MISSOURI Lodge of Research OFFICERS Worshipful Master - Nicholas R. Ciechielo http://www.molor.org
MOIST EYES By Pete Martinez
I was working the Texas Department of Transportation fair booth at the East Texas State Fair in 2000. It was senior citizens day and the "old folks" (I can say that because l am one) were passing by. I was standing behind a gondola of give-away items when a man spotted the Square and Compasses on my lapel. He smiled real big and came around behind the gondola and stuck out his right hand. He gave me "that certain friendly grip" and I asked him what Lodge he belonged to. He just kept on smiling and said nothing. After a couple of more questions with the same results, his wife walked up and told me he had Alzheimer's and couldn't remember what Lodge he belonged to or even where he was at the moment. But the Square and Compasses triggered something in his mind and he knew what to do about it. My eyes still get moist when I think about it. ----(Right Worshipful Brother Martinez is a Past District Deputy Grand Master for the Grand Lodge of Texas, and has been very active in the Texas Lodge of Research, being designated as it’s Webmaster Emeritus and has received the TLR Golden Trowel Award)
Senior Warden - Steven L. Harrison Junior Warden - L. Leroy Salmon Secy-Treas Ronald D. Miller 6033 Masonic Dr Suite B COLUMBIA MO 65202-6535 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Librarian’s Report By John W. Hess, PGM, Librarian On September 27, 2012 the Missouri Masonic Research Library was dedicated for use as a resource for Masonic study. Since that time, 2012 books and 69 pictures have been cataloged into the holdings of the library. Many treasures have been found while preparing the books for the library. Webb’s Monitor of 1858; Antiquities of Freemasonry by G. Oliver, published in 1843; Richardson’s Masonic Monitor published in 1860; are just a few of the books that are now available in the library. The library is open every Monday from 9:00am to 3:00pm and the third Saturday of every month from 9:00 am to 3:00pm and other times during the week by appointment with the Grand Secretary for Masonic Study. A number of rare books that belonged to Past Grand Master and President Harry S. Truman are also in our archive section of the library. Books such as; Sibelius Masonic Sheet music signed by the composer and President Truman, Pike’s inquiry of the Constitutions of 1767 sent by the librarian of the House of the Temple to President Truman and many more. Several individuals have donated rare books for our collection. Donald Huggins of Kansas City donated the third edition of Anderson’s Constitution of 1767 and Jack Clark of Kansas City donated Manly P. Hall’s Encyclopedia of Masonic Philosophy to the library. If you have rare or interesting book that you would like to loan or gift to the library, we would be glad to assist you in keeping these Masonic Treasures safe and available for Masonic Research. Lodges, Individuals and Masonic bodies have stated assisting the efforts of the library by partaking in the “Adopt a Book” program. Your donation of $250.00 will allow the Lodge of Research to digitally scan a rare or interesting book that will then be made available on the website for Masonic Research. Every third Saturday is a work day at the Library. Volunteers are needed to help unpack books in the basement, clean and organized them for cataloging and then get them on the shelves in the library. Raytown Lodge, Buckner Lodge, St Louis Lodge #1, Polar Star-Rose Hill Lodge are just a few of the Lodges who have already been assisting in the work of the library. Come to Columbia and see our new library, take time to be a part of the project and be proud to be a Missouri Mason who helped develop our Missouri Masonic Research Library.
Special March Event Join us for the PREMIER "Day at the Library" event at the new: Missouri Masonic Research Library! DATE: March 9th ---- TIME: 1:00 PM (1 1/2 hour multimedia presentation followed by a Q&A . PROGRAM SPEAKER: Wor. Bro. David B. Brown Examples of Masonic Concepts in Ancient Western Civilization David B. Brown is the father of four children and the son of RWB Stanton T. Brown, Grand Lecturer Emeritus, in Buckner, Missouri. David is a Past Master of Buckner Lodge # 501, presently serving as Master of that Lodge as well as Chairman of the Grand Lodge Committee on Masonic Education. WB Brown is also serving as Pastor of the Buckner Community of Christ congregation in his home town. He is presently employed with an insurance company in Kansas City, but his passion is working with a local archaeologist to research Western Hemisphere cultures, specifically the Maya and Olmec civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica. While he has not yet been published, he is certain that there are several publications forthcoming in the years ahead as they are finding an incredible collection of information that links the Old World with the New World centuries before Columbus made the official discovery of Western continents. This presentation will focus on the Masonic concepts of symbolism used in design to convey esoteric information. He will present specific examples from the Mesoamerican sites of Teotihuacan located just outside of Mexico City and from Palenque located in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. These examples indicate that the ancient Mayan culture possessed a body of knowledge similar to Masonic belief systems, and it indicates that there were Christian facets to the culture.
“Shadow of a Cross” on the “Pyramid of the Sun” at Teotihuacan
“The Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl”
ALSO SAVE THE DATE: MAY 4, 2013 Spring MLR Truman Lecture 12:00 Noon at Grand Lodge Complex in Columbia. Watch for more in next Newsletter
The “Temple of the Cross” at Palenque
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Region Letter or District Number behind RGL/DDGMs Name Below
M(ichael) C. ALLEN 17 MICHAEL L. APPLE E GEO(rge) BARRIOS 20 G(ary) N. BASKETT 23 CHARLES O. BRIDGES 32 (gary) CALDWELL 8 (jonce b.) CHIDESTER 8 840 C(harles) COOPER 8 3 ROBERT A. GENTRY 9 DON(ald) E. GILKERSON 16 J(ason) T. GLASS 2 J(OHN) L. HOUSE 35 (gale 1.) JONES 4 RICHARD W. KAESER JR 37
(james r.) LEONARD 33 LAWRENCE G. LOOMIS 24 L(loyd) G. LYON 13 ROBERT (e.) MARTIN D NOEL R. MASON 36 ROGER B. MCWILLIAMS (jr) 14
(paul f.) MILLER 18 PHILLIP J. MOODY JR 11 J(ames c.) MORGAN 30 D(avid w.) MOYER 5 D(avid d.) POWELL A DOUGLAS H. REECE 7 JARED B. RICHMOND 45
MAT(hew) D. RUTH 46 M(ichael) P. SINGER JR 27C MARLIN W. SLAGLE 6 MICHAEL E. SUTTON 21 JAMES (r.) TINKER 26 (michaell.) TODD 10 W(ayne) G. TUCKER G J(ohn) J. TUNE 29 (eu)GENE (w.) WESCOTT 1 E. ROYCE WHEELER 42 MICHAEL E. WHEELER B (r. Miguel) WHITE 27B 43 TOM WILLIAMS E(mie) D. WILSON 41
R U L E S F O R P L A Y:
You must circle the names of RGL/DDGMs (in BOLD LETTERS ONLY), LETTER BY LETTER, in the puzzle above, then line through or check the name off the list. DO NOT black or blot out the letters in the puzzle as some of the same letters are still used in another name. The name, or part of a name, within the parens (--) above WILL NOT be found in the puzzle. Only the part of a name in BOLD will be found in the puzzle. When you have found ALL of the above names in the puzzle, you should have several letters NOT circled. Writing down each of these letters from the top left to the bottom right, will sequentially spell out the name of the RGL/DDGM whose name will be the answer. Who is it? A look at the www.momason.org Grand Lodge webpage, click “LISTS”, then go to District Deputy and Regional Grand Lecturers, it will list them all, and you should find the complete name and region/district of your answer. Who is he? Call a member friend who may have worked this puzzle and see if you got the same answer they did. I will include the answer in the next issue. Last Newsletters answer: DOUGLAS L. CAVANAUGH, DDGM DISTRICT 31.
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MISSOURI LODGE OF RESEARCH RONALD D. MILLER, Secy
NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID
6033 MASONIC DRIVE SUITE B COLUMBIA, MISSOURI 65202 ――――――――――――――――――
COLUMBIA, MO
PERMIT #286
ADDRESS SERVICES REQUESTED
http://www.molor.org RP 13-01
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Daubing with Untempered Mortar One of the first pieces of instruction given to you as an entered apprentice upon beingbrought to light came from the SeniorWarden in the West, “As an Entered Apprentice, ***.” This bit of instruction has been overlooked by many as ceremonial verbiage, or as a small part of a very significant degree. I did not even really consider the meaning until I was a Mason for nearly 10 years. One afternoon while I was riding around on my mower cutting the back 40, I suddenly started to wonder on the lesson that I had been giving Entered Apprentices for the past year. I told them, “***.” I had always thought of it to be literal. Why worry about getting dirty? When you are working you expect your clothes to get dirty, that is why you wear your old ones to work in. If you think of it in a different way, an Entered Apprentice is a babe in Masonry, and has the filthiest job of digging out boulders for the Fellowcraft to shape, and needs to protect his clothing. In modern times an Entered Apprentice is still a babe in Masonry, knowing little about the craft. As such the newly made Mason needs to be mindful of his work so as not to soil the reputation of the craft. I also instructed the newly made brother, “*** ****** ****.” This has an illusion to the book of Ezekiel describing a security wall built by Israel, ””To use an expression that had been used earlier in describing the failings of fleshly Israel, they built a security wall and “daubed with untempered mortar.” (cf. Ezekiel 13:10, 11).””
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tem-peered adj. 1. Having a specified temper or disposition. Often used in combination: 2. Adjusted or attuned by the addition of a counterbalancing element; moderated or measured: 3. Made appropriately hard or flexible by tempering: 4. Having the requisite degree of hardness or elasticity. A wall made with untempered mortar will crumble under the sustained weight of the load bearing wall, or crumble under heavy winds. Properly tempered mortar will actually flex when it needs to so that the wall will remain standing and not fall. Our ancient Brethren were operative stonemasons who worked to create great cathedrals and other buildings. The cement, which they used, was critical in their constructions. When properly mixed, this cement would unite the stones, and would insure a stable, beautiful, and lasting edifice, but if mixed improperly, would doom a structure to cracks, decay and ruin. Thus, “untempered mortar,” or improperly mixed mortar, was never to be used. An Entered Apprentice was required to learn the proper mixture for the mortar before becoming a master of the craft. For a newly made Mason, not daubing with un-tempered mortar is an important lesson. We must choose our actions carefully so as not to bring any discredit to the Lodge and to
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prepare for ourselves as a spiritual temple that is stable, beautiful and lasting. Every choice that we make in life is the same as mixing the mortar, every choice good or bad, changes that mortar, adding strengths and weaknesses to what others think of us and Masonry as a whole. A newly made Mason that daubes with untempered mortar will weaken his own foundation as well as the foundation of the Lodge. Through careful instruction and observation of senior Masons he will learn and gain experience through which the mortar will be properly tempered, preserving the foundation of all upon which more construction can be laid. This can also be true as to why a newly made Mason should not wear Masonic jewelry or refer others to the craft. A newly made Mason does not yet have enough knowledge to properly add to the Mortar. Our Masonic Mortar unites the Fraternity with Friendship, Morality, and Brotherly Love, creating unity, peace, and happiness. This mortar should not be tampered with until through experience, time and knowledge a Brother becomes a Master of the Craft. -------------by
Dwayne Smith, SW Apollo Lodge No. 921 Huntsville, Alabama
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