Middletown Masonic Temple

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Jefferson Lodge
Master's Message 


 

Brethren,

Let me begin by congratulating all the officers who have been elected to serve Jefferson Lodge for the ensuing year. After having the chance to work with these brothers this past year I know they will serve Jefferson Lodge well.

Next, I would like to thank all the brethren for the confidence they showed me by allowing me the honor of serving our Lodge this year. It was an experience that I will always cherish and remember fondly.  Everyone has been very helpful with their advice and understanding. I remember when being installed hearing that the first three months would seem like an eternity and they were right. They also said it would be over before I realized it. They were right about that also. This has been one of the greatest learning experiences of my life and I thank all of you for giving me this chance.

Thank you to all the Past Masters of Jefferson Lodge for your guidance and good council and also for allowing me to bend your ears once in a while. I hope the many questions that I asked didn’t bother too many of you.

I have learned many things from this year and I hope that I served Jefferson Lodge well. I know everyone who has served in the east would have done some things differently in retrospect I would have also. Just know that I Jefferson Lodge and you brethren always came first and I hope I served you well. If you would have told me 6 years ago that I would be Master of one of the finest lodges in Ohio I would have said you were kidding. I still can’t believe I did it and it has been the single most rewarding experience of my life. Ok the third most after getting married to a beautiful wife and becoming a father to two great kids.

I would like to thank the officers that served with me this year. They worked very hard and made everything that much easier.  I don’t know a better corps of officers in our district.

Most of all I would like to recognize my wife Debbie who supported me and helped me plan for a successful year.  If it was possible there should be a Past Masters Wives Jewel because without the support of our wives we would not be able to devote our time to Masonry. I also think she liked having Monday nights to herself.

In closing I am thankful to have had the opportunity to serve this lodge and the greatest people that I have come to know. You are all my brothers, family and I love all of you.

Richard Duckson WM

                        


FREEMASONRY IN THE CIVIL WAR

 

The Civil War was the single most divisive event in our nation's long history. No other war, political event, or national crisis has ever approached the levels of animosity and hatred that the Civil War caused. Brother fought against brother. Fathers against sons. Families were forever split over the idealism of the War. They were not alone. Major national organizations, notably the Baptist Churches, also broke up over the issues of slavery and States' Rights. The War seemed to destroy the bonds of any organization it touched.

 

All the organizations, that is, except one: Freemasonry. While the War raged around them, Freemasons held on to the ties and the idealism that brought them together in the first place. Thousands of Masons fought in the War, and many died. But the tenets of the Craft, those ideals and moral codes that we, as Freemasons, strive to abide by, were able to overcome the hatred and the animosity that the War generated.

 

There are a number of reasons why this organization, more than any other, was able to survive the tumult that was the Civil War. A major reason is the long and storied history of the Craft. The beliefs and tenets of the Lodge predate not only the Civil War, but the Constitution, the discovery of the New World, and, according to some, even the birth of Christ. When a tradition of that many years exists, it is difficult to ignore.

 

A second reason why Masonry held together is that membership in a Masonic Lodge is by choice only. No man has ever been recruited into joining a Lodge. Our rules in fact prohibit Masons from actively pursuing someone for initiation. Instead, a man interested in becoming a Mason must, "of his own free will and accord, actively seek out a member of the Lodge which he wishes to join and ask him for a petition for membership.

The third reason is the structure of the Craft itself. There are a number of internal rules and customs that helped the Lodge as a whole avoid the turbulent politics and divisiveness of the War. This allowed the Lodge to continue to function as a place a man could go when he needed help, or a quiet haven from the storms that raged outside the Craft. It was then, and continues to be today, a place where true brotherhood exists.

Thank you journeying with me this past year as Jefferson Lodge #90 paid tribute to those who have come before us by Honoring Our Heritage for the 2010-2011 year. I hope you enjoyed the Masonic Civil War stories as much as I enjoyed sharing them with you.