We just returned from the Conference of Grand Masters that was held in Rapid City,
South Dakota. Even though I am not an active member of that Conference anymore, Sovereign Grand Commander Ronnie Seale of the Supreme Council, A&ASR of Free Masonry, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, encourages the members of the Supreme Council to attend in support of their respective Grand Lodge jurisdictions. Sometimes, unfortunately, the members of appendant bodies forget that their roots are in the blue lodge. That is where we all started and that is the aegis for our Masonic journey. The chair of the conference this year was MW Brother Michael Smith, Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of South Carolina. Before and while serving in the two-year term as Grand Master, MWB Michael is the Sovereign Grand Inspector General in South Carolina, The Supreme Council, 33° of A&ASR, Southern Jurisdiction of the United States. This is proof that no matter what the rank of a brother in an appendant body may be, a brother can still be active in the blue lodge. At the Conference, Grand Commander Seale was the last speaker at the introduction of distinguished guests. In his talk he announced that this would be his last attendance of the Conference of Grand Masters in his capacity as Sovereign Grand Commander. He told that he would be giving up the jewel and regalia of that office this year but that the most important Masonic possession that he would still retain would be his dues card for his blue lodge. When I first met Grand Commander Seale, he gave me a pin that he said was his favorite. It is a plain Masonic apron with the words “Never Forget” on it. As he has explained numerous times, we should never forget from whence we came—the blue lodge that made us Masons, that taught us the beginning lessons of Masonry, that has the brothers who support us in times of trouble and celebrate with us in moments of joy and that will probably conduct our funeral rites at our passing. Though many of us enjoy the Scottish Rite caps with their various colors, the various colored York Rite uniforms with their swords, the red fez of the AAONMS and the Star Points of OES, all of us entered the lodge room with the same simple step that started our journey in that lodge and all the appendant Masonic bodies that may have come later. Certainly, enjoy all the colors of Masonry that are found in the blue lodge and its numerous appendant bodies, but please, please, for your sake and the sake of blue lodge Masonry, do not forget your humble Masonic beginning. Be there for your brothers and yourself. Illustrious Bro. David L. Nielsen, 33, S.G.I.G.
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There’s nothing quite like a good cup of coffee.
You know the kind . . . a hot, ‘better than Starbucks’ brew where you can almost ‘taste the aroma’, even before the liquid crosses your lips. You think it can’t get any better. That is, until someone slips you a freshly baked piece of banana bread. You take a bite, and then another sip, and you’ve just discovered that the combination adds a whole new dimension to your coffee break. There’s something about those tastes, those smells, those flavorful textures surrounding your palate, that tell you it can be more than just a good cup of coffee. It’s as if the two gastronomic delights,taken together, are indeed greater than the sum of their parts. The Masonic experience is kind of like that. You’ve taken a sip from the ‘cup’ of Masonic knowledge and think you know all there is to know. Then someone slips you a ‘a piece of banana bread.' It comes in the form of a book, a magazine or an educational lesson. It whets your appetite and you realize that there are more ingredients in this ‘recipe’ of Masonic knowledge than you first thought. That ‘aroma’, which led you into the Blue Lodge Room to take that first ‘sip’, is just the beginning. The best part is that the recipes for satisfying your appetite for Masonic knowledge are easily within your reach. Next month the Livingston and Butte Valleys of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Orient of Montana will be conducting its 164th Annual Reunion (the James N. Sweaney Memorial Class) to welcome new members and to fill their cups of Masonic knowledge. The classes will begin on Saturday, April 7 at the Butte Masonic Temple with the Reception of Candidates at 8:00 a.m., and again at the Livingston Masonic Temple on Saturday, April 28 beginning at 8:30 a.m. All Blue Lodge Masons are encouraged to seek out a member of the Scottish Rite for more information on how you can be a part of this exciting and rewarding experience. Those of you who are already Scottish Rite Masons are invited to attend and to ‘refill your cups’. Oh, by the way, there will also be coffee available at each session of the Reunion! Maybe even some banana bread! Tom Davis, 33° Livingston Valley Personal Representative Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Orient of Montana We've Got a Great Year Ahead! The Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction already has a year jam packed with great events. Here are just a few dates you'll want to mark in your calendar!2018 Scottish Rite Workshops ALL Scottish Rite Masons are invited and encouraged to attend these workshops. Registration is now open! Please follow: Scottish Rite Twitter & Facebook accounts(#2018SRWorkshops) for the latest news & updates. Dates & Locations:
A link to register online and a preview agenda for the 2018 Workshops are available at scottishrite.org via the Meetings & Workshops page. This annual fundraising telethon lets our members "Celebrate the Craft" by showcasing talents of members around the country and inviting every Valley to participate by having CTC viewing parties of their own. Best of all, monies raised through CTC help YOUR Orient's charitable endeavors AND preservation efforts at the house of the Temple. For more information about CTC, please contact Matt Szramoski at [email protected] or 202–777–3143. SUBMISSIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR SCOTTISH RITE HAS TALENT If you think you've got what it takes to be a part of the show,click here for guidelines on how to apply to come to Washington DC for the LIVE broadcast! 2018 Knights of St. Andrew International Gathering The 4th Annual gathering of the Knights of Saint Andrew will be held in Waco Texas! Friday–Sunday, July 20–22, 2018 For more information and to register CLICK HERE 2018 RiteCare Conference
The 2018 RiteCare Scottish Rite Childhood Language Program Conference is a biennial conference of Scottish Rite Speech, Language, and Literacy Programs. Scottish Rite leaders along with speech-language pathologists, literacy and dyslexia specialists, audiologists, graduate students, and parents gather to further the education and shared mission of RiteCare SRCLP affiliated clinics, hospitals, and university speech-language programs “to help children communicate.” This year's conference will be held hosted by the Orient of California in Los Angeles! August 8-10, 2018 at Los Angeles Marriott Registration opens soon! For More Information, contact Kristin Hoffman, MA, CCC-SLP Director of RiteCare Operations in California. [email protected] By David L. Nielsen, Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Montana
As we move toward Christmastide, we are also getting closer to the Winter Solstice, the day of the year that has the longest period of night and the shortest period of daylight. The annual phenomenon of declining light and increasing darkness was frightening to early ancient people who were afraid that the sun would perish forever, sending the earth into total eternal darkness. But God was there to show them that the light would return. While in Ireland, Judy and I visited the Newgrange Passage Tomb in Boyne Valley, which was constructed around 3,200 B.C. by Stone Age farmers. The construction used massive stones weighing several tons each, all of which were transported from a quarry about 50 kilometers away. At the Tomb a passageway starts at the entryway and ends at a chamber with three small adjacent rooms, within which the cremated remains of deceased worthy persons would be temporarily placed before being permanently interred. Above the passage entrance is a “roof box,” a small opening that was skillfully positioned to allow sunlight to enter only at dawn on the winter solstice so as to totally illuminate the entire passageway and the chamber with its rooms containing the remains of distinguished persons. Only for a very short time during the winter solstice, does the sunlight overpower the darkness surrounding the honored dead. In explaining the spiritual significance of the roof box, the “World Heritage Ireland” said: To the Neolithic culture of the Boyne Valley, the winter solstice marked the start of the New Year-- a sign of nature’s rebirth and promising renewed life to crops, animals and humans. It may also have served as a powerful symbol of the inevitable victory of life over death, perhaps promising new life to the spirits of the dead. And God was there to annually bring light to the deceased who were housed in darkness. Two thousand years ago conquering invaders dominated countries with a tyrannical rule that was cruel and brutal to the people. Then human life was treated as having little or no worth. In this dark period, the baby Jesus was born as the light of the world. God was there bringing love and hope. Now when we are in a darkness, God is here to bring us: The light of good over darkness of evil; The light of hope over darkness of dispair; The light of charity over the darkness of greed; The light of compassion over the darkness of suffering; And the light of love to prevent the darkness of hate. During this Christmastide and New Year, we must sustain our trust in the power of the Light of God. The endurance of belief is powerfully stated in the Jewish Poem that was found written on the walls in the basement of a church in Cologne, Germany, during the Holocaust: I believe in the sun, even when it’s not shining, I believe in love, even when I don’t feel it, I believe in God, even when God is silent. THE RITE CORNER
“Masonic Thanksgiving” David L. Nielsen, S.G.I.G. in Montana As we enter into the Thanksgiving and Christmas Season it is a time to reflect upon the blessings that we have received this last year. Usually I think of all the positive blessings I have received during this time, such as having good health, a wonderful spouse, loving family, going to England with Brothers from Billings to do our own mini-celebration of the 300th anniversary for the formation of Grand Lodge of England, and, of course, bagging a really big deer. The trip to England and Wales was a blessing to my wife and I because we were blessed with having good health to do it, to be able to share it, to get to know better the Brothers and their families from Billings that shared the experience, to meet Masons in Wales and Ireland, and to fulfill our travel bucket list. We enjoyed the company of the Ashlar Lodge brothers and their families and especially the opportunity to get to know them better. The chance to build stronger relationships and brotherhood between ourselves and the Masons we meet there was a very special blessing of this journey. We hope that our traveling companions feel the same blessing that we do. When I do my inventory of blessings for thanksgiving, I naturally skip over those things that have gone wrong. Despite fun times and pleasant experiences, the year was not just one large blessing of happy thoughts for us. We lost a family member this year, have family members with serious medical issues, and worry the peaceful stability of the world. These are not blessings of good things. I feel guilt when I think of friends who have lost a spouse during this past year. What are their blessings? Giving thanks for blessings from God is more than just checking off all the pleasant, joyful, and good experiences. It is finding the blessings that come even out of death of loved ones. The blessing of learning from them, sharing time with them, and sharing a mutual love for them. The lessons of Masonry teach us that with our trust being in God, to be realistic about our mortality and those around us, to help and assist those in need, to work with our brothers to strive to be better than ourselves and to be optimistic about what the future holds for us. Masonry teaches us to have positive thinking and not be negative. To encourage ourselves and others to find happiness and calm; not to discourage and sow discontent. We know our days are numbered and how we live those days with quality of spiritual life is the key lesson of Masonry. Masonry is a blessing to its members because it replaces hope with despair, brings joy of brotherhood to those in need of companionship, and enhances the spiritual quality of our lives. The challenge to Masons is to find the hidden, overlooked blessings that we have received from the Grand Architect of the Universe, even in times of sorrow and loneliness and not be beguiled into only accepting those blessing that are filled with immediate pleasures and happiness. As we have been told, Masonry is a way of life, and the celebration and thanksgiving of blessings includes all aspects of life we have been given--the downfalls as well as the uplifting. I wish all people much success in finding all the blessings in their lives and giving thanks to God for all of them—even the blessing with warts and pain. “…To Call Them On Again in Due Season…”
Ill. Bro. Tom Davis, 33° Personal Representative to Ill. Bro. David Nielsen, SGIG As the Junior Warden’s words imply, there is a time for labor and a time for refreshment. As summer is drawing to a close and our attention is again called from refreshment to labor, our energies are directed to things Masonic. For Livingston Valley that means some exciting changes and opportunities for growth in the coming Masonic year. Our summer of refreshment has ‘recharged our batteries’, and now we can re-enter the quarries with new enthusiasm. Make no mistake, Scottish Rite has not lain idle during our recess. The fact that you are reading this on our newly launched website bears witness to the efforts of our brothers who have worked to move our Scottish Rite brand and its agenda forward. As a part of the Valley Outreach Initiative for Connection and Engagement (V.O.I.C.E.), the website is one of several steps toward increased member awareness and involvement. With the website up and running, V.O.I.C.E. will now explore other modes of connection: a digital/printed newsletter including a calendar of events, a Facebook presence, blogs, power-point review of the Scottish Rite degrees, connectivity with Supreme Council and the Orient of Montana, educational presentations for Valley Blue Lodges, and much more. Of course membership awareness and enlightenment remain at the core of our efforts. Additionally, all of this fits hand in glove with our Valley Membership Achievement Project (V.M.A.P.) in partnership with Supreme Council. One of the most exciting changes for all of us in Montana is the selection of Ill. Bro. David Nielsen to sit on the Supreme Council as one of thirty-three Sovereign Grand Inspectors General. Yes, this means that Ill. Bro. Nielsen is S.G.I.G. in Montana! This is a momentous and well deserved recognition of Bro. Nielsen’s sincerity of purpose and commitment on behalf of Scottish Rite. The Orient of Montana is to be thanked for the support Bro. Nielsen receives from the six Valleys. We can all be very proud of this remarkable and Masonically historic appointment. Congratulations are also due the four new Honormen selected for Livingston Valley: 33° - Ill. Bro. Torben Vik; KCCH - Ill. Bros. Chuck Gordon, Don Powell and Michael Wainwright. Very deserving brothers all, who have served faithfully and cheerfully and who will continue to labor on behalf of Scottish Rite and Freemasonry. Kudos also to Ill. Bro. Kevin Olson, 33° and Ill. Bro. Bill Morrison, KCCH, of our ‘sister valley’ in Butte, for their selection as well. Honormen, brethren and guests from throughout Montana will gather at the Helena Shrine Temple on October 14th to witness their investiture and congratulate them on their new rank and decoration. Please make every effort to be among those present! As we move into October, we also usher in the season of harvest, bounty and thanksgiving. Watch for the announcement for the date and location of the Feast of Tishri, an obligatory observance, open to all Masons and their guests, commemorating the dedication of King Solomon’s Temple and our Masonic vision of a new temple of peace and harmony which we are continually striving to build within our own hearts and minds. It is also a time to express our thanksgiving for the opportunity of serving our Supreme Grand Master, the Great Architect of the Universe, and our fellow man through our involvement in Freemasonry. Throughout the progression of our Masonic year we will be presented with opportunities of growth, both personally and as a Valley. On the horizon, but not too long in arriving, is our Spring Reunion, April 14th and 28th, 2018. With the absence of brothers no longer in our midst we will be seeking members to take on more involvement by assuming various roles in the degrees. Also, there are, no doubt, several Blue Lodge brothers who would benefit by the enlightenment of the Scottish Rite. It is not too early to encourage them to be candidates for the higher degrees. What better way to spread the wonderful lessons of Freemasonry and increase the depth and talent of our Order! Let’s begin now to make it happen next Spring! Needless to say, we will continue to meet regularly as a Valley and through committees to share in Masonic fellowship, education and to further the mission of Masonry. It is an exciting time to be a Scottish Rite Brother in service to the Valley of Livingston and the Orient of Montana. Welcome back to the quarries of service Brothers! I look forward to seeing you all at our next communication. “I tell you . . . service is the greatest thing in the world . . . if we can all get down to service - honest service, humble service . . . then there will come out of the great despondency and discouragement and distress of the world a new order.” - President Warren G. Harding, 1923 1 Sincerely & Fraternally, Tom Davis, 33° Personal Representative to Ill. Bro. David Nielsen, SGIG Livingston Valley, Orient of Montana 1 Proceedings, 14th Annual Convention (St. Louis, MO: Rotary International, 1923) 231. President Harding was also a Freemason. William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons (Fulton: Missouri Lodge of Research, 1957) vol. 2, 180-81. |
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