KING OSCAR JUNE 2005 COLUMN
TRESTLE BOARD & SPECIAL EVENTS
June 10 Stated Meeting
June 17 Special Meeting
June 25 Rededication of
Jefferson Masonic
Temple
July 4 Independence Day
July 10 Stated Meeting
July 16 6th N. E. District
Blue Lighting
July 22 Special Meeting
Aug 7 Sixth Northeastern
District Picnic
Aug 12 Stated Meeting
Aug 26 Special Meeting
FROM THE EAST
Greetings:
We have a busy schedule confronting us. Thirteen candidates are waiting degrees.
We have moved our June Special Meeting to the seventeenth and will have multiple
initiations. Your attendance is solicited and as well as your help.
At 9:00 AM, June 25th we will host the Sixth
Northeastern District breakfast. That afternoon at 2:00 PM the Grand Lodge officers
will re-dedicate our renovated Jefferson Masonic Temple. We urge you to make
a special effort to attend this once in a lifetime occasion. July 16th your
lodge will conduct a special Blue Lightning for our candidates. Please contact
Russell E. Johnson or me if you can lend assistance in this effort. In the meantime
enjoy.
Fraternally.
Bruce Polite.
Worshipful Master
FROM THE NORTH & ELSEWHERE
“BIRD, NICK” MOVING
In an e-mail received May 11, 2005 “Be seeing you all in Chicago. That’s right we are moving back. New address 716 Shining Water Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188, Cell phone # 1-630-779-4338. We leave Carson City, NV end of May.”
“Thanks for all the e-mails, George!”
Signed Claude and Cindy (Bird, that is.)
Welcome back Cindy and Illustrious Sir 33º - God bless!
BROTHER HENRY CLAY
While serving in Congress, a friendly rivalry developed between brother Henry Clay of Kentucky and Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. One day, as the two of them were sitting in front of a Washington hotel, a man driving a pack of mules passed by. Webster, the quintessential Yankee, saw an opportunity to take a jab at his southern colleague. “Clay, there goes a number of your constituents,” he observed. Clay examined the scene for a second and replied, “They must be going to Massachusetts to teach school.”
NOTE: How do you like them apples?
IS YOUR HUT BURNING?
A sole survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed for God to rescue him. Eventually he managed to build a little hut for shelter from the elements. One day, after scavengering for food, he arrived to find his hut in flames with smoke rolling up to the sky. “God, why have you done this to me?” he cried. Early the next day he was awakened to the sound of a ship approaching the island to rescue him. “How did you know I was here?” he asked. “We saw your smoke signal,” was the reply.
It is so easy to get discouraged, but we shouldn’t lose heart. God IS at work at all times! NOTE: received from brother John Vanick of St. Cecilia Lodge, Thanks John.
WWW WISE WORDS OF WISDOM
You cannot do kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late. Ralph Waldo Emerson
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. John Barrymore (1882-1942)
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. Robert Brault
Remember this, there is a proper dignity and proportion to be observed in the performance of every act of life. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 AD)
A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountaintop. Winston Churchill
MASONIC PUBLIC AWARNESS (From Masonic Information Center’s “Focus” Volume 12, issue 1, March 2005)
In a far-reaching report on what needs to be considered regarding Masonic Public Awareness, the group studying the issue at the MIC concluded;
Ideally, today, Masonry should be recognized as:
A serious men’s organization, dedicated to personal growth and community involvement.
A provider of camaraderie, mutual trust in each other, instant fellowship and lasting brotherhood.
A provider of an atmosphere of inclusiveness
An organization that makes good men better in body, mind and spirit.
Then we asked: “Who do we want to reach as potential members?”
We worked through the need to market profiles based on age, geographic region, or marital status; however, we took a bolder approach. We argue that our target market exists among men who can be found in all ages, areas, and groups. What Masons and potential brothers share is the following:
They seek fulfillment through multiple levels of experience, including body, mind, and spirit.
They enjoy fraternal fellowship.
They want community enriched by participation, dialog, and inquiry.
They desire a life that is principled, disciplined, and compassionate.
Conclusion: Freemasonry wants to reach fellow journeyman, seeking enrichment in body, mind, and spirit through participation in a brotherhood committed to personal growth, good works, and spirituality.
We strongly feel that programs must be developed that highlights the central core of our fraternity:
?Freemasonry must be centered on the lodge and give members opportunities to express themselves through activities that improve the experience of the lodge and benefit the life of the community.
?Freemasonry sustains its viability as a fraternal organization through its performance af Masonic rituals and values both in the lodge and throughout everyday life. As trustees of Masonry’s rich and valuable heritage, members must continually invigorate their approach to Masonic participation, making it an experience that is rewarding, enriching, and relevant to its members, their families, and the greater community,
TEMPLE RENOVATION
Renovation is progressing in an innovative manner. New “bells and whistles” are popping up here and there like you wouldn’t believe. The ambience of Jefferson Masonic Temple needs just one addition to put the “icing on the cake” AND THAT IS an elevator.
To accomplish that “topping” we need FUNDS. As on many occasions YOU have read in this column: “NOW is the time for all good brethren to come to the aid of their fellow brethren, CONTRIBUTE to the King Oscar Lodge Elevator FUND!”
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!
MASONIC SYMBOLISM (continued) “The Urn in Her Left Hand.”
Whereas one hand holds a branch of acacia from the natural world, the other hand holds a distinctly man-made object. This is the descriptive level. Yet in the context of a grave marker, an urn is likely used to stow ashes of the departed. Indeed allegorically this urn holds the ashes of the Master Builder.
The historical lectures give a higher, possibly tropological meaning that reminds us of the three times that the master Builder was buried. Our buried bodies ultimately turn to ash, whether cremated or not. Whether the departed is safely deposited in a Grand Temple or buried on the brow of a hill, we continue to remember and honor our loved ones.
At an anagogic level, we sense the tension between
an evergreen in one hand as a symbol of life and the ashes of death held in
an urn in the other. The monument causes us to contemplate the mysteries of
life and death
.
NOTE Next month “Father Time.”
MASONIC EDUCATION & DISCUSSION GROUP
Brethren do you wish to improve your knowledge
of Freemasonry? If so let our secretary, brother Russell Einar Johnson or your
correspondent know. All of us “can learn” much more of Freemasonry
even though we have been a Freemason for half a century or longer. LISTEN to
“this voice of experience, we have yet to scratch the surface of Masonic
knowledge,” I guarantee IT.
Let us hear from you!
JULY BIRTHDAYS
Forty-seven King Oscar brethren were whelped in July. Cold nights in late October and November? Those brethren are: Robert L. Noldan, Bernard G. Dean, Charles R. Kjellstrand (10); Daniel M. Johnson (4); Russell D. Rynerson, William L. Trubeck (5); Herbert L. Bjorklund (6); Bernard J. Esberner Jr. (7); Michael L. Schwager (8); LeRoy H. Kovale (9); Bruce M. Bothman, Tarik Rahmoun, Harold D. Steinke (10) ;Randall W. Becker, Walter C. Hallford, Donald L. Dykinga (11); Daniel A. Arboleda, (12); Vern R. Ratliff, Roland V. Nordquist (13); Per A. Sodermark, Laude E. Hartrum, Kerry C. Mc Kenna, Otto W. Meyers (15); Robert A. Tews (16); Theodore J. Forsberg, Paul R. Roberts (17; Frank S. Motts ,Chester P. Smith (19); George F. Woll, Lindy L. Clark (21); Arthur H. Giebner, James H. Feazel (25); Keith W. Aldrich, Ashod Baboorian, George W. Ochanpaugh, Paul D. K. Jones(26); Michael A.Fortunato (27); Joseph A. Paupa, Louis M.Ebling III (28); Altagerges G Oritz (29); Alvin F. Swenson, Louis H.Eggert, Leonard W. Yost (30); Irwin A. Dahlstrom, Robert L. Ahrens (31).
Brethren of Independence, the month of our Nation’s declaration thereof, that is, NOT yours if you are still blessed with your “one and only!” HAPPY BIRTHDAY and, as we KRAUTS exclaim MANY, MANY MORE, if YOU so wish?
SICKNESS & DISTRESS
OBITUARIES
Brother George C. Dalacker was born April 15, 1928 in Chicago. He was initiated June 22,1940, passed July 27, 1949 and raised August 24, 1949 He passed this life December 5, 2004.
Brother Robert W. Polzin was born April 20. 1914. He was initiated May 9, 1947, passed June27, 1947 and raised July 11, 1947. Brother Polzin laid down the working tools of life March 14, 2005.
Thus endeth the lives of two just and upright
Masons. May their souls rest in Heaven,
Almighty God sooth the sorrows of loss suffered by the families of these brethren.
CLOSING
For some unknown reason I am reminded, as I have often informed you over the years, of the slogan of the old Mayflower Donut shops: “AS YOU TRAVEL ALONG LIFE’S HIGHWAY, WHAT ‘ERE BE YOUR GOAL. KEEP YOUR EYE UPON THE DONUT NOT UPON THE HOLE!” Pure unadulterated wisdom presented in a smile-provoking manner.
Properly arrange YOUR priorities. IT IS LATER THAN YOU THINK – I GUARANTEE IT!
Until next month, GOD BLESS.
Whispering George C. F.