Sunday, April 30, 2006

I and 3 other brothers from my Lodge attended a Prince Hall Raising of 8 candidates. They send there candidates through as a class. The candidates represented 4 different Lodges that meet in this facility. There are 4 Blue Lodges in our district and share the same fiacilty. A degree team was used to confer the ritual composed of men from the various Lodges. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Fellow Craft Team. I was Amos. Ritually, everything was about the same, but the zeal and side dressings of the opening and closing, was expressed differently. The meetings between HA and the 3 ruffians will leave a lasting impression on those young men as well as myself and brothers. The joy they showed in bringing in new men, whether into their own Lodge or another, you saw real love and affection towards the new master masons. The elders expressed that they(the candidates) should pray together, stay together, and grow together. The idea of closeness between the candidates, and the trials they endured, which could be pretty traumatic after what I witnessed, one could fell it;s importance. The young men were educated together in a class format prior to receiving the degrees. The men I might were all educated in Masonry and practiced it. How any man can still reject a Prince Hall mason today is still baffling. At some point all masons can come together to promote Universal Brotherhood and put aside petty bigoted and possesive ideals! Harmony and equality should rule masonry, not appointed males.

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