On The Verge of Tears

Tonight was the inaugural communication (first meeting) of the largest masonic lodge in the state of New Jersey.  It was formed from three former Lodges who surrendered their charters last week at the Grand Lodge communication in Atlantic City.  Its first gathering was held, and will continue to be held at the masonic building near the speedline in downtown Haddonfield.

There are a handful of elected officers in the “line,” the hierarchy of the Master, Wardens and Deacons.  Then there are appointed offices, of which I have been appointed Chaplain.  I’ve served as Chaplain in my former Lodge, and now have the honor of being in the officers’ line in the very first year of the new Lodge.

My old Lodge was 100 years old.  The other two that merged with ours were nearly as old as well.  It really is an amazing honor to be part of the foundation of a new Lodge, the newest, the largest and hopefully the longest lasting fraternity of masonic brothers currently in this state.

I am especially delighted that I’m the Chaplain.  People who know me may wonder how the hell I became the spiritual direction of my fraternity.  But I see my appointment as a testament to how masonry works.  I’ve always explored different disciplines, theologies, philosophies…and though I’ve never completely settled on a single one, I can always find some facet of each that has value.  Masonry doesn’t care what you believe, only that you are in awe of something.  I certainly am, and think I can express that in as much a universal way as anyone can.

This entry was posted on May 5, 2010 at 10:24 PM and is filed under Masonic Insights with tags masonry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.