Chugging Along

Well, it seems that things are going okay. This past Tuesday was a long meeting. There were multiple awards to hand out, all the initial business of the first meeting of the year, and so on. We didn't get out until 9 PM, which is really something we need to try and avoid. Life would be a lot easier if we didn't have the Chapter/Council meetings back-to-back.

Some of the proposals I made seemed to be met with a lot of skepticism - but quiet skepticism. I am remaining optimistic. One thing that I'm proud of is that with the exception of one part where I skipped a short section, I have got the ritualistic opening/closing down really well.

I'm excited to see what kind of change I can help affect here, and how I can help my Chapter & Council grow.

When "No Coming Back" was a While Back

Tomorrow night is my first meeting as the presiding officer in my Chapter and Council. I've been working on the meeting agenda like a madman staring at the wall, looking for hidden messages. There may be such thing as over-preparing, but for now, I'm just gonna roll with it and let myself obsess over it.

I'm going to be proposing some practical stuff, and a bunch of idealistic stuff. It's gonna be great. I really do hope that this is something that the Chapter and Council see as a positive thing. I also have some education lined up for Council, but I don't know if we'll have enough time. I hope we do. 

I'm praying with gratitude for luck, wisdom, and guidance. I guess I'll report back later with results?

Assuming the Role of Leadership

Pray for me, y'all.

It was my profound honor to be installed as the Most Excellent High Priest in my Royal Arch Chapter, and the Thrice Illustrious Master in my Cryptic Council.

For those not familiar with these terms, the Royal Arch Chapter and Cryptic Council are two separate bodies you can join within Masonry after becoming a Master Mason - the MEHP and TIM are, respectively, the "President" of each local body.

I'm very young for a presiding officer. Very, very young. Additionally, I haven't been doing this very long - I've only been a Mason for almost two years, and I've been a York Rite mason for not quite a year and a half. This is truly a trial by fire - not a bad way, I assure you.

I'm grateful to my Companions for electing/installing me. It's kind of terrifying, to be honest, even though this is something I want. I can only hope that this nervousness motivates me to do the best job I can. I know that things will go well, though. Texas Chapter & Council have a huge network of past presiding officers that have been, and will be, great mentors to rely on.

This is going to be a fun year.

Lighting Test for the Select Master's Degree

This is a lighting test that I am working on with a "JUNOLUX" light bulb. The bulb is about $30, and is comprised of about 100 individual LEDs that turn on and off in order to simulate a flickering flame. The bulb looks kind of odd without a lampshade or cover, but once covered, or hidden behind an object, it looks fairly realistic.

There should be mystery in Masonry, and the degrees should be a wild, intense experience. One of the things that we can do to help achieve that is to set the mood with a well-thought-out ambiance. Without giving too much away, the Select Master degree is supposed to take place in a very dark, very secluded area. I talked with a member of the Grand Chapter & Council Committee on Work (the committee which writes our ritual and figures out how degrees should be performed) who explained that the degree should, ideally, be done in almost total darkness.

However, doing it in the dark can be pretty impractical. Nobody can see, there’s an increased fall risk, etc. How do we address this issue? My answer is that we should look at the idea of targeted low-lighting that is "lore friendly." What kind of lighting would have been used in King Solomon’s time? Workers on the Temple would most likely have used torches, candles, or braziers of coal. Those are all pretty cool - but none of them are really okay in regards to my Masonic temple’s policy regarding flammable materials in the carpeted rooms. We have to look at special effects instead, in the form of LED bulbs.

These are the next few questions that I am going to try to find the answers to:

• Where is the best light placement in the room to increase lighting without using too many bulbs, running too many cords, etc?
• How much light is too much light?
• Will props used in the degree be an issue for lighting?
• If more bulbs are needed, are the cheaper versions as reliable?
• What is the most practical and lore-friendly way to house the light (lamp stand, fake firepit, prop torch, etc)?

Needless to say, I have some experimenting to do.

Royal & Select Master Degrees

A Cryptic Message

Wow, what a wild ride. I had been given some "hints" regarding the Council degrees, but I still wasn’t prepared. The Royal Master degree in particular was very beautiful! The solemnity of the soliloquiy gave me shivers. There’s a lot that I would like to discuss, but unfortunately most all of that is stuff that I can’t talk about publicly! It was a great experience and I’m still digesting it, so to speak.