Call RW Ray Taylor, Sr., PGC (856) or Rtaylorsec119@aol.com Cost is $35.00 FRIDAY, March 6:00 PM Master Mason Degree by The Scottish Rite Degree Team of Central New Jersey Opening & FC Exam upon Class at 5:00PM Dinner 6:00PM 1st Section MM Degree at 7:00PM 2nd Section of MM Degree at 8:30PM For reservations call RW Ray Taylor, Sr., PGC (856) or Rtaylorsec119@aol.com SATURDAY, March 28th, 11:00-1:00PM 15th Annual Children's Easter Egg Hunt and Lunch with the Easter Bunny! For reservations contact Erin & Jayson Rodriguez (856) jaysonrod@gmail.com AND UPCOMING EVENTS... May 9th Ladies Night at Indian Springs Country Club July 1st 19th Annual Fireworks Night at the PHILLIES 21

22 e á Çz fâç _Éwzx No. 15, F. & A.M. As we confer the Master Mason Degree in the magnificent Corinthian Room of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, located at One North Broad, Philadelphia. Special Parking Rate tickets available. Lodge Opening 7:30 pm Dinner will precede the degree at 6:30 pm in the Dining Hall Cost $25. Please make your dinner reservation no later than Wednesday, March 11th with Bro. Michael Phillips: gmail.com or (856)

23 RW Jonathan Lumpkin DDGM of the 1st Masonic District for the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of NJ will speak on the HISTORY OF PRINCE HALL MASONRY PRINCE HALL Monday, March 23, 2015 Lodge opens at 7:30 pm Haddonfield Masonic Temple Dinner at 6:30 pm ROASTED CHICKEN Donation $15.00 RSVP for Dinner to WB James Dickinson

24 Another Dinner & DVD Night Jointly sponsored by Collingswood-Cloud and Rising Sun Lodges HOW DID HE DO IT? The dome that crowns Florence s great cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore the Duomo is a towering masterpiece of Renaissance ingenuity and an enduring source of mystery. Still the largest masonry dome on earth after more than six centuries, it is taller than the Statue of Liberty and weighs as much as an average cruise ship. Historians and engineers have long debated how its secretive architect, Filippo Brunelleschi, managed to keep the dome perfectly aligned and symmetrical as the sides rose and converged toward the center, 40 stories above the cathedral floor. His laborers toiled without safety nets, applying novel, untried methods. Over 4 million bricks might collapse at any moment and we still don t understand how Brunelleschi prevented it. To test the latest theories, a team of U.S. master bricklayers will help build a unique experimental model Duomo using period techniques. Will it stay intact during the final precarious stages of closing over the top of the dome? JOIN US! OPEN TO ALL MASONS, FRIENDS & FAMILY Monday, March 30 6:00pm at Collingswood Masonic Temple

25 $100 Prize to the Best Karaoke Performer Music provided by Homestead Youth Association 4771 Willow Avenue, Merchantville Saturday, May 2, :00pm till 10:00pm Food, Wine & Beer provided Donation: for your enjoyment! $35 per person DRESS: Upscale Casual CONTACT INFO: WB Emmanuel Chase JW Dino Stephens WM Jeffrey Saunders WB Terrance Ray

26 In the Entered Apprentice Degree mention was made of building King Solomon s Temple. In the Fellowcraft Degree you were a worker in King Solomon s Temple. In the Master Mason Degree some impatient workers building King Solomon s Temple do something bad to Hiram Abiff, delaying completion of the Temple. In the Mark Master Mason Degree what happened to Hiram Abiff causes a further delay in completing the Temple. When will the Temple be complete and dedicated? There is only one degree symbolically depicting the dedication of King Solomon s Temple-- the Most Excellent Master, a York Rite degree. (A degree in the Scottish Rite takes place the day of the dedication, but does not actually depict it.) In the Master Mason Degree, three people knew the Secret Word of Master Mason. None of them would give it unless all three were present (and other conditions were met). One of the three died, so neither of the other two would ever utter it again. Yet King Solomon expected future generations to discover the True Word. How could this be possible? Why did King Solomon think such a thing was possible? And what is so important, so special about the True Word anyway? The Royal Arch Degree, the second half of the Master Mason Degree, the completion of the story, has the answer. York Rite is an extension, not a competition, of the three Symbolic Degrees. Learn more about it on May 11 in Haddonfield Temple at a barbecue hosted by Van Hook Council No. 8, Royal and Select Masters. The evening starts at 6:30 p.m. and will cost nothing for non-york Rite Masons. Raymond C. Thorne Recorder Van Hook Council #8, R. & S.M. rct21880@yahoo.com

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28 A Can you identify... B C... these famous Freemasons? E D F G H 28

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30 30 A Study in Masonry EclipseCrossword.com W E S T C A B L E T O W P O H R C D E A C O N S I O S Q N M S U U T P R O M A N S A H I R A M L S R S D O R I C O E S M U F E L L O W C R A F T S N P H T R U B I B L E O X A P P R E N T I C E G R E E K S D T F R E E M A S O N A. John Philip Sousa B. Sir Walter Scott C. Peter Sellers D. King Edward VII E. Clark Gable F. Daniel Carter Beard G. Samuel Clemens H. Red Skelton Who am I?

31 Brethren, There is a great variety of events this month: Official Visits, DLI, degrees, and social events to include family and friends. Cook some chili (or just eat the entries of others), see a Murder Mystery, go Bowling, or enjoy Dinner and an informative DVD with your brothers. See an Entered Apprentice Degree conferred on St. Patrick s Day, or see a Master Mason Degree in the magnificent Corinthian room of the Pennsylvania Grand Lodge building in Philadelphia. Choose one, choose several, but be sure to visit the other lodges in our district, meet your brethren, and have a great time doing it! THE TRAVELING GAVEL Possession of the Traveling Gavel is the 18 th District s reward to Lodges that demonstrate the true spirit of Masonic Travel. The Gavel resides with the Lodge last able to capture it, and remains there until another Lodge captures it away by visiting a Regular or Emergent Communication with at least Twelve Brethren (symbolic of the Twelve Craftsmen) meeting the following criteria: The Worshipful Master Senior Warden Junior Warden Senior OR Junior Deacon Three Additional Officers Two Past Masters Three Additional Brethren Look for the gavel on the Communications page to see which Lodge presently holds it. The District Light - Journal of the 18th Masonic District Editor-in-chief, Keith Josepayt...kjosepayt@gmail.com Art Director, David A. Frankel... dafrankel@comcast.net 31