Courtesy of Brother Tom Lewis:
I’ve heard a lot of brothers say why they don’t like to go to Grand Lodge – the sniping, politicking, styling and profiling, etc. And it is a little expensive with the travel and accommodations, eating out and all. But for me it’s priceless for the chance to see brothers in other Lodges that I wouldn’t ordinarily see all together in one place. Especially when I go back to Tennessee and see people I knew when I was a young man and Mason that I never see otherwise now that I live in another state. Sharing time with men who showed me how to live as a man and Mason, and sharing accomplishments that they made possible through their mentoring is one of the gifts Masonry offers. And it does my heart good once a year to hear the ritual done he way I remember it done in my home Lodge 30 years ago, so when “Tennessee Ritual” supplants “South Carolina Ritual” in my South Carolina Lodge recitations, at least it’s correct “Tennessee Ritual” that’s creeping in.
At Grand Lodge you get to share opinions and ideas with like-minded men in peace and harmony. You get to spend time with brothers that are just as “deep into” Masonry as you are who make you feel you may not be quite as odd as some of the brothers back home (and your wife) think. You get to sit down and share meals with brothers you never would’ve met otherwise. Sometimes someone gets elected Junior Grand Warden that you shared a table at dinner with the night before, who because of the shared time is someone you know instead of some well-connected brother you can barely see from the back of the hall. You hear stories of dedication to the craft and local successes – of men who’ve been their Lodge secretary for over 50 years and donations of large amounts of money to worthy charities. And sometimes, in the midst of all the reports of sundry committees, you get to hear a story that grabs you and brings into focus why many of us do Masonry. Such is the story of Brother Charles:
The Grand Master started the story, but was overcome with emotion and asked the Secretary of the Johnson City Lodge involved to take up the story. Charles had been in the military and when he got out, he decided to pursue two goals: to become a nurse and become a Mason. He petitioned a Lodge and took his Entered Apprentice degree in California, and started his nursing training which brought him to Johnson City Tennessee. He had already applied and gotten permission for the Lodge in Johnson City to put on his Fellowcraft and Master Mason degrees as “courtesy work”. Then life threw Charles a 90 mph curve ball. It was discovered Charles had prostate cancer that had already metastasized into his bone marrow. His chances of survival were nil. Charles was out of options and out of time. His greatest wish was to die a Master Mason and to have a Masonic funeral, but his condition precluded the normal process. He simply didn’t have 28 days to wait between the remaining degrees. Added to that, the pain medication just didn’t leave Charles the clarity of mind necessary to retain the memory work. That’s when the Tennessee Grand Lodge entered the story.
The Grand Master of Tennessee got with the Grand Master of California to get Charles a demit from the Lodge in California. The timing was right and the Lodge in California voted that night at their business meeting to grant the demit, and faxed the necessary paperwork to Tennessee. The Lodge in Johnson City voted two nights later to accept Charles by affiliation into their Lodge. Then Most Worshipful Grand Master Jerry Hanson traveled across the far corners of the state of Tennessee from Memphis to Johnson City to make Charles a “Mason at Sight” – one of the ageless prerogatives reserved for Grand Masters. A conference room at the VA Hospital in Johnson City was secured and while a hall-full of Masons and other well-wishers in wheelchairs waited outside the room, the Grand Master conferred the Fellowcraft and Master Mason degrees on Charles. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Brother Charles was presented with his white lambskin apron as well as a Masonic ring, both of which Charles requested to be buried wearing. Charles also requested that the Master of the Johnson City Lodge perform his Masonic funeral. Charles told the Grand Master:” You’ve given me a vacation from my destiny.” Thirteen days later Brother Charles’s feet too soon reached the end of life’s toilsome journey, and from his nerveless grasp dropped forever the working tools of life. But thanks to his brothers going the extra mile (or 400 miles) he had his dying wish fulfilled to stand before the throne of God as a Mason.
It’s true there is a certain amount of tedium in every meeting of every Grand Lodge. For me it is a small price to pay to hear from the participant’s stories that remind us why we’re proud to be Masons. Like that of Brother Charles.
