My Journey to the West Gate of Freemasonry
Getting to the gate was harder than I thought it would be.
This past week, I filled the Senior Deacon role for an Entered Apprentice degree that was performed by one of my lodges.
This got me thinking about what the process was like when I petitioned a lodge the first and second time.
I hadn’t thought much about Masonry growing up.
In my late twenties, I was working with a person who was a Mason and as we talked about his thoughts on Masonry, he pointed out that many presidents were Masons and that the pyramid and the all-seeing eye on the dollar bill were Masonic.
To this day, I am not sure that is true. As the pyramid represents strength and duration, the missing top seems to signify that the nation was not finished, and the all-seeing eye is an ancient symbol of divinity. Either way, this was enough to fuel my curiosity for the next twenty years.
Since then, I always thought that I wanted to be a Mason, but it never seemed to be the right time. When I was close to leaving California, I ended up working with another Mason, who was ready to sign a petition for me. This was tempting but I knew I would be leaving the state soon, so these ideas to be Mason were shelved again.
Moving to North Carolina, working for a large energy company, I was once again in a position where I was working closely with another Mason. This time, I seized the opportunity! I started to speak with him about my long-standing curiosity for Masonry, I was invited to eat with his lodge prior to their stated communications and this I did for several months. Then the day came for me to submit my petition. I filled it out and it was signed by my co-worker and two other Masons who had come to know me over the past several months. With my petition submitted, there was nothing left to do but wait in anticipation for the ballot and then, initiation. As was customary, I was there for dinner the night my petition was read for the second time and the balloting was to take place. As I was leaving after dinner, I remembered the Worshipful Master mentioning to the Secretary, that they would be doing another EA degree very soon. He was referring to me! I went home and knew that I would hear the good news soon enough.
Around 9:30 PM I received a call from my co-worker, and he told me the ballot was not favorable. At first, I thought he was joking, but the somber tone in his voice persisted. I was crushed. I had not felt such despair very often in my life. I spent the next six months waffling back and forth about whether I should submit a new petition.
As a listener of the Whence Came You? podcast for several months, I reached out to the host, told him of my experience and how I am feeling. He was shocked that this happened and spent considerable time helping me work through my feelings. I have my thoughts on why I was rejected, but I will keep them to myself. I choose to believe that these Masons who dropped the black cubes, thought they were acting on behalf of what is best for Masonry. Even though I was unsure of whether I would try again, I did something that even surprised me. When the next lodge meeting came around, I was there for dinner. I did not miss a single opportunity to meet with them before their lodge meetings, and even helped with a lodge fundraiser. Since I had no idea why this happened, my biggest fear was this would happen again, the next time I petitioned. I wasn’t sure I had a third time in me. In North Carolina a candidate must wait 6 months to re-petition.
As the six-month mark approached, one of the Masons at that lodge reached out to my co-worker and suggested that petition Oak Island Lodge #758 instead since many of the Masons at that lodge had come to know me as well through the dinners. This gave me confidence. My co-worker even joined that lodge to help me. I submitted the petition and this time the vote was favorable! Finally, I am realizing a long-standing dream.
About a week before, my co-worker gave me a quarter and told me not to lose it. I asked why, and all he said was don’t lose it, you’ll need it.
The day came, it was a Saturday morning, Oak Island Lodge conferred degrees on Saturday mornings, and they served breakfast before the meeting. They invited Shannon to eat with us that morning, so we drove separate cars. I was so nervous that morning, I drove right by the lodge and had to turn around. My wife sharing what she could of the experience was very special to me. Then time for the degree conferral came, Shannon left and I got very nervous. As I paced back and forth anticipating what was next, I could not hear what was going on, but I could hear the din of speech. Then the inaudible speech took a familiar cadence. At that time, I realized those Masons were reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. This immediately put me at ease, and I knew this was the right decision and that it was worth the anguish that I had felt six months before. The necessary questions were propounded, and my answers returned.
The degree was amazing - well, at least the ten percent that I retained. That quarter I was given weighed very heavily on my mind. I was impressed by the number of Brothers who turned out to welcome me into this great fraternity. This was one of the most important undertakings I have experienced, and the Entered Apprentice degree still holds great magic for me.
I remember my nervousness just prior to receiving my First Degree quite well. Nervous as hell standing there in the office that doubled as a preparation room. But then I remembered that George Washington also received the First Degree, and the nervousness dissipated.
Your recounting of the quarter reminds me of another memory from that Degree. Of course in Washington when asked for metal, we have none, but my home Lodge made a good show of this part of the Degree, with a tray of trinkets, but also with some treasures. When it was presented to me with so much solemnity, I remember very distinctly thinking "Oh f**k, I'm glad I took off my Rolex."