Masonic Life Network

 Menifee Valley Lodge #289, Sun City, will be hosting the 17th Annual Dr. Vick Knight Commemorative High School Constitution Contest on October 18, 2012, at 6:30 pm. Dr Knight, who is a member of Menifee Valley Lodge, and a former member of the Riverside Board of Education, founded and headed the contest for the previous 16 years. Frank Postmus, PM, will be the Quizmaster this year.

Submitted,

Frank Postmus, PM

See the video for more information about this upcoming event.  If you have any questions about this event, or if you would like an upcoming event at your Lodge featured on our site, please send the information to Frank Lee at allcingeye@aol.com.

Lewrana and I flew to San Francisco on Wednesday, September 19^th to prepare for this year’s Annual Communications. San Francisco greeted us with lovely blue skies and 70 degree weather, which was a welcome change from the 90 degree weather we had in Riverside. We enjoyed a delightful Italian dinner that evening with the other Assistant Grand Lecturers and their wives. On Thursday we met with the Grand Lodge officers and their wives for a review of the weekend’s activities, which was followed by a ritual practice for the Grand Lodge officers. The members of the Grand Lodge family shared a great evening with lots of laughs and fellowship at the farewell dinner at the Italian restaurant “Original Joe’s” in North Beach.

Friday was a very historic day, for not only did the 163rd Annual Communications of the Grand Lodge of California open but we were able to see the space shuttle Endeavour circle San Francisco. We had just crossed the street from the Fairmont Hotel, where we had breakfast at their coffee café, to the Mark Hopkins Hotel, when we noticed many people pointing to the Golden Gate Bridge. And at that moment the space shuttle flew past the bridge. It was an amazing sight that I was able to record on my IPad. We were able to see it between the buildings as it circled the city. Some members from Palm Springs Lodge and Temescal Palms Lodge were in the “Top of the Mark” restaurant, at our hotel, and have some even more incredible pictures.

The Annual Communications were opened by Most Worshipful Frank Loui the Grand Master, at 1:00P.M. The afternoon proceeded with formal opening and various reports were given. Lewrana and I enjoyed a great Italian meal at the first reunion of Most Worshipful Bill and Linda Bray’s grand family.  We wanted to thank those that had invited us to their own special dinners they had that evening.

Saturday started bright and early with the business session beginning at 8:30 A.M. While the men got down to business upstairs the ladies were downstairs enjoying a box lunch, after which they boarded buses to attend this year ladies event, the play “Beach Blanket Babylon” at Club Fugazi in North Beach. I understand they all enjoyed the play, even though the women say it is a little hard to explain. Their refreshments at the play were sponsored by Acacia Creek.

The afternoon session included voting on legislation and the elections of the 2012-2013 Grand Lodge officers.  26 pieces of new and carried-over resolutions were discussed and voted upon. Many landmark decisions were made that will affect the future of our Lodges. The evening concluded with the grand banquet of the Hilton Union Square hotel. At our dinner table Mike Sekera, from Temecula Lodge, was able to procure an unending supply of rolls from our server and there was some serious discussion over who how to disburse the incredible array of desserts we were to share. It was a great evening that we enjoyed sharing with many members and their wives from our Division.

Sunday concluded with the public ceremonies and the Installation of the 2012-2013 Grand Lodge officers with Most Worshipful John Lowe as Grand Master. Congratulations to all of this year’s new Grand Lodge officers and to the two new Assistant Grand Lectures that have joined our ranks. We said our goodbyes to the many members of our Division and their wives that attended this year. We attended a dinner for the new Grand Family that evening and flew home on Tuesday afternoon.

I look forward to working with the Inspectors, officers and Lodge’s in the Division this new Grand Lodge year.

Frank Lee

Assistant Grand Lecturer Division 8

On Tuesday, September 11th, Brother Tony Martin was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in Hemet Lodge #615. Lodge was opened and the First Section conferred by Worshipful Anthony McLean and his corps of officers from Temecula Catalina Island Lodge #524. Members of the Division VIII Degree Team conferred the second section of the degree and Worshipful Frank Postmus, PM, delivered the lecture. The degree was well attended and many of the Brothers present agreed that the presentation of the degree was most impressive.
Submitted by,
Frank Postmus, PM

See the video for more information about upcoming events in Division 8. We also have information for an event in Division 7.  If you have any questions, please contact the AGL, Frank Lee at allcingeye@aol.com.   If you would like an upcoming event at your Lodge featured on our site, please send the information to my email address.

Frank Lee – AGL Division 8

My Brothers,

There is a portion in our Obligation that goes, “…I will always hele, forever conceal and never reveal, any of the secret arts, parts or points". We have all said it. We have memorized it for our proficiency and have recited it, perfectly. I’ll bet you know what I am going to ask. You’re right! What does it mean? What does it mean to “always hele”? What are “the secret arts, parts or points”?

For the longest time, I gave the meaning of the phrase, “always hele” a mental shrug. I figured I’d say it because I was supposed to say it, but I didn’t know what it meant and to tell the truth, I didn’t really care. There was other stuff in the Obligation that sounded more important, stuff that I could understand without having to do too much thinking – and with all the memorization going on, there wasn’t that much room left over for thinking. Same thing for the arts, parts or points. I decided that those words meant “Masonic stuff”, stuff that eventually I’d learn about, somehow. But, it bothered me to be saying something, solemnly swearing to something, that I was unsure about. I figured I owed it to Masonry and myself to stop being mentally lazy and to find out.

Now, for the answers to these questions you have to do some research because you won’t find the explanations in the Ritual or the Monitor. I found the “Masonic Encyclopedia”, written by Albert G. Mackey about 120 years ago. Now, I know that not everyone has a copy sitting in the bookshelf, but it can be found at the Scottish Rite Temple, downtown, along with a bunch of other great Masonic books. If you haven’t been there, you should go.

Anyhow, I found out that “I will always HELE”, with the spelling H-E-L-E, comes from the Anglo Saxon word, “helan”, meaning to keep safe or secure, especially by hiding. We are saying, I will keep safe and secure, forever conceal and never reveal, any of the hidden mysteries of Freemasonry. Got it.

I found out that the next part of the phrase, “any of the secret ARTS, PARTS, OR POINTS”, has three distinct meanings:
ARTS, are the specific Masonic things or knowledge made known.
PARTS are the degrees or structure into which Masonry is divided.
POINTS means the rules and/or usages.

You have to dig a little deeper to figure out what those definitions mean. Arts refers to the preparation of the candidate, the due form of standing, the steps, the Obligation's Due Form, the Due Guard, Sign, Token, and Word of the degree, including the symbolism and the associated explanations.

Parts refers to Masonry’s degree structure. Swearing to safeguard this one may seem a bit problematic. We know that there are open source books, pamphlets, and even official internet sites that explain the degrees and structure of Masonry. Apparently, there was greater secrecy about this in the past, but it’s common knowledge, now. But, Parts also includes the actual conduct of the degree ceremony and the Masonic symbols for each degree and their meanings. This includes the sequence of events in a degree ceremony; what was done, when, and by whom. Lastly, it includes the symbolism and meaning of the Square, the Compasses, the Working tools, Jewels, Lights, the Apron, and the content of the Lectures. So, despite some openness, the Masonic knowledge illustrating these Parts does need to be safeguarded.

Points refers to the clauses in our Obligation. You know, until I looked this up, I didn’t think of the Obligation as a contract with clauses, but I guess that makes sense when you think about it. Let’s look at the clauses. The first one is the Secrecy Clause, also called the Tie Clause. This is the part we’ve been talking about.

Then there’s the Positives or Affirmatives Clause. In this clause we find out what the Mason must do.

Next, is the Negatives Clause, or what the Mason must not do. This is the “I will not” paragraph. Finally, there is the Penalties Clause, or what a Mason agrees will happen under violation of the preceding clauses. This is the “binding myself under no less a penalty” paragraph.

So, now we know the details of what we must keep safe, concealed, and never reveal. This one short phrase proves that there are many “hidden mysteries” in Freemasonry. We just didn’t realize that some were hidden right up front in the Obligation, did we?

Br. Stephen C. Harrington – March 5, 2007