VOL. 1, Issue 8
July 2022
Scottish Rite
The Ashlar
Valley of Columbus, Orient of Georgia
Serving Scottish Rite Masons in the Chattahoochee Valley
Personal Representative's Message
Brethren,
Congratulations on receiving their Cap and Ring to our newest 32nd Degree Brethren of the Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus: Brothers Matthew Charles Burgess, 32°; James Kevin Harbuck, 32°; Anthony Michael Laymon-Jones, 32°; James Matt Lindsey, 32°; Thomas Clark Stephenson, 32°; Timothy Lynn Watson, Jr., 32°; and Jesse Travis Wilson, 32°. As well as Brother Thomas McKean 32° from our previous Fall Class. Once again, we welcome each and every one of them into our midst, into our shared Journey “East”.
To our new Brethren, you are one of us, now. Your family is a part of our family. You truly will get more out of Freemasonry and this Valley, the more you put into it. Search your soul and determine how you want to serve. We have needs in the following areas:
Degree Team Member
Stage Crew
Membership Committee
Become an Officer in one of our four lines – nominations are in November and Installation is in December
Kitchen Crew
Become a Knight of Saint Andrew – this organization is specific to our Black Caps
Building Committee
College of Freemasonry Committee – Provide Masonic Learning programs for the Valley
Communication Committee – Help us get the word out on all that we do.
IT Committee – we want to bring our Valley into the future with all technology available to us.
RiteCare Committee – our major philanthropy and needs continued support in fundraising, partner relationship (Autism Learning Center of Columbus), etc.
Fundraising Committee – Need assistance in idea generation, and event execution for funding of RiteCare, Valley sustainability, and Building Fund.
As you can see, we have many opportunities to serve. If you do, contact our General Secretary, me, or ask one of your brothers who is involved in the area you have interest in. I assure you that you will enjoy the Scottish Rite journey much more if you get involved.
I also want to take this time to thank those of our brethren who are members of the Heroes of ‘76 for their outstanding Flag program at our last Lodge of Perfection gathering.
As I started in the June Ashlar, I wanted to write concerning the four cardinal virtues: Courage, Temperance, Justice, and Wisdom. As I stated last issue, Marcus Aurelius called them the “touchstones of goodness”.
The word “cardinal” comes from the Latin cardo, or hinge. They are pivotal that a good life, an honorable life hangs on. Thus, the four cardinal virtues of Courage, Temperance, Justice, and Wisdom are guideposts for one to live by.
The following is taken from the Daily Stoic. I attribute the following to this great website: https://dailystoic.com/
They are the most essential values in Stoic philosophy. “If, at some point in your life, Marcus Aurelius wrote, “you should come across anything better than justice, truth, self-control, courage—it must be an extraordinary thing indeed.” That was almost twenty centuries ago. We have discovered a lot of things since then—automobiles, the Internet, cures for diseases that were previously a death sentence—but have we found anything better?
…than being brave
…than moderation and sobriety
…than doing what’s right
…than truth and understanding?
No, we have not. It’s unlikely we ever will. Everything we face in life is an opportunity to respond with these four traits.
Summum Bonum was the expression from Cicero, Rome’s greatest orator. In Latin, it means “Sovereign Good” or “the highest good.” And what is the highest good? What is it that we are supposed to be aiming for in this life? To the Stoics, the answer is virtue. They said that everything we face in life was an opportunity to respond with virtue. Even bad situations. Even painful or scary ones. If we act virtuously, they believed, everything else important could follow: Happiness, success, meaning, reputation, honor, love. “The man who has virtue,” Cicero said, “is in need of nothing whatever for the purpose of living well.”
Ok, but what is virtue? The Stoics believed there were the four virtues: Courage, Temperance, Justice and Wisdom
In June I wrote about “Courage”. This issue I will touch on “Wisdom”.
When faced by a life decision or going through a difficulty how should one respond? What choices are there depending on the situation. What is the right amount of a response, or not response? What is the right thing? This is where the essential virtue comes in: Wisdom. The knowing. The learning. The experience required to navigate the world.
Wisdom has always been prized by the Stoics. Zeno stated that we were given two ears and one mouth for a reason: to listen more than we talk. And since we have two eyes, we are obligated to read and observe more than we talk as well.
It is key today, as it was in the ancient world, to be able to distinguish between the vast aggregations of information that lay out there at your disposal—and the actual wisdom that you need to live a good life. It’s key that we study, that we keep our minds open always. You cannot learn that which you think you already know, Epictetus said. It’s true.
Which is why we need to not only be humble students but also seek out great teachers. It’s why we should always be reading. It’s why we cannot stop training. It’s why we have to be diligent in filtering out the signal from the noise.
A word about the difference between Knowledge and Wisdom. They are not the same. Knowledge is the bedrock of Wisdom. Knowledge is learned in study of manuscripts, in books, in courses of study, AND it is a Big AND, In life experience. Knowledge becomes Wisdom when you use the knowledge you gained to do good. To perform good for yourself by making the right choices one learned from formal Knowledge gathering or life-gathering knowledge. Wisdom is doing good with others based on what one has learned through life…like being a good friend when a tragedy happens to another. Or providing advice on a topic that you have experience or knowledge of.
Our goal is not just to acquire information, but the right kind of information. It’s the lessons found in ancient manuscripts such as Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, in everything from the inquiry of philosophy to the study of our Masonic symbolism. It’s the key facts, standing out from the background noise, that you need to absorb.
WISDOM
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own” — Epictetus
Diogenes wrote: “wisdom they define as the knowledge of things good and evil and of what is neither good nor evil…knowledge of what we ought to choose, what we ought to beware of, and what is indifferent.”
Wisdom ultimately leads to action, or, in some cases, in-action. Viktor Frankl said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.” In that space is wisdom’s opportunity. Recognizing that space is the first step. That space is where we either take the lessons from our reading and/ or our life experiences and apply it or we throw it out the window and act impulsively and irrationally.
Wisdom is harnessing what the philosophy teaches then wielding it in the real world. As Seneca put it: “Works not words.”
Thousands of years of blazing insight are available to the world. It is likely that you have the power to learn anything you want at your fingertips. So today, honor the Masonic cardinal virtue of wisdom by slowing down, being deliberate, and finding the wisdom you need.
Two eyes, two ears, one mouth. Remain a student. Act accordingly—and wisely.
Warmest Fraternal Regards, Joe
Joseph F. Oelgoetz III, 32° KCCH
Personal Representative to the
Sovereign Grand Inspector General of the
Orient of Georgia
Mark Werner, Charbroil CEO presents a $1,000 check
Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus
RiteCare Donation
Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus’s RiteCare program was provided with a very generous donation from Charbroil - major provider of Backyard cooking products. In attendance from the Autism Learning Center (our RiteCare partner): Ms. Stacey Bass, Regional Director, KNR Therapy (Autism Learning Center’s parent company), Ms. Shelly Langley, Clinical Manager, Autism Learning Center, and Ms. Nicole Land, Autism Learning Center. From the Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus present: Illustrious Phil Harris, 33, Chairman of the Executive Committee (and RiteCare Chairman), Honorable Brother Roger Buterbaugh, 32 KCCH, General Secretary, and Honorable Brother Joseph Oelgoetz, 32 KCCH, Personal Representative. The check was presented by Mark Werner, CEO, Charbroil. RiteCare is all about helping children in our community communicate.
300th Celebration Silver Coin
300th Anniversary Coin commemorating the first constituted Grand Lodge from 1717-2017. 1 oz .999 Fine Silver Masonic coin. [One side stamped with Square and Compass and Genesis 1-3. Other Side with Appendant Bodies of masonry and coin sequence Number]. Each are serial number stamped 1-150. Can ask for specific number and availability but requires coordination with Bayardo Reyes at colsm@gascottishrite.org.
Key Notes from the Valley
Scottish Rite Valley of Columbus - 2022 Officers
Lodge of Perfection
Venerable Master Torrey Knight, 32o, KCCH
Senior Warden Baron Conklin, 32o, KCCH
Junior Warden Roger Buterbaugh, 32o, KCCH
Master of Ceremonies Rossi Ross, 32o, KCCH
Expert Bob Lyon, 32o, KCCH
Assistant Expert Ditmar Chavez, 32o, KCCH
Captain of the Host Russell Ward, 32o
Prelate Dennis Buchanan, 32o
Tyler Scott Lavelle, 32o
Chapter Knights Rose Croix
Wise Master John Ohrt, 33o
Senior Warden Rossie Ross, 32o, KCCH
Junior Warden Bill Block, 32o, KCCH
Master of Ceremonies Scott Lavelle, 32o
Expert Torrey Knight, 32o, KCCH
Standard Bearer Jonas Barlow, 32o
Guardian of the Temple Larry Cox, 32o, KCCH
Tyler Richard Luna, 32o
Council of Kadosh
Commander Bob Lyon, 32o, KCCH
1st Lt Commander Tony McCool, 32o, KCCH
2d Lt Commander Ed Lynch, 32o, KCCH
Chancellor Harold Culpepper, 32o, KCCH
Master of Ceremonies Ron Provencher, 32o, KCCH
Tercopiller Jonas Barlow, 32o
Draper Bayardo Reyes, 32o
Junior Deacon Bill Buffton, 32o, KCCH
Bearer of the Black Stand Mark Stillwell, 32o
Bearer of the White Stand Brian Pierce, 32o
Lt of the Guard Jacob Robideaux, 32o
Consistory
Master of Kadosh Sidney Cooley, 32o, KCCH
Prior Roger Buterbaugh, 32o, KCCH
Preceptor Harry Ross, 32o, KCCH
Chancellor Russell Ward, 32o
Minister of State Bayardo Reyes, 32o
Prelate Phillip Jones, 32o
Master of Ceremonies Torrey Knight, 32o, KCCH
Expert Ed Lynch, 32o, KCCH
Assistant Expert Tony McCool, 32o, KCCH
Captain of the Guard Matthew Dewinter, 32o
Steward John Adams, 32o
General Secretary
Comments
Brethren,
The 2023 dues season has begun! The Supreme Council loaded 2023 dues into the Sentinel data base on June 16 and are sending out 2023 dues notices. Dues should be paid by December 31, 2022. They are sending out dues notices which will include your 2023 dues card. Supreme Council is "advancing" your dues card to you with the understanding that you will pay your dues. So remember, having a 2023 dues card does not mean you have paid your dues! For those Brethren who have automatic payment via a credit card, Supreme Council has already charged your account. Look for a $150.00 payment on your next credit card statement.
Speaking of dues, we still have 30 Brethren who have not paid their 2022 dues (which were due December 31, 2021) and we have 25 Brethren who have not paid their 2021 and 2022 dues. That means the Valley of Columbus is short $12,000 in needed funding ($4,500 from the Brethren who still owe for 2022 and $7,500 from the Brethren who owe for two years). Brethren, we took an obligation to pay our dues when we became a Scottish Rite Mason. The Chair of the Membership Committee will be reaching out to the Brethren who owe for 2022. I will be sending a letter to those who are two years in arrears saying that if they do not pay by December 31, 2022 they will be subject to possible suspension for non-payment of dues. If anyone has financial difficulties which prevent them from paying, let me know for a possible remit.
Our next Lodge of Perfection meeting will be July 15 and it is the Knights of St Andrew meeting. The Knights will initiate their new members and will install their new officers. Dinner will be 6:30 p.m. and the Lodge of Perfection will open at 7:30 p.m. We are in summer attire so a Scottish Rite or another appropriate polo can be worn. The Commander will dictate the dress for Knights of St Andrew.
Finally, we have had an issue with food and drink being spilled on the carpeted floors at the Scottish Rite Center. Recently someone spilled a cup of coffee on the library carpet which left an unsightly stain. At the Executive Committee meeting on June 13, the Committee voted to ban all food and drink (except bottled water) on the carpeted areas of the Scottish Rite Center. We appreciate your cooperation with this. For more information see the Executive Committee minutes in this issue of the Ashlar.
Fraternally yours,
Roger Buterbaugh, 32° KCCH
General Secretary
Valley of Columbus
Roger Buterbaugh, 32° KCCH
Cameron Davis, 32°
Sincerely and Fraternally,
Cameron Jay Davis, 32°
Director of Knowledge Management & Communication
Editor - The Ashlar
Valley of Columbus
Editor - The Ashlar
Comments
Dear Brethren,
From the moment of our initiation into Freemasonry, we are taught to use the common gavel as a symbolic tool for a more noble and glorious purpose that is separate from that of the operative mason. The operative mason used this tool to perfect ashlars from the quarry to break off its rough edges so that they may better fit his building needs. As speculative Masons, we symbolically use it to divest our hearts and consciences of all the vices and superfluities of life. It is the tool provided to every Freemason to use upon proper self-examination so we might chip away the more rough behaviors and actions of our daily life. In doing so, we ultimately become better men than we were yesterday while we prepare ourselves to meet the G.A.O.T.U., our heavenly Father when this life is over. From my perspective, a good way to use the common gavel is by reflecting largely on Daniel Goleman’s theory of Emotional Intelligence (EQ/EI). We can use EQ as a roadmap to uncover the more perfect ashlar waiting to be constructed inside each Mason.
According to Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence is the capacity of recognizing our feelings and those of others, motivating ourselves, and managing emotions in ourselves as well as in our relationships. EQ is a critical aspect of managing our behavior, moving smoothly through social situations, and making critical choices in life. It is the pattern of how biases in our thinking lead to us believing one thing or choice is better than another. It defines our perception and provides clarity in differentiating within those biases to exercise clear and sound judgment. The four primary components of EQ are Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, and Relationship Management.
"Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of one's emotions, as well as one's strengths and limitations and one's values and motives" (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2015, loc. 810). It allows you to know what you are feeling and why, as well as how those feelings help or hurt - what you're trying to do. One must know who they are and identify their values, personality type, and skills before they can effectively manage their emotions. To control our emotions requires the ability to navigate the things that cause an emotional outburst. The value of being self-aware is that we are conscious of our strengths and our areas for improvement and thus in a better position to make necessary adjustments in our behaviors.
Self-management is "the focused drive that all leaders need to achieve their goals" (Goleman et al., 2015, loc. 898). It is the ability to keep disruptive emotions and impulses under control. This is a powerful skill for Masons, because, known Masons are always watched by non-Masons. Therefore, we make our greatest impact on society through the way we behave and conduct ourselves regardless of the situation. Self-management allows us to foster an environment that others in turn and sometimes even unknowingly pass along to others. Ultimately, controlling our emotions allow us to stay focused on the task. When we lose control, we lose the ability to have a positive impact on others.
Social awareness is accentually another way to say empathy and refers to the ability to empathize (Goleman et al., 2015, loc. 949). It indicates accuracy in reading and interpreting other people's emotions, often through non-verbal cues. Socially aware people can relate to many different types of people, they listen attentively and communicate effectively. Social awareness or the ability to empathize is all about “perspective” and putting ourselves in other people’s shoes in a meaningful way. Also, it is not only about understanding what someone may do in a given situation but also why they would do it.
Lastly, Relationship management according to Goldman et al. (2015), is the result of successfully employing the triad of self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness and is the "most visible tool of leadership-persuasion, conflict management, and collaboration among them" (loc. 996). Furthermore, effective and authentic relationship management fosters trust. It is an interpersonal skill set that allows us to act in ways that motivate, inspire, and harmonize with others, while also maintaining important relationships.
Click HERE to read the full article.
College of Freemasonry
The next SML is: Thursday, 14 July 2022 at 14:30 EST.
Solomon’s Masonic Learning (SML)
Solomon's Masonic Learning (SML) is a virtual learning environment developed by the Solomon Lodge Education Committee to assist the Master with instructing the Brethren in all areas of Masonic education. Using the Zoom platform, the Education Committee will coordinate and schedule Masonic learning presentations and when available, guest speakers to present in a virtual setting.
Visit www.sml822.com to see the latest and past SML events. If you do not already receive notifications, you can subscribe to the sml822 email distribution list and receive email notifications surrounding events and Masonic education information HERE.
The Lesser Lights
The Lesser Lights – 2019
Provided through The Educator by Norm McEvoy July 24, 2019. Written by M.W. Bro. James S. Hogg, P.G.M., G.Lof BC Vancouver and Quadra Lodge No.2 and dated April 15, 1980 SourceWhen an initiate is first brought to light in a Masonic Lodge, the radiance he receives comes from the three lesser lights, which form a triangle about the Altar. It seems, at first, rather odd, that so great and important a symbol should receive such scant attention in the ritualistic body of Freemasonry.
We are instructed that they are called Lesser Lights, that they are placed in a triangle, in order that by their light we may see other objects, that they represent the Sun and Moon and the Worshipful Master, for certain reasons which are rather briefly explained and that is all.
Later on we learn, more by example than by precept, & more by custom than by law, that the Lesser Lights are always lit when a lodge is opened, and even though their flames do not really burn, they are assumed to be burning. They are lighted as soon as the lodge is opened and the Altar arranged & to be extinguished when the lodge is closed, and the Greater Lights displaced. But nowhere in our ritual are we told much of anything as to why all these things are so; i.e. how the Lesser Lights came to be; and what their hidden, covered, secret, symbolic meaning is.
You may search through many a Masonic Book and find no more information on the lesser lights than the ritual gives. Albert G. Mackey, a great authority on Freemasonry, is unusually brief and beyond drawing a parallel to the use of the seven-branched candelabra as described in the Great Light and stating that their use in Masonry is very old, & their appearance in print in references to Masonry in the l7th century, adds practically nothing in education to the ritual explanations. And yet it could not be possible that we simply ignore it.
It seems obvious that these lights represent symbolism within Freemasonry, of which there are so many, and which the individual brother is supposed to examine and translate for himself, getting from it what he can, and enjoying what he gets in direct proportion to the amount of labor and thought he is willing to devote to the process of extracting the meaning from the outer covering. This paper is intended to clarify their use!!!!
Let us dig a bit together; (a burden shared is a burden halved).
In the ceremony, immediately after the Lesser Lights are named, our attention is directed to the fact that they are in a triangle about the Altar.
In some Jurisdictions they are closely about the Altar and in some others, one is placed at each of the stations of the three principal officers.
Of course, it is not possible to place three lights to form anything else but a triangle; they cannot be made to form a square or a star.
Which brings us to the first place in which to sink our Masonic shovel!!
Why are there three Lesser Lights and not two or four or more? There are a number of reasons & any thinking brother has already discovered the use of the number THREE throughout the whole system of Ancient Craft Masonry; three Degrees; three steps, three ancient Grand Masters, and so on.
It will be no surprise to recall that three is the first of the great Sacred Numbers of the Ancient Mysteries, and that it is the numerical symbol of God. Not, if you please, because God was necessarily considered as triune.
While many religions of many ages and peoples have conceived of Divinity as a trinity, (3) the figure three as a symbol of God is far older than any trinitarian doctrine. It comes from the triangle, which is the first possible figure made up of straight lines, which is without beginning or ending.
One line, or two lines have ends. They start and finish. The triangle, like the square or the five or more-sided figure, has no loose ends and the triangle is the first of these which can be made; as God was always considered as First, and also as without either a beginning or ending, the triangle itself soon became a symbol of Deity.
Sun worship was among the first of religions; let him who knows lay down the facts as to whether sun worship preceded fire worship or fire worship that of the sun. To us it does not matter. Sun worship is far, far older than any recorded history; it goes back, far back, into the first dim mists which obscure the very first, beginnings of intelligence.
So, it was only natural that the early worshipers should set a light beside their altar or holy place and name it for the sun. Ancient peoples made much of sex. Their two greatest impulses were self-preservation and mating. Their third was protection of children. So enormously powerful were these impulses in primal man, that not all his civilization, his luxury, his complicated and involved life, have succeeded in removing these as the principal mainsprings of all human endeavor.
It was natural for the savage worshiper of a shining god in the sky to think he, too, required a mate; especially when that mate was so plainly in evidence; the moon became the Sun’s bride by a process of reasoning as plain as it was childlike. Father, mother – There must be a child, of course. And that child was Mercury, the nearest planet to the sun, the one god kept closest to him. Here we have the origin of the three Lesser Lights; in earliest recorded accounts of the Mysteries of Eleusis (to mention only one) we find three lights about the holy place, representing the Sun, the Moon and Mercury.
Albert Pike says: “They are still the Three Lights of a Masonic Lodge, except that for Mercury, the Master of the Lodge has been absurdly substituted”.
Albert Pike was a very great and very learned man. To him Freemasonry owes a debt greater, perhaps than to any other who ever lived; he gave her study, he brought forth her poetry, he interpreted her symbols, he defined her truths, he made plain much that she had concealed, but Pike himself defended the right of all Masons to study and interpret the symbols of Freemasonry for themselves. So that it is with no thought of controversy with the immortal dead that many contend that there is no absurdity in Freemasonry taking the ancient lights which symbolize Sun and Moon and Mercury and making them stand for Sun and Moon and Worshipful Master of His Lodge.
For Sun and Moon give light. While it is true that there is no real regularity with which the Moon GOVERNS the night; since the night gets along just as well without the Moon as he with her she does give light when she is present. There is no question that the Sun governs and rules the day; without the Sun there would be no day. The Sun of course gives light and life as well. The Worshipful Master rules and governs his lodge as truly as the Sun and Moon rule and govern day and night. There can be no lodge without a Worshipful Master; he is in a very real sense the lodge itself.
There are some things he cannot do that the brethren under him, can do. But without him the brethren can do nothing, while he, without the brethren’s consent or even their assistance, can do much. It is one of the principal functions of the Worshipful Master to disseminate (share) light —- Masonic light to his lodge. That duty is often honored by neglect as by performance, has nothing to do with the fact that it is a duty. So that the inclusion of a symbol of the Worshipful Master, as a giver of light, is to most of us neither fanciful nor absurd, but a logical carrying out of that Masonic doctrine which makes a Master the Giver of Light to his brethren.
The ritual instructs candidates that they behold the Great Lights of Masonry by the illumination of the Lesser Lights. This is an actual fact, but it is also a symbol. The Great Light cannot be read without light; the Square and Compasses cannot be used in the dark, neither can be understood; nor can we make use of them for the noble and glorious purpose taught us in Speculative Masonry, without we receive symbolic light.
Masonic light, from the East; that is, from the Worshipful Master or those he delegates to bring that “good and wholesome instruction” which is at once his duty and his happiness. A lesson is taught in the references to regularity of the heavenly luminaries, as guides for the government of a lodge by the Worshipful Master. The fact that the Moon is not regular in her attendance upon the Sun, or the night, and that she does not, in any such sense as does the sun, govern the period of darkness in which she appears, in no way detracts from the forces of these admonitions.
These phrases are very old and go back to a time when men knew much less of astronomy than they do today; to a time when the moon in popular belief had much greater powers than she actually possesses. We know the moon to have almost no effect upon the earth, as far as our lives are concerned, save as she makes the tides.
Our ancient brethren believed her Light to be full of weird and wonderful powers; moon-struck (from Luna, the moon) and are symbol words of these ancient and now exploded beliefs.
Less than 200 years ago, many crimes, misdemeanors, beneficent influences and beautiful actions were ascribed to the moon, things evil had to be done “in the dark of the moon“; witches were supposed to ride in moonlight, dogs bayed at the moon because by its light they could see what was hidden from mortal eyes, sheeted ghosts preferred moonlight to starlight and incantations were never properly recited unless in the moonlight; the moon gave or withheld crops, influenced the weather and when eclipsed, foretold disaster.
With such a body of belief, it is not surprising that the moon was considered, even by the better educated, to have “governing” powers, whence probably, her inclusion with such abilities into our ritual.
That we know better is in no sense antagonistic to our use of the old, old phrases in our ceremonies. We know better about many things!!!
The knowledge of the art of architecture as set forth in the Middle Chamber lecture, would get no one a job as office boy in a builder’s office today.
Our penalties, never enforced by Masons are wholly symbolic. We have many other ways of transmitting intelligence today which are not included in a list of ways of writing and printing. But we love and repeat the old ritual because it is old; because it is a bond with those who have gone this way before us; because it is the time-tried and well trusted way of making Masons and we would not alter it.
So, we continue to have our moon “govern” the night, and do it “regularly” too, finding in this bond with other men of other times something dear and precious, none the less that the words portray only a fancy. Indeed, the whole matter of the Lesser Lights is such a bond, and such a fancy.
It would be far more accurate if we repeated The Lesser Lights represent the sun, the earth and the moon. As the sun in its gravity, causes the earth to revolve around it in 365 and a fraction of days, and the moon revolves about the earth in approximately 28 days, so the earth is never without Government and light, as all lodges should be. But would you like that sort of ritual?
It should be noted that it is by the light of the Lesser Lights that the Entered Apprentice is led to see those objects which mean so much to a Mason, The Great Lights. The Inestimable Gift of God to Man for the Rule and Guide of His Faith; the tools dedicated to the Craft and to the Master and the Alpha and Omega of Freemasonry.
Light alone is not enough; light must be used. Here too, is symbolism which is well to muse upon. Light from the East, illumination from the Master, is not enough. It is merely a help by which we can see the truth and use it. As the illumination from the Lesser Lights gives us opportunity to see, examine, understand, and live by the great principles of fraternity and brotherhood. Perhaps it is because this is so that the Master is given the Sun and Moon as guides; an erratic Master, one whose light is not well governed, one whose illumination to his brethren is feeble and intermittent, does not make for a well-educated, well-instructed Craft.
But the Master who takes the Sun and Moon for guides, whose light given to his brethren is brilliant and complete when they need it, soft and gentle when they are in the mood, who can be depended upon, whose conduct is in all ways “regular” he is a Master to be cherished and revered, for he is truly “worshipful” in the best sense of the old word, a veritable seventh jewel in the lodge.
As the lodge, as a whole, is a symbol of the world, so a man’s heart should always be to him, a symbol of the lodge.
In it he should carry ever what he may remember of the Great Light, and with spiritual compasses lay out his work, with spiritual square, square both work and actions toward all mankind, more especially a brother Mason.
Therefore, must he carry also in his heart three tiny Lesser Lights, by the light of which he uses his spiritual lodge furnishings.
If he lights these from the torch of love and burns one for friendliness, one for helpfulness and one for Godliness, he will be truly an Initiate in the real sense of that term and find when he stands in the physical temple, about the Altar of Freemasonry, a new satisfaction in the new meaning which the three lesser Lights or Luminaries will, with silent light and soft, imprint upon his heart.
Committee Reports
College of Freemasonry
June was a busy month for us all and as a result, there was no meeting due to scheduling conflicts. As we continue to move forward in the course, I hope to see you next Month. Speaking of the future, we are making some changes to the College of Freemasonry Committee. I will be handing over the Chairmanship of the Committee to Brother Jim Davis as he will be able to serve you and The Valley of Columbus Scottish Rite Orient of Georgian further Light. Thank you for this opportunity.
Philanthropy/RiteCare
Please visit the RiteCare Page.
Knowledge Management & Communications (KMC)
Many thanks to the hard work of Bro. Bayardo Reyes, we now have our 100th year anniversary logo.
Valley Membership Achievement Project (VMAP)
The Valley of Columbus welcomed and congratulated 9 new Members to Columbus Scottish Rite. These Brethren received their cap and ring at a Valley Ceremony held on 17th June 2022. These new Scottish Rite Brothers will be added to the VMAP Tracker.
Vol. 1, No. 8 - Jul 2022