New Location for Blog

WE'VE MOVED!

Hello all,

As of December 17, 2008 our blog is located at:

http://spokane34.wordpress.com/

Final Meeting of the Year

Thank you Brethren for a fantastic turnout for our final meeting of the year!

Things ran late, but boy did we cover a lot of ground! Sounds like a lot of exciting things to expect in the coming year.

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For those Spokane 34 members interested in gaining access to the member area, please email me at: contact@spokane34.org
This will give you access to our online forum we're building.

Also, please take a moment to sign up for the Eastern Washington Masons group on Facebook if you haven't done so yet. You can check it out here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/group.php?gid=41557955713

Meeting next Tuesday, December 16th

Greetings Brethren -

In lieu of Lodge this evening, an email, one which I hope finds you all well.

I wanted to be sure everyone was aware of our next meeting, December's Stated Communication, which will take place on December 16, 2008. Lodge will open on the appropriate degree at 7:30pm. All are welcome and encouraged to attend.

There are at least three great reasons for you to come to this month's meeting:
1. It will be WM Joseph's final appearance in the East (well, as sitting Master, at least!)
2. Many important business issues will be discussed and attended to as the Lodge moves forward into 2009
3. Fellowship is even better during the Holidays!

The other item of interest is the attached document, which is a contact list for the Lodge sorted by first name. Please email me with any corrections, or if you have any information (especially email) for a Brother not on the list. Thanks!

Again, I heartily encourage you to attend this month's meeting on December 16th. See you there!

With Cheerful Fraternity -
Chris Eddy, SW

Congrats Rob Rosslow on his 3rd degree!

Congratulation to Br. Rob Rosslow for being raised to the sublime degree of a Master Mason tonight! Quite impressively, Br. Rob recited the whole posting lecture for the Fellow Craft degree as well. Great job!

Back Up!

Brothers and friends,

Apologies for the downtime on the website!! Things are back in service. Thanks for your patience!!

Br. Steve

The Morality of Freemasonry

By Rabbi E. Geffen:

There are many Masons who know nothing about the morality of Masonry, or what their duties are, for the reason that they are only interested in the ritual. The ritual is only a small part of Masonry; steps should be taken to call the attention of the Craftsman to the morality of the Craft, and to what their duties as good and true Masons are, and the nature and extent of their obligations.

The ritual is undoubtedly not to be neglected, inasmuch as it is the medium through which we acquire our lessons of symbolism, by translating the mystical in real conduct of life. The ritual is also important, because by its means we separate ourselves from the rest of the world, and obtain the means of mutual recognition. But it is, after all, the weakest part of Masonry. The ritual alone will no more make a true Mason than the manual exercise will make a true soldier. The moral and intellectual teachings of the Order - its intention as a great religious institution, occupied in the search after Divine Truth, should always engage the attention of the Masonic student, and form a prominent part of his studies. We unfortunately, know too many Masons who are completely ignorant of the history, the nature, the design and the true symbolism of the Order, as if they had never entered within its portals, regardless that they are familiar with the exact phraseology of the ritual.

Masonry has its science and its literature, and to these the attention of the Masonic student should be directed. The ritual is its alphabet. To know it, therefore, it is necessary to have a full comprehension of its language; but he who has gone no further than the alphabet however competent he may be, to instruct others in the same rudiments, can hardly discharge the duty of a teacher of the science.

Such ritualists, who do not know the history and morality of our Order, are like some ignorant servitor in a public library, who can readily point out the shelf or spot occupied by every book and even give from memory a correct rendition of its title-page, and yet who know no more concerning the intellectual treasures contained within its locked leaves than the binder who put them together.It is time that Masons should come to the conclusion and realize that something more than a mere knowledge of the words of a ritual are necessary to make a "bright" Mason or a competent teacher in Masonry.

By Rabbi E. Geffen

2008 Officers Installed!

On January 8th, 2007 Spokane Lodge No. 34 had it's

128th Officer Installation ceremonies!

The lineup for 2008 is the following (to be completed):

Worshipful Master: W.: Bro.: Joseph P. Allan
Senior Warden: Bro.: Christopher Eddy
Junior Warden: Br.: Richard L. Willmering
Secretary: Bro.: Christopher Tiplady
Treasurer: W.: Bro.: Walter J. Poole
Chaplain: W.: Bro.: N. A. Rolffe
Marshal: ...
Senior Deacon: ...
Junior Deacon: Br.: Steven Sauder
Senior Steward: Br.: Carson Gorst
Junior Steward: Br.: Rick Callesto
Musician: W.: Bro.: Kurt G. Kimberling
Tyler: ...

Congrats to all our new officers!