Don't let the back door of the Blue Lodge close on you.

  Sometimes in life an event takes place and seemingly without much meaning can turn very significant if it's properly pondered.

  I met with our two new E.A.'s the other evening to study for their proficiency, when I arrived they were waiting out front of the Lodge(Temple #23 Jax,Fl.). As was an "urban outdoors" woman.  She had made a little camp under one of the trees, not much of a camp but a blanket spread out and resting herself. She asked if it was O.K. that she be there for a little bit as she was tired of walking, had been run off from somewhere up the road etc. etc. And in true homeless fashion proceeded to try to engage further conversation.

  Being the compassionate man and Mason that I am, I told her just don't mess anything up or litter and go on about her way when she'd rested up. Masons are taught that we are all equal, to look past the outside and be servicable and considerate to all mankind. I felt I excersized that duty flawlessly had I not have been there that night I wouldn't have known she was either all the while trying to break off the conversation and as you may know isn't very easy to do with the homeless folk. I'm sure you've been in the same predicament where you want to be pleasant but go on about your business.
 We finally got away from her and I unlocked the Lodge, secured the alarm and we three entered and closed and locked the door with the finger lock from the inside. A finger lock in case you're wondering is one that you set from the inside with out using a key, and as far as I knew none of our members have a key for opening that particular lock from the out side. We went on into the Lodge-Room, as I didn't wish to sit in the dining area and have the afore mentioned outdoorsman knocking to use the bathroom or any other disturbance. I have a lot to teach these two men and a short amount of time to do it.
  We studied for about an hour or so and decided to take a smoke break. I figured it best to go out the back door just in case she was still out front, which I found out later that she was. I unlocked the key lock on the back door, and out we went. I noticed a brick sitting at the foot of the door and tried to hold the door open with it so I could keep an eye and ear out on the Lodge, well the brick was too light to hold the door open so I let it close.
 Little did I know the the door-knob lock was set to the lock position, again another lock that I didn't have a key to.

 Now all of this may not seem like much of a problem, however the back yard at the Lodge is surrounded by an eight foot chain link fence with one gate securely locked and as you may guess, I didn't have a key to that one either! I personally wouldn't have a problem with climbing that fence, however since the front door was locked with a lock that I didn't have a key to, going around front and unlocking the door was out of the question, and my two E.A.'s in thier age and physical conditions, well I just figured if they tried, we might have had to call the ambulance and nothing screams that the day is ruined like the big red truck showing up! On the East end of the yard are some woods and a creek farther down, so we weren't in panic mode, we can get out, I'm a woodsy kinda guy anyhow. But about this time Mike tells me "OK Waco quit with the little B.S. secret stuff and unlock the door let's go in and run through this one more time" He was serious! I had to keep from laughing as I explained to him the magnitude of the situation! And knowing full well that this wasn't a Masonic secret!!! Even when we do get out of the back yard, the Lodge is still not secured properly and in this day and age that's just not good.

I called our Worshipful Master, yeah "The Big Guy", he came and we discused the happenings.  We found a path through the stickers and vines and got out ok, Ted told me he'd find a way to secure the Lodge and not to worry, I went home with my tail between my legs knowing full well the amount of poop I'm going to hear at our next meeting. He later called the Secretary who has a key to every lock known to man, and they secured the Lodge.

 So, Where is the significant part of this story?   I thought I'd never ask!

  All of this could have been avoided if I'd have thought more like a Mason.

I let the door close, even with the rough ashlar there and ready for my will, the "brick" wasn't to keep the door from closing, it was to keep the door from locking.
 So many of us come to the front door, go into the Lodge-Room and out the back door and  on to other things.  However, we are still Masons and are still rough ashlars. If we're not at the Lodge to hold the door open then we'll not be there to keep it from locking.
 Each and every one of us came to the front door of our own free will and accord,we knocked and became Masons, in a survey recently done by a fellow Brother 35 Mason were asked "Why did you become a Mason"?  29 answered "To become a Shriner".
 Is the shrine a great and noble organization? Oh you bet!! The help they give to the burned and cripple children at absolutely no cost! They visit childeren in local hospitals in full cartoon or clown costumes and entertain the kids, they are some of the most selfless thinking men I know. always willing to give. Yes they are awesome, I can't really come up with words to describe properly the honor they deserve.
  The problem is that when a Mason goes on to other things, other appendages for instance, his time gets so thinly spread with other activities and that of family of coarse that he hasn't the time for the Blue Lodge. And in a lot of cases once they pass the Blue Lodge, they don't look back other than staying current in paying dues.

  Paying dues and carrying a card isn't what makes a man a Mason. It's showing to the Blue Lodge from time to time to sit in a chair if needed, to give opinions on topics while at labor, to show the new guys coming in that he or they are joining an organization of a lot of men not just 8 or 9 looking for a cheap Monday night dinner. 
 It's the fellowship, the clasping of hands, the friendly smiles and gleam in another Masons eyes when he sees you, it's the little jokes or ribbing that we all give and get, from brothers young and old. It's the shared companionship that makes a Lodge of Masons, not the building, not the bumperstickers you can put on your car not the card in your wallet, but the Brotherhood.
 
 Fellowship not neccesarily membership is "KEY" to a succesful Lodge, as "Without fellowship there might not be membership in the future"

              Remember your Blue Lodge and we Brothers who yearn for your FELLOWSHIP.....

 Waco Renshaw
Junior Deacon
Temple Lodge #23 F.& A.M. 
Jacksonville,Florida