Volume 69 No. 01
January-February 2022
The Rite Way
- pg 8
Pike’s Visit
Glen Cook
Civility
pg 5
pg 7
pg 9
2 Seattle Scottish Rite
Scottish Rite Communicator Valley of Seattle
www.seattle-scottishrite.org
SCOTTISH RITE OFFICERS Ill. James D. Cole, 33° Sovereign Grand Commander Ill. Alvin W. Jorgensen, 33° S:.G:.I:.G:, Orient of Washington Ill. Greg Goodrich, 33° Personal Rep. of S:.G:.I:.G:. greg@seattle-scottishrite.org Daniel Southerland, 32° KCCH General Secretary Communicator Editor secretary@seattle-scottishrite.org Gene Ulrich, 32° KCCH Treasurer Ill. Tom Lamb, 33° Almoner PRESIDING OFFICERS Jaime Speicher 32° Master of Kadosh, Consistory Carl Bronkema 32° Commander, Council of Kadosh Bryan Reagan 32° Wise Master, Chapter of Rose Croix
WE ARE BUILDERS We are all agreed that Freemasonry is a splendid Fraternity; that it is steeped in tradition; that it numbers many great men of the past and present as its Members; that it has a beautiful ritual; and that it is, indeed, a great honor to be a Freemason. However, in the final analysis the future of Freemasonry depends not on these things but on the influence it exerts in the life of each one of us. If society is to be successful and everlasting, it must live and breathe the principles on which it is founded. It must be workable, and this means that the individual Members must live in the spirit of real Brotherhood, we must be a doer of the Word, not just a hearer only. To assume obligations of friendship, morality, and brotherly love; to reaffirm love for the dependence on an Eternal Father, are but empty words lost forever in the restless air if they are not practiced in our daily life. In this sense, we as present-day Masons could very well classify ourselves as “Operative Masons.” Our Lodge is not just a room. It is not merely a place in which to enjoy fraternal fellowship. It is not an organization which replaces the Church. It is not the means of promoting one’s self in business. What our Lodge really is, is a group of men, a group of Brothers, who have dedicated themselves to a common task, and that is to build. A Freemason is a builder; a builder of character; a builder of a better community; a better nation; a better world in which to live; a builder of an Eternal Temple for the indwelling of God.
Anthony Brandt 32° Venerable Master, Lodge of Perfection
Such should be the real meaning of Freemasonry to each of us. If not, we should re-dedicate our lives right now to those principles of Freemasonry to which we have obligated ourselves to accept, to learn, to keep and to exemplify.
Seattle Scottish Rite Center 1207 N 152nd St. Seattle, WA 98133-6213 206 324-3330 voice 206 324-3332 fax
We are brought to Light in order that we may let our Light so shine before our fellowmen, that they may see our good works and join us in glorifying The Great Architect of the Universe.
The Communicator (USPS 485-660) is published by the Valley of Seattle, A&A Scottish Rite, 1207 N 152nd St., Seattle, WA 98133-6213, for the benefit of its members, bimonthly and is mailed as a non-profit publication to all members of the Valley of Seattle and to specified other interested parties. $2.00 per member is assessed for the publication of The Communicator. Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, Washington and at additional mailing offices. The material contained within this publication is intended for the education and enjoyment of the members of the Masonic Fraternity and all material published becomes the property of Seattle Valley of Scottish Rite. Postmaster: Send address changes to — The Communicator at 1207 N 152nd St., Shoreline, WA 98133-6213.
Seattle Scottish Rite 3
News from the Personal Representative Brethren,
A very happy New Year to you and your family! It’s the start of a new year and new opportunities at the Valley of Seattle. We have been busy over the last few months completing the setup of our new charity, Rite Way and organizing new events and speakers for the coming year. In addition our LLC has made great strides ensuring the future of Seattle Scottish Rite. Our outside rentals are starting to return and we hope to continue to see growth in that direction as the year continues. In addition, we are currently looking to add 1-2 members to our buildings LLC board. Ideally the candidate will have had some experince dealing with commercial buildings and or running a business. If you have an interest please contact me directly at greg@ seattle-scottishrite.org. January’s stated meeting will be a busy meeting. We will start off as usual with a great dinner then head upstairs to the lodge room for the Cap & Ring ceremony followed by our stated meeting and annual installation of Officers. I encourage all members to come out and support the newest members of our Valley and those officers being installed into the new positions. It will be a great evening of fun and fellowship. In February we have a great speaker coming to visit and I would encourage everyone to attend. This talk will be open to all Masons so feel free to bring along your blue lodge brethren. Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. as usual and we ask that you make reservations ahead of time so we will have enough food for everyone. Please see the flyer on page 7 for more information. Lastly, please consider making a point to attend your blue lodge in January and February and speak to potential members. Our plan is to start up with the Scottish Rite degrees in March or April and we rely on you to go out and let our brethren know of the great opportunities that Scottish Rite Freemasonry has to offer them. Thank you brethren for all that you do for our Fraternity. Without you we would not exist. Fraternally, Greg Goodrich, 33° Personal Representative of the S:.G:.I:.G:.
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Marcus Aurelius
4 Seattle Scottish Rite
Greetings All, Happy New Year to you all. I hope this year is starting off great for you. We sure do have many things going on here at Seattle Valley. Great events to get excited about. You will see in the calendar that we have our Cap & Ring Ceremony at our January Stated meeting along with our annual installation of officers. Please remember you will need to put in your reservations for dinner along with your choice of meal. Choices will be Beef, Salmon or Vegetarian. This is a plated sit-down dinner so if you do not get your reservation in a few days before you may get beans. Also, at our February Stated meeting we have an excellent event you will not want to miss. We have Ill. Glen A. Cook 33° G.C. and Past Grand Master of Utah to speak to us. Look at the flyer in this issue for more details. The evening is a reservation required and dinner is at 6:30. Our speaker will be speaking at the meeting so you will definitely want to be here. We are looking to fill several positions on the committees here at the valley so if you have an interest in helping be sure to let come talk with us as we look forward to having you join in making the valley’s future bright as ever. We have our new charity all set and the donations are already coming in. You may want to think about donating to help us be able to help others. We look forward to helping our children with speech needs along with so much more. Remember “Rite Way” when you consider what charities to give to this season. Look for more info in this issue. We are already receiving new petitions for the next class of members so if you know of a brother who is looking to go further in his Masonic journey and learn so much more, make sure you talk with them. They may just be waiting for someone to ask them to join us. It’s usually the brother you don’t expect. We have the dates for the degrees set up and will be starting them in early spring. I still have some of the Seattle Scottish Rite cooler bags so if you have not received one yet or maybe you know a brother who would like one, hit me up next time you are around and we will hook you up.
Fraternally, Daniel J. Southerland, 32° KCCH General Secretary
Seattle Scottish Rite 5
Albert Pike’s visit to Seattle in August 1876 On August 18, 1876, we had a very special visitor to the Emerald City. Ill. Brother Al-
bert Pike, 33°, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, USA.
Although we do not know much about what Grand Commander Pike did while visiting
our fair city, we do have the meeting minutes of when our Lodge of Perfection hosted this Illustrious Sir. I also know that he had visited several other Lodges while in the Washington Territory. For those who are not up to date on the Statehood of Washington, we were created a state in 1889. The Orient of Seattle (Notice it was not yet the Orient of Washington) received our first charter in 1872 when we were still just a Territory of the United States of America.
According to the history of the Supreme Council, Albert Pike traveled on his first trip
to the Pacific Coast where it is said he spent a week in San Francisco, California. After his visit in California he traveled north to Oregon and arrived in Portland on August 9, 1876. Ill. Bro. Pike visited Oregon Lodge of Perfection on the 15th before heading up to Seattle where he visited us on the 18th. After his visit to the Washington Territory, it is recorded that he spoke at Ainsworth Chapter of Rose Croix in Oregon on the 22nd, no doubt on his way back to California. It is also noted that he traveled with his daughter. According to the records, Albert Pike’s trip to the Pacific Coast from June 30, 1876 to October 23, 1876 cost $875 in gold and $325 in currency for a total of $1,200.00.
I have included a facsimile of original meeting minutes on the next page. It is hard to
read the hand writing so I retyped the hand written notes (including the lack of punctuation). I hope you enjoy this historic piece of our Scottish Rite cultural heritage. Greg Goodrich, 33°
6 Seattle Scottish Rite
Hand written notes of Pike’s visit on August 18, 1876 Lodge opened and Illustrious Brother Pike received as Sov:. Gr:. Commander under the Arch of Steel and Blazen Stars after a few remarks to the lodge in reference to the Lodge work the Lodge, was duly closed and Master Masons were admitted and the Ill:. Bro:. Pike spoke to them after which B B:. adjourned to Occidental Hotel where a celebration was prepared for the B B:. S.P. Andrews, 32° Sec
Seattle Scottish Rite 7
PRESENTS
1207 N 152nd St. Shoreline, WA | 206-324-3300 | www.seattle-scottishrite.org
8 Seattle Scottish Rite
Greetings Brethren, The Internal Revenue Service has approved Seattle Valley’s new “Rite Way” charity. It has been a lengthy process, but our Ill. Brother, Jack Stewart, 33° has been on top of the effort. Ill. Greg Goodrich, 33° our Personal Representative, Dan Southerland, 32° KCCH and Bob Guild, 32° KCCH have opened a separate bank account from our valley’s bank account to deposit Rite Way donations. The can now receive funds to help our valley’s support of the Seattle speech clinic for children. Our EIN (IRS) number is: 87-1698574. If you or any of your friends, associates or lodges would like to donate to this worthy charity, please contact our valley’s secretary, Dan Southerland at 206-324-3330 or secretary@seattle-scottishrite.org. Seattle Valley’s Rite Way charity as received very generous donations from Sat Tashiro’s son, Brett and from Sat Tashiro’s estate. We have also received a generous donation from Occidental Lodge Number 72, plus several individual donors. These donations will help fund our future Charitable efforts, including Early Life Speech and Language in the future. The new 501(c)(3) Rite Way committee members are: Jack Stewart, Legal Advisor; Bob Guild, Financial Adviser; Gerry O ‘Brien, Recorder; Dean Markley, Public Relations; our General Secretary, Dan Southerland, Personal Representative Greg Goodrich, and me, Bob Gunther, as Chairman. The above charity committee members are all volunteers but are working diligently on the development of your new charity. The Rite Way committee still has many tasks to complete. Look for more information on our progress in the coming months. Stay Healthy and Safe, Bob Gunther, 32° KCCH - Rite Way Committee Chairman
Tactical Civility:
Seattle Scottish Rite 9
The path of power and safety Tactical Civility is the safest and most powerful way to interact with others, particularly with those who may be potentially dangerous or explosive. Let me define the component parts of the term Tactical Civility: Civility is the quality of showing courtesy or respect; the opposite of being rude or discourteous; it is Tactical because I choose to use it for a determined purpose. When people assail us with vulgarity, they expect it will work—they expect to upset our balance and suck us into their dynamics. Their discourtesy and rudeness is a street tactic designed to elicit a prescribed response. Remember the lesson of the movie ROADHOUSE. Patrick Swayze makes this very point to his bouncers. When we react we become personal and lose our professional power. Worse, we become controlled by the other! Swayze makes the point that when people become disruptive, “be nice until it’s time not to be nice!” When we have to act and throw someone down or even use some higher force option, we do it! We’re pros. We do what has to be done. But, as my colleague Gary T. Klugiewicz says, we then become “nice” again, and get them the best medical attention money can buy! We do this not because we are weak but because we are making our court video as we go. In Verbal Judo we believe we are more than practitioners of an art, we are a national standard of care that begins and ends with tactical civility—because it’s good for us! Our move should be to employ Tactical Civility. First, because we know the other’s goal is to control us, we do the opposite of what s/ he expects: we grow calm inside, smile to ourselves and become polite. My operating axiom has always been, ‘the nastier you become to me, the more polite and courteous do I become to you’ because it is good for me, good for me at the moment, and good for me later, in court or when called before a supervisor or IA. Don’t use words that will betray you later! Moreover, employing civility allows us to get closer should we need to use physical force of some sort. Rudeness and threats make people back up and become defensive, aware of pending attack. Why give such early warning? Civility disguises movement, allowing us to take a tactical position without seeming to. Why alarm or arm the antagonist with notice? Further, rudeness closes the eye of the other and once insulted, s/he sees nothing, hears nothing and knows nothing! Gone is any chance of developing a source of intelligence! Some of you may think, ‘politeness can be taken for weakness’ by the wolf, but I assure you the wolf will find himself mistaken. Thinking so doesn’t make it so. If he makes that assumption he plays into our hands. To be under estimated is often a good tactical advantage. Let the other be surprised! Do know as well, however, that wolves know danger when they see it, and they will see danger in an antagonist who is calm (when others might not be) and balanced. Many wolves will prefer to deal with someone else! Maintaining a polite civility helps keep us focused on the goal—winning—and prevents us from uttering words that will escalate the situation and draw us into the cycle of anger. Colonel Grossman points out (in a memo, 11-28-2006 to Gary T. Klugiewicz), “As the blood drains from the face (due to vasoconstriction) the blood also drains from the forebrain, and the midbrain (the part of the brain that is the same as your dog) takes over. The reason why you cannot have an argument or a rational discussion with a frightened or angry person is because there’s nobody home!” Let that happen to others, not to you! Similar to Colonel Grossman’s point is the information that appeared in Force Science News #43 several years ago (April 28, 2006). The surprising findings that ‘language style can be an important element in where many encounters end up’ relate directly to our subject of anger. Their research showed that under calm, normal conditions, officers are capable of issuing Alpha Commands, straight forward, clear commands and requests, but under stressful or potentially violent situations, they cannot, and they fall back on Beta Commands, which are unclear and leave decision-making to the subject (“Don’t make me kill you!”). Moreover, for our purposes here, when this Alpha to Beta deterioration begins, the level of profanity rises significantly, with the “fword” flying all over the place! Dr. Lewinski of Force Science feels this transition may indicate the “officer is feeling he is losing control.” Again, anger and profanity reveal weakness and indecision! Such findings again suggest that officers should strive to act with calm civility under all conditions because it is that act that keeps us SAFER, 8 to 5! Part of our Peace Warrior armor, then, is the face and tone of Tactical Civility. If anger means ‘there’s no one home,’ we cannot afford that public revelation or that public act. Anger blinds, shows weakness — and, is one letter away from DANGER! Avoid it!
About the author Dr. George J. Thompson is the President and Founder of the Verbal Judo Institute, a tactical training and management firm now based in Auburn, NY. For full details on Dr. Thompson's work and training, please visit the Verbal Judo Web Site.
10 S e a t t l e S c o t t i s h R i t e
Messages Happy Birthday!
Congratulations from all your Scottish Rite Brethren To our members over 90 who have reached a very important birthday!
January
February
Edward Hauff 32° 01/23/1924
Cecil Sundbeck 32° 02/18/1929
Rudy Coffing 32° 01/29/1924
Kenneth Freese 32° 02/05/1930
William Ellzey 32° 01/08/1925
Frank Walters 32° 02/21/1930
Gordon Mc Carell 32° 01/19/1926
Frank Perkins 32° 02/10/1931
William Dodd Jr. 32° 01/26/1929
Robert Bollman 32° 02/25/1931
Joseph Hoskins 32° 01/01/1930
Carl Ek 32° 02/17/1932
John Parks 32° 01/14/1931 Robert Pratt 32°KCCH 01/31/1931 Ralph Bruksos 32° 01/17/1932
S e a t t l e S c o t t i s h R i t e 11
www.seattle-scottishrite.org
MONTH TIME EVENT January 8
9:00 am
ExCom Meeting
January 18 7:30 pm Stated Meeting (Dinner 6:30pm) Cap & Ring Ceremony & Installation of Officers Reservations & dinner choice req. February 5
9:00 am
ExCom Meeting
February 15 6:30pm Stated Meeting Special Speaker Ill. Glen A. Cook 33° G.C. PGM of Utah Reservations are required (Open to all Masons)
Jackets $40.00 looks great
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry 1207 N 152nd St. Shoreline, WA 98133-6247
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