I don’t usually do this — those of you who followed me from LiveJournal can attest — but I’m going to spend some time thinking. I’m exhausted, stressed, pressed, anxious, proud, and excited…it’s really draining to be such a mix of emotions.

Near my computer is my lambskin apron, and on my hand is the Ring of the Lodge of Perfection. It’s amazing how deeply and quickly Freemasonry has touched me. I wanted to feel this way about ΘΧ, but I never really did: I admired the ideals of the Helping Hand, and I still appreciate the sentiment and feel close to many of my Brothers from there, but there was something missing from it, and I don’t know what. I’m sure everyone who knew me then could tell me what they thought was missing — I could tell you some possibilities, too — but Freemasonry has gotten to me in ways that ΘΧ never did. Freemasonry seems to be an excellent match for me, though: it’s an omnipresent organization dedicated to philanthropy, with high ideals and impressive rituals, based in a belief in God and a constitutional government but not particularly worrying about the details of those beliefs. It’s exactly the kind of thing I had been looking for, and I’m glad I discovered it while I was so young.

This weekend I’m going to Princeton to check it out. I’m still trying to decide between Columbia and Princeton — Princeton is really the foremost Presbyterian seminary, but Columbia has an exceedingly strong Old Testament history and (as far as I can tell) a lot of forward momentum. I’ve gotten onto the Presbytery Committe for Preparation for Ministry, and I’m going to talk to some of the seminarians about their experiences. I don’t know where the current candidates are from, but I’m looking forward to talking with them about their experiences. And I’m really looking forward to seeing what the process is and what the thoughts are for potential ministers — it’s such a unique life calling that it’s interesting to talk about people who want to do it.

In any case, I’m heading out to Princeton. I’m looking forward to it: I’ve not been on an Ivy League campus before. I went to Vanderbilt for a ΘΧ conference, which was as close as I’ve ever gotten. Vanderbilt was great — it’s a beautiful campus, and I liked Nashville quite a bit. I’m considering doing Vanderbilt for my Ph.D.: it’s got a lot of diversity of thought, and while Princeton is well known for its scholars, it is not well known for its diversity. That’s a decision that is a long, long time in the future.

There are lots of things going on right now — this year has had some astounding transitions. I’ve recently gotten in touch with my favorite high school teacher, and things have really been changing with him, too: it was weird getting coffee with him and being on a first name basis after walking that weird line between teacher/student and friend. I have also been trying to get in touch with a lot of the other people who helped shape me into who I am: I’ve got this sense that I’ve gotten a bit lost, so I want to back up and take another start at this.

I also want to get a Diplomacy game going soon. :D

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I am starting a small internet hosting co-op. We are going to rent some space out in a data center together and provided some informal assistance for establishing remote hosting, etc., etc.

If you might be interested in getting involved with that, either respond here or drop me an email.

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I’d like to share something amazing that I recently encountered in the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry.

No true Mason scoffs at honest convictions and an ardent zeal in the cause of what one believes to be truth and justice. But he does absolutely deny the right of any man to assume the prerogative of Deity, and condemn another’s faith and opinions as deserving to be punished because heretical. Nor does he approve the course of those who endanger the peace and quiet of great nations, and the best interest of their own race by indulging in a chimerical and visionary philanthropy - a luxury which chiefly consists in drawing their robes around them to avoid contact with their fellows, and proclaiming themselves holier than they. For he knows that such follies are often more calamitous than the ambition of kings; and that intolerance and bigotry have been infinitely greater curses to mankind than ignorance and error. Better any error than persecution! Better any opinion than the thumb-screw, the rack, and the stake! And he knows also how unspeakably absurd it is, for a creature to whom himself and everything around him are mysteries, to torture and slay others, because they cannot think as he does in regard to the profoundest of those mysteries, to understand which is utterly beyond the comprehension of either the persecutor or the persecuted.

Masonry is not a religion. He who makes of it a religious belief, falsifies and denaturalizes it. The Brahmin, the Jew, the Mahometan, the Catholic, the Protestant, each professing his peculiar religion, sanctioned by the laws, by time, and by climate, must needs retain it, and cannot have two religions; for the social and sacred laws adapted to the usages, manners, and prejudices of particular countries, are the work of men.

But Masonry teaches, and has preserved in their purity, the cardinal tenets of the old primitive faith, which underlie and are the foundation of all religions. All that ever existed have had a basis of truth; and all have overlaid that truth with errors. The primitive truths taught by the Redeemer were sooner corrupted, and intermingled and alloyed with fictions than when taught to the first of our race. Masonry is the universal morality which is suitable to the inhabitants of every clime, to the man of every creed. It has taught no doctrines, except those truths that tend directly to the well-being of man; and those who have attempted to direct it toward useless vengeance, political ends, and Jesuitism, have merely perverted it to purposes foreign to its pure spirit and real nature.

Mankind outgrows the sacrifices and the mythologies of the childhood of the world. Yet it is easy for human indolence to linger near these helps, and refuse to pass further on. So the unadventurous Nomad in the Tartarian wild keeps his flock in the same close-cropped circle where they first learned to browse, while the progressive man roves ever forth “to fresh fields and pastures new.” The latter is the true Mason; and the best and indeed the only good Mason is he who with the power of business does the work of life; the upright mechanic, merchant, or farmer, the man with the power of thought, of justice, or of love, he whose whole life is one great act of performance of Masonic duty. The natural case of the strength of a strong man or the wisdom of a wise one, is to do the work of a strong man or a wise one. The natural work of Masonry is practical life; the use of all the faculties in their proper spheres, and for their natural function. Love of Truth, justice, and generosity as attributes of God, must appear in a life marked by these qualities; that is the only effectual ordinance of Masonry. A profession of one’s convictions, joining the Order, assuming the obligations, assisting at the ceremonies, are of the same value in science as in Masonry; the natural form of Masonry is goodness, morality, living a true, just, affectionate, self-faithful life, from the motive of a good man. It is loyal obedience to God’s law.

That’s from the reflection on the tenth degree by Albert Pike in Morals and Dogma (cite). I’ll have more thoughts on it another time; I’m still digesting.

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Good article on the Masons in this week’s “US News” — I highly suggest it. It’s a bit down on the Masons/Knights Templar connection, but since the primary source for the article is an editor-in-chief for a Scottish Rite magazine, that’s to be expected.

(cite)

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From the Friday, September 2nd, 2005 Pioneer Press, page 4A:

For the first time in U.S. history, the Bush administration said the nation will accept offers of foreign assistance.
At least 24 nations and international organizations, ranging from close U.S. ally Israel to frequent antagonist Venezuela and even the United Nations, have offered medical teams, field hospitals, military aircraft, and other help.

So, for all you Neocons out there wondering where international aid was for 9/11 or for this disaster, there’s your answer: Bush had a policy of refusing their help. It’s not their fault they weren’t there to help — it’s this administration’s fault for turning them away.

Now the question is: why would they do something like that? Why would they turn around disaster and emergency aid?

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