I did not find my friends, the good Lord gave them to me - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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1 THE SPRIG MARCH 2015 ACACIA LODGE #94 ANCIENT FREE MASONS COLUMBIA, SC Vol 20 Issue OFFICERS WB Thomas L. Coker WM Jamie A Sanders SW John Edward Hill J W WB Art B Ford Treasurer WB Richard G. Miner Secretary Stewart Sneed Sr Deacon Erik Lloyd Jr Deacon Randy Edwards Steward J. Chris Shipman Steward WB Wayne C. Smith Jr. Chaplain WB Thomas A. Baker Tyler DATES TO REMEMBER 3/5 Regular Communication and Business Meeting 3/12 Proposed Entered Apprentice Degree 3/19 Proposed Master Mason s Degree Why not attend All Three? Dinner and Fellowship at 6:30 PM Lodge opens at 7:30 Tidings from the East by WB Thomas L. Jack Coker Worshipful Master Greetings Brethren, First of all I want to thank everyone who took part in the George Washington wreath-laying ceremony on Feb. 22. According to The State Newspaper, there were about 150 Masons in attendance. Although we got a little damp, I think it was worth the effort. We certainly want to say thank you to W/B David Stuard for all his work, to Bro. Michael Carroll for the beautiful wreath, to Bro. Stewart Sneed for furnishing some chairs and to Bro. Art Nebiker for drying those chairs so the ladies could sit in them. Thanks to R/WB Jeff Hall for stepping in at the last minute and handling the job of M/C. To all the brothers who marched in the procession, thank you for taking part. I was very proud of every member of Acacia. It was impressive to see the line of Masons on TV. I have received several phone calls congratulating the lodge on the ceremony. All the credit and thanks go to the members of the lodge Some of us were interviewed before and after the ceremony, and we were covered by four TV stations and The State Newspaper. I think we got some great publicity. I understand that some visitors at the State House were impressed by our ceremony and stayed to watch the proceedings. We certainly want to thank M/W Bro. David DeChant Jr. and the Grand Lodge officers for being present on this occasion, along with all the visiting brothers from around the state. Thank you all for coming out on a rainy Sunday afternoon. We also want to thank Bro. Leon Lott for marching with us and for providing his deputies as escorts and traffic control. Brethren, things are looking up in Acacia Lodge again. We have petitions to vote on for the Fellowcraft Degree, the Entered Apprentice Degree, and petitions to read at our March meeting. Also, by the time you read this we should have a new Master Mason in the lodge. I ask that you be in attendance for all of our degree work. Come out and take part and be here to welcome each new Mason. Again I encourage anyone who is interested in learning a ritual part to contact me. I would like to see us at least two deep in all parts. At our first meeting in January, I mentioned a couple of projects that would be great for the lodge to undertake. I will have some good news on one of these at our March meeting. See you in Lodge. WB Thomas L. Jack Coker Initiative is doing the right thing, without ever being told Victor Hugo

2 Volume 20 Issue 3 Year of Light by Brother Jamie A. Sanders, Senior Warden PAGE 2 Last month a fellow Brother and I were signing the register, and he asked if could explain why the year was listed as 6015 A.L. I basically knew what it meant, but I was a little embarrassed that I could not definitively explain it. Therefore, I decided to do a little reading on the subject. ACACIA LODGE #94 is located at 1518 HAMPTON ST COLUMBIA, SC OFFICE HOURS MON-THURS 9AM-2PM (803) Regular communications held every first Thursday at 7:30 (dinner at 6:30) MARCH BIRTHDAYS 18 Thomas M Gault Jr 19 Larry B Davis 23 WB Arthur B Ford 26 David T Beals 30 Donald T Ross 31 Norman G Barkoot 31 Reese Way SICK AND DISTRESSED WB Don Michie WB James A. Neal The abbreviation A.L. has the meaning of Anno Lucis. If one translates this from the Latin, it means Year of Light. So now this is sounding somewhat Masonic. In researching ancient religious texts, most scholars come up with the year of creation around 4000 B.C. So in Masonry we are simply counting our years from the beginning of creation. To convert our Gregorian year to Anno Lucis, all one has to do is add 4,000 to our current year. This is why we Masonically speak of the current year as 6015 A.L. As it turns out, our expression of years is no big mystery at all. The Five Points of Fellowship by Worshipful Brother Tom Davis The Five Points of Fellowship contain the essence of the doctrine of our brotherhood. But why are they called points? In operative Masonry, the worker points the seams of a wall by filling in the chink left in laying bricks or stone, thus completing the structure. According to the Old English Lectures, there were originally twelve points that every Mason had to go through. These points were Opening, Preparation, Report, Entrance, Prayer, Circumambulation, Initiation, Advancing, Obligation, Investiture, Northeast Corner, and Closing. These twelve original points were never introduced in the United States and they are now no longer used in England. Our current Five Points of Fellowship date from the Baltimore Masonic Convention of 1842, when they were added to the ritual of that state. Dr. George Oliver, a Masonic writer ( ) summed up the five point as Landmarks and described them as follows, Assisting a brother in his distress, supporting him in his virtuous under takings, praying for his welfare, keeping inviolate his secrets, and vindicating his reputation as well in his absence as in his presence. This sums up how far the Five Points of Fellowship should extend in our daily interactions with everyone and especially with our Brother Masons. FROM THE MASONIC SHORT TALK BULLETIN VOL IX NO. 5 MAY 1931 I did not find my friends, the good Lord gave them to me - Ralph Waldo Emerson

3 Volume 20 Issue 3 From the Secretary s Desk by W/B Richard G. Miner, Sec. PAGE 3 We still have 14 brothers who have not paid their 2015 dues. If you have not paid your current dues, please be sure to get them in as soon as possible. On a lighter note, we have five brothers who will become 40 year life members and one who will become a 60 year member this year. Congratulations to each of these brothers. As I am sure you are aware, we are getting new petitions each month, each requiring investigation. If you are asked to serve on one of these investigation committees, the Worshipful Master has asked you to perform an important duty. The process we use to select new member insures that each has met the required qualifications to become a Mason. I encourage you to not just call the candidate but to meet with him and with his wife, if possible, asking questions which will reveal his interest in Masonry and why he is asking to become a Mason. Remember you are recommending him. Thanks for your continuing support and I hope to see each of you at the March meeting. What God Hath Wrought - from the Editor s Desk by W/B David Stuard Whew! What a month! I have so much to report, so much has happened in our lodge lately that I have to catch my breath. The past month has seen one Masonic Funeral, two Degrees, as well as the largest Public assembly of Ancient Free Masons on the streets of Columbia in almost forty years. I am told that the last such gathering occurred in 1976, when Grand Master William C. Wylie Jr. died in office, and while not quite that scale, the event which Acacia Lodge hosted this past Sunday, in honor of George Washington s 283rd birthday was most impressive. While on the subject of fallen brethren, we lost a dear friend and brother this month. Our beloved organist, Brother Charles A. Marthers, laid down his working tools on Feb. 4th, and the craft turned out in strength for his Masonic service. He was one of the finest musicians I have known personally, and believe me, in my career I have known hundreds. He was always quick with a smile or a tale, and he set the mood for our degree work in a way that I have seen in no other lodge save ours. He even prerecorded the organ music for his own funeral, facing his end in his own style; not with sorrow, but with song. I loved to peek over his shoulder and steal his chops, and should I live to play for another 30 years, I might approach his level, God willing. Although we have suffered loss, we have also seen gain, as we have this month initiated two new Entered Apprentices and raised one new Master Mason. We also have several others in the pipeline as it were, with petitions and investigations aplenty, and this is looking like the beginning of a great year for Acacia. I was very pleased to see our two E/A s marching in the parade on Main Street last Sunday, standing tall and proud with their new brothers from all over the state in a Masonic tour-de-force The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living - Marcus Tulius Cicero

4 From the Editor s Desk, Cont. by W/B David Stuard Volume 20 Issue 3 PAGE 4 that I am sure they will remember for the rest of their lives. I was myself privileged to play a small part in this day, and I would like to tip my hat to those many brothers, both here at Acacia and in other lodges, who also had a hand in bringing it to fruition. As you faithful readers of the Sprig know, it all started with a series of articles by Bro. Art Nebiker entitled George Washington Slept Here. These were well received and led W/B Jim Neal to write in suggesting that the lodge consider placing a wreath at the feet of the Statue of Washington on the State House steps. This purpose was deemed laudable, and so, with the blessing of the Worshipful Master, a few of us determined to do just that. We had no idea what would happen next. In my travels to other lodges, I made mention of our intentions, and before I knew it, lodges in both districts, first Pacific and Blythewood, then Lexington and Sinclair all wanted to join us, but when the Grand Master himself called my cell, to ask if there was room for him and his party, I knew we had created a monster. No pressure, right? Fortunately, there were also many calls from brothers wishing to help, starting with Right Worshipfuls Jeff Hall and Acy Flora, who, along with W/B Dwayne Livingston of Kadosh Lodge, put the message out across the state, and our Bro. Michael Carroll, who printed the programs and hand-wove that wonderful wreath, to our Sheriff (and Brother) Leon Lott, who offered his men as security for the parade and who welcomed the craft to our city with a great speech comparing his wedding and Masonic rings and the vows that each represents. I must thank R/W Sam Turner of the 19th district, whose project to place a portrait of George Washington in every school in the state featured prominently. He came down with a platoon of Masons from upstate to present one such portrait to Sen. Katrina Shealy, who accepted it on behalf of the State House. Thanks also to our own R/W Jeff Hall for acting as MC, our Grand Marshall, R/W Keith Stika, for organizing the parade, and our Grand Chaplain, the R/W (and Reverend) Jerry L. Phillips, for leading us all in prayer, before and after. (I should also thank God for holding back the rain.) Lastly, let me send a very special thank you to our Most Worshipful Grand Master, Bro. David J. DeChant, who not only gave our plan his support, he gave it substance. His presence, and that of his party, elevated this event to truly epic status, and his speech (also written by Bro. Art Nebiker) seemed to me to bring the whole thing full-circle. He put a public face on the Fraternity both during and after the show, using the extensive television and newspaper coverage to invoke the image of Free Masonry as an American Institution, and this, after all was the original and underlying purpose of the day, which was a tremendous success and worth every effort expended. My only complaint; I wish that once, just once, the papers would spell my name right. Oh well. Let them go on raining, I m gonna go on with the parade - David Lee Roth

5 Volume 20 Issue 3 Tidings (and Pics) from the Acacia Lodge Message Board PAGE 5 As you might imagine, the Acacia message board received quite a few tweets regarding our recent George Washington Day, not only from our members, but from brothers all over the 8th and 10th districts. R/W Acy Flora writes: You are to be congratulated for a well thought out and well executed plan last Sunday. I thought it was a wonderful event and the Supreme Architect of the Universe held the rain off just long enough for us to have our ceremony. A brother reminded me after my first Inspirational meeting of the line from Field of Dreams. If you build it, he will come except he changed it to If you build it, they will come. You, Worshipful Sir, built it and boy, did they come. WELL DONE! I hope Acacia will continue to do this in the future. Bro. Art Nebiker sends: Absolutely amazing! Rain Rain Rain, but then just in time for the start of Sunday s GW Birthday Ceremony and the Masonic parade up Main Street, it stopped, as the clear eye of the storm passed overhead with no rain. I ask you, do you think someone is watching over us - do you think that just maybe, is God a Mason? Bro. Richard Garis (Lexington 152) wrote: A GREAT DAY for Masons! I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Brother-Man, you did a fantastic job of bringing everything and everyone together for a most memorable and momentous occasion. Kudos, Kudos and more KUDOS!!!!!!!!! Bro. David Abel (Pacific 325) writes: I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work you put into the George Washington celebration. I hope you saw how much it really paid off. I was so happy to be a part of this event. I hope you're at home resting today. Bro. Erik Lloyd ed: Hello my fellow Brothers of Acacia Lodge 94. I apologize for not being at the Lodge lately. I have an extremely tight schedule during this Quarter. But I truly enjoyed last Sunday. It was indeed a great honor to be a part of it. Bro. Trey Harrison informs us: I am going to Istanbul for a Spring Break class trip. We are studying the Byzantine Empire all the way up until Ataturk's revolution after World War I. I know they have some lodges, but I think most of them are Free and Accepted. I will definitely take a lot of pictures while I am over there! We are not a secret society, we are a society with secrets - W/B Jack Coker