They enjoy
being together with men they like and respect. (we'll
look at some of these things later)
FREEMASONRY EXPLAINED - WHAT IS IT?
No one knows
just how old freemasonry is because the actual origins
have been lost in time. Probably, it arose from the
guilds of stone masons who built the castles and
cathedrals of the Middle Ages. Possibly, they were
influenced by the Knights Templar, a group of Christian
warrior monks formed in 1118 to help protect pilgrims
making trips to the Holy Land.
In 1717, Freemasonry members created a formal
organization in England when the first Grand Lodge was
formed. A Grand Lodge is the administrative body in
charge of Freemasonry in some geographical area. In the
United States, there is a Grand Lodge of Freemasonry in
each state and the District of Columbia. In Canada,
there is a Grand Lodge of Freemasonry in each province.
Local organizations of Freemasony are called lodges.
There are freemasonry lodges in most towns, and large
cities usually have several. There are about 13,200
lodges in the United States.
WH0 ARE
THE MASONS?
Freemasons
are a unique institution that has been a major part of
community life in America for over two hundred and fifty
(250) years. It is America’s largest and oldest
fraternity, and one that continues to be an important
part of many men’s personal lives and growth.
The fraternity of masons are an organization of men
bound together with a philosophy of moral standards,
mutual understanding and brotherhood in which all men
are on a level and equal.
WHAT ARE
THE MASONS?
Masons are
men who have decided they like to feel good about
themselves and others. They care about the future as
well as the past, and do what they can, both alone and
with others, to make the future good for everyone.
Many men over many generations have answered the
question, "What are the Masons?" One of the most
eloquent was written by the Reverend Joseph Fort Newton,
an internationally honored minister of the first half of
the 20th Century and Grand Chaplain, Grand Lodge of
Iowa, 1911-1913.
IS
FREEMASONRY A RELIGION?
Although
Freemasonry is not a religion, its emphasis on the
Fatherhood of God ensures that the Brotherhood of Man
follows naturally. This coupled with the obligation to
abide by the Golden Rule, particularly with a fellow
Mason, makes for one of the strongest bonds of society.
When you meet other Masons, the odds are very high
indeed, that they will treat you as you would like to be
treated.
The goal of this site is to serve as a forum for
communication with the membership of the Michigan Masons
in the Grand Lodge of Michigan, as well as an
information resource for masons and non masons alike in
Michigan and around the world.
WHEN ARE
MEN CONSIDERED MASONS?
Freemasons and virtue:
When they can look out over the rivers, the hills, and
the far horizon with a profound sense of their own
littleness in the vast scheme of things, and yet have
faith, hope, and courage -- which is the root of every
virtue.
Masons and nobility:
When they know that down in their heart every man is as
noble, as vile, as divine, as diabolic, and as lonely as
himself, and seeks to know, to forgive, and to love
their fellowman.
Freemasons and sympathy:
When they know how to sympathize with men in their
sorrows, yea, even in their sins -- knowing that each
man fights a hard fight against many odds.
Fraternal friendship:
When they have learned how to make friends and to keep
them, and above all how to keep friends with themselves.
Masons and life:
When they love flowers, can hunt birds without a gun,
and feels the thrill of an old forgotten joy when he
hears the laugh of a little child.
Happiness:
When they can be happy and high-minded amid the meaner
drudgeries of life.
Masons and rememberence:
When star-crowned trees and the glint of sunlight on
flowing waters subdue themselves like the thought of one
much loved and long dead.
Freemasons and aiding a distressed voice:
When no voice of distress reaches their ears in vain,
and no hand seeks their aid without response.
Faith:
When they find good in every faith that helps any man to
lay hold of divine things and sees majestic meanings in
life, whatever the name of that faith may be.
Masons and fellow man:
When they can look into a wayside puddle and see
something beyond mud, and into the face of the most
forlorn fellow mortal and see something beyond sin.
Hope:
When they know how to pray, how to love, how to hope.
Masons and their God:
When they have kept faith with themselves, with their
fellowman, and with their God; in their hand a sword for
evil, in their heart a bit of a song -- glad to live,
but not afraid to die! - Masons.
Mason and Secrets:
Such men have found the only real secret of Masonry, and
the one which it is trying to give to all the world.
These are the Masons.
FROM
BRITAIN TO AMERICA, HOW?
In a time
when travel was by horseback and sailing ship, Masonry
spread with amazing speed. By 1731, when Benjamin
Franklin joined the fraternity, there were already
several lodges in the Colonies, and Freemasonry spread
rapidly as America expanded west. In addition to
Franklin, many of the Founding Fathers -- men such as
George Washington, Paul Revere, Joseph Warren, and John
Hancock -- were Masons. Masons and Freemasonry played an
important part in the Revolutionary War and an even more
important part in the Constitutional Convention and the
debates surrounding the ratification of the Bill of
Rights. Many of those debates were held in Masonic
lodges.
WHAT IS
A LODGE?
The word
"lodge" means both a group of Freemasonry members
meeting in some place and the room or building in which
they meet. Freemasonry or Masonic buildings are also
sometimes called "temples" because much of the symbolism
Freemasonry uses to teach its lessons comes from the
building of King Solomon's Temple in the Holy Land. The
term "lodge" itself comes from the structures which the
stonemasons built against the sides of the cathedrals
during construction. In winter, when building had to
stop, they lived in these lodges and worked at carving
stone.
If you've ever watched C-SPAN's coverage of the House of
Commons in London, you'll notice that the layout is
about the same. Since Freemasonry came to America from
England, we still use the English floorplan and English
titles for the officers. The Worshipful Master of the
Lodge sits in the East. "Worshipful" is an English term
of respect which means the same thing as "Honorable." He
is called the Master of the lodge for the same reason
that the leader of an orchestra is called the "Concert
Master." It's simply an older term for "Leader." In
other organizations, he would be called "President." The
Senior and Junior Wardens are the First and Second
Vice-Presidents. The Deacons are messengers, and the
Stewards have charge of refreshments.
Every lodge has an altar holding a "Volume of the Sacred
Law." In the United States and Canada, that is almost
always a Bible.
SO IS
FREEMASONRY EDUCATION?
Yes. In a
very real sense, education is at the center of
Freemasonry. We have stressed its importance for a very
long time. Back in the Middle Ages, schools were held in
the lodges of stonemasons. You have to know a lot to
build a cathedral -- geometry, and structural
engineering, and mathematics, just for a start. And that
education was not very widely available. All the formal
schools and colleges trained people for careers in the
church, or in law or medicine. And you had to be a
member of the social upper classes to go to those
schools. Stonemasons did not come from the aristocracy.
And so the lodges had to teach the necessary skills and
information. Freemasonry dedication to education started
there.
It has continued. Freemasons started some of the first
public schools in both Europe and America. We supported
legislation to make education universal. In the 1800s
Masons as a group lobbied for the establishment of
state-supported education and federal land-grant
colleges. Today we give millions of dollars in
scholarships each year. We encourage our members to give
volunteer time to their local schools, buy classroom
supplies for teachers, help with literacy programs, and
do everything they can to help assure that each person,
adult or child, has the best educational opportunities
possible.
And Freemasonry supports continuing education and
intellectual growth for its members, insisting that
learning more about many things is important for anyone
who wants to keep mentally alert and young.
Freemasonry teaches some important principles. There's
nothing very surprising in the list. Freemasonry teaches
that:
Since God is the Creator, all men and women are the
children of God. Because of that, all men and women are
brothers and sisters, entitled to dignity, respect for
their opinions, and consideration of their feelings.
Each person must take responsibility for his/her own
life and actions. Neither wealth nor poverty, education
nor ignorance, health nor sickness excuses any person
from doing the best he or she can do or being the best
person possible under the circumstances.
No one has the right to tell another person what he or
she must think or believe. Each man and woman has an
absolute right to intellectual, spiritual, economic, and
political freedom. This is a right given by God, not by
man. All tyranny, in every form, is illegitimate.
Each person must learn and practice self-control. Each
person must make sure his spiritual nature triumphs over
his animal nature. Another way to say the same thing is
that even when we are tempted to anger, we must not be
violent. Even when we are tempted to selfishness, we
must be charitable. Even when we want to "write someone
off," we must remember that he or she is a human and
entitled to our respect. Even when we want to give up,
we must go on. Even when we are hated, we must return
love, or, at a minimum, we must not hate back. It isn't
easy!
Faith must be in the center of our lives. We find that
faith in our houses of worship, not in Freemasonry, but
Freemasonry constantly teaches that a person's faith,
whatever it may be, is central to a good life.
Each person has a responsibly to be a good citizen,
obeying the law. That doesn't mean we can't try to
change things, but change must take place in legal ways.
It is important to work to make this world better for
all who live in it. Freemasonry teaches the importance
of doing good, not because it assures a person's
entrance into heaven -- that's a question for a
religion, not a fraternity -- but because we have a duty
to all other men and women to make their lives as
fulfilling as they can be.
Honor and integrity are essential to life. Life without
honor and integrity is without meaning.
WHAT ARE
THE REQUIREMENTS TO JOIN THE MASONS?
The person
who wants to join Freemasonry must be a man (it's a
fraternity), sound in body and mind, who believes in
God, is at least the minimum age required by Masonry in
his state, and has a good reputation. (Incidentally, the
"sound in body" requirement -- which comes from the
stonemasons of the Middle Ages -- doesn't mean that a
physically challenged man cannot be a Mason; many are).
Those are the only "formal" requirements. But there are
others, not so formal. He should believe in helping
others. He should believe there is more to life than
pleasure and money. He should be willing to respect the
opinions of others. And he should want to grow and
develop as a human being.
HOW DOES
A MAN BECOME A FREEMASON?
Some men are
surprised that no one has ever asked them to become a
Mason. They may even feel that the Masons in their town
don't think they are "good enough" to join. But it
doesn't work that way. For hundreds of years, Masons
have been forbidden to ask others to join the
fraternity. We can talk to friends about Freemasonry. We
can tell them about what Freemasonry does. We can tell
them why we enjoy it. But we can't ask, much less
pressure, anyone to join.
There's a good reason for that. It isn't that we're
trying to be exclusive. But becoming a Mason is a very
serious thing. Joining Freemasonry is making a permanent
life commitment to live in certain ways. We've listed
most of them above -- to live with honor and integrity,
to be willing to share with and care about others, to
trust each other, and to place ultimate trust in God. No
one should be "talked into" making such a decision.
So, when a man decides he wants to be a Freemasonry
Mason, he asks a Mason for a petition or application. He
fills it out and gives it to the Mason, and that Mason
takes it to the local lodge. The Master of the lodge
will appoint a committee to visit with the man and his
family, find out a little about him and why he wants to
become a member of the Masons, tell him and his family
about Freemasonry, and answer their questions. The
committee reports to the lodge, and the lodge votes on
the petition. If the vote is affirmative -- and it
usually is -- the lodge will contact the man to set the
date for the Entered Apprentice Degree. When the person
has completed all three degrees, he is a Master Mason
and a full member of the Freemasonry fraternity.
Click Here for a
Petition for Membership
