Shiloh Lodge #327
April 2004
 Trestleboard

From the East

As a Mason, when and where should we draw the line to recruit for our fraternal order?  As the new Master of Shiloh Lodge #327 A\F\ & A\M\, I have asked myself this question over and over again, and the answer was: anywhere you feel comfortable discussing what being a Mason means to you.  

This means if you are at work, gym, mall, store or over at a friend’s house you should be proud of what the fraternal order stands for and all your brothers you have grown to know through the order. 

If you need to have a business card, hat, coat, ring, necklace or T-shirt on to start a conversation with somebody, then that’s ok; however, the point I want to make is everybody has a different comfort level when it comes to talking about masonry and that’s where you need to draw the line.  

If we can get every brother to draw their own line in being a mason then all we have to do is be ourselves, because that’s what going to attract new members to join our lodge.  In 2004 we will be true to ourselves and use our resources to make 2004 a very successful year.

Fraternally Yours,

Cleo M. Miller

Worshipful Master-2004

 Carl H. Claudy Excerpted from Introduction to Freemasonry I Entered Apprentice 

No symbol in all Freemasonry has the universal significance of the Square.  It is the typical jewel; the emblem known the world over as the premier implement of the stone worker and the most important of the Masonic working tools. 

Every schoolboy learns that an angle of ninety degrees is a right angle.  So common is the description that few - even few Masons - pause in busy lives to ask why.

The ninety-degree angle is not only a right angle, but it is the right angle - the only angle which is "right" for stones which will form a wall, a building, a cathedral.  Any other angle is, Masonically, incorrect.  

    About the symbolism of the Square is nothing abstruse.  Stonemasons use it to prove the Perfect Ashlars.  If the stone fits the square, it is ready for the builder's use.  Hence the words "try square" and hence, too, the universal significance of the word "square," meaning moral, upright, honourable, fair dealing. 

Five centuries before the Christian era - to mention only one ancient use of the Square as an emblem of morality - a Chinese author wrote a book called The Great Learning. In it is the negative of the Golden Rule, that a man should not do unto others that which he does not wish others to do unto him.  And then the Chinese sage adds, "This is called the principle of acting on the Square." 

The initiate walks around the lodge turning corners on the square.  On the altar is again the Square.  He sees the Square hung about the neck of the Master - particularly is the Square the jewel of the Master, because from him must come all Masonic light to his brethren, and his teachings must be "square."  The Square shares with the Level and the Plumb the quality of immovability in the lodge, meaning that as it is always the jewel of the Master, so is it immovably in the Symbolic East.  An emblem of virtue , it is always in sight of the brethren in the lodge; for him who carries his Masonry into his daily life, it is forever in sight within, the try square of conscience, the tool by which he squares his every act and word.  

Spring Cookout

Bring your family out to Shi-Oma Temple on Wednesday, April 28^th  at 6:00 p.m. for our annual Spring Cookout.

We will have the grill hot and ready, so bring a meat to grill out along with a side dish for this popular pot luck dinner.

The Lodge will provide coffee and beverages.

No meeting that night, so plenty of time for dinner and socializing.

Mark your calendars today!

We would like to provide support to our brethren in times of distress and celebrate with them in times of gladness. Please immediately inform any of your lodge officers of such information regarding yourself or a brother.