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Check out my new lodge. I am planning on getting a dual membership in the Napthali Lodge #25 which meets at the New Temple, 3861 Lindell Boulevard.

This building is simply staggering in its beauty and is very rich in history. I never pictured myself being part of any kind of 'historical preservation' effort before. However, this building is so amazing that it would break my heart to see it lost. It is truly a National Treasure.

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Ok, I need to add to this post because something is really hitting me. I have had a recurring dream for well over a decade. I have the dream very infrequently, but each time I have it is seems extremely profound. It is never the same in detail but always the same in theme. And the theme is quite basic. I find myself exploring a huge building that has room, after room, after room; each one a marvel of creative design. And each time I turn a corner something new is revealed to both dazzle and amaze.

My dream became real on Thursday evening when I entered the New Temple lodge on Lindell. This building is so incredible it staggers the mind. The only thing I could compare it to was when I went on a tour of Castle Neuschwanstein.

Now, clearly the Castle and a Freemason lodge in St. Louis, Missouri are quite different things. However, what is strikingly the same is that neither one was ever completed for its intended purpose and both facilities are abandoned and sit empty.

The New Temple was built between 1921 and 1926. The men who designed it intended for it to be one of the greatest temples built since the time of the Greeks. It was meant to last a minimum of 500 years if not much longer; built of limestone and granite with extensive marble within. The architecture and design, both inside and out, is staggering.

Their goal was that the heart and soul of Freemasonry in Missouri which, is in many ways the heart and soul of Freemasonry in America, would be held at this location. And, for many decades this was true. Over 13 Masonic lodges met in this building and 11 from the Order of the Eastern Star. In addition the York Rite held their ceremonies in a cathedral that would impress any who were fortunate enough to enter.

Within the bowels of the building we find a giant arena designed to hold a great meeting hall of men and women working to bring forth the future of the Freemason movement. Sadly, the arena was never completed.

Charles Lindberg was initiated in these halls and Harry Truman had his offices within.

Sadly, as the years went on, things changed. People found it more difficult to meet here and when the Grand Lodge moved to another part of the state it was a great blow. For some time there was a great decline in this part of the city and people were legitmately afraid of crime in the area. Slowly lodges dropped out and people stopped coming to this incredible facility.

This structure sits right between the Moolah Shrine Temple and the Scottish Rite. The Scottish Rite has held on but the Shrine, sadly, moved out into the suburbs. Today the Moolah Shrine temple has been turned into a very exciting upscale movie theatre; which is delightful, but I still feel some sadness for the loss of the facility as its intended purpose. When you attend the Shrine in its new facilty it is clearly 'not the same'.

The Scottish Rite still holds on but the New Temple sits more or less vacant.

Only one Masonic lodge still meets at New Temple; and that is Napthali #25. They meet only once a month for a few hours. The membership is very low and, sadly, there have been times when they didn't even have four men present to open lodge.

Imagine that? A facility designed to hold literally thousands upon thousands of people at once can't draw four men? Four men to sit in the same lodge room Charles Lindberg and Harry Truman once sat. Four men to carry on an ancient tradition that is responsible, not only for the birth of democracy, but buildings such as this.

When we look at the incredible achievements in architecture from men of the past, men with great vision, only to see them sit abandoned and vacant today it almost brings heartbreak.

This facility was designed to hold the future of the Freemason movement in Missouri and today it sits abandoned. People cannot even have the privilege of experiencing this national treasure because the resources don't exist to pay for insurance and other necessary upkeep. How ironic that some in the general public feel Freemasons have 'great wealth' when the truth is anything but that. Freemasons barely have enough to sustain themselves and, to be quite honest, anything extra quickly goes towards charitable causes.

I believe it is time for a change. This part of the city is undergoing an incredible transformation and revival. This building is part of our national heritgage and deserves to be recognized. I feel inspired, perhaps by my haunting dreams, to promote this great architectural achievement, this homage to the great temples of the past, to the public. I plan to create a Wiki entry, a website, and to evangalize the facility not only to the Masonic family but the general public as well. I want to get involved with historical preservation socieities to make sure that people know the story and history of this amazing building. It seems strange to me that I am so moved by something as basic as a 'building'. However, it really isn't just the building itself. It is the men who made it and the hope and vision they had for it to last for centuries beyond their own time. I feel their desire that it would be a beacon of light and hope for mankind and an inspiration to all. I feel that when I tread these halls and gaze into the eyes of Freemason George Washington or stare at the murals on the wall. Simply the idea that I can join a lodge that meets in this building and sit inside this place fills me with awe.

When I joined Freemasony it was because I had studied its history and knew it was an organization that did not ask for me to compromise my principles or beliefs in any way. I knew it was honorable as were the men who support it. However, when I enter this facility I feel deep down in my bones that I am part of something which was once very great and, sadly, today is waning. We do need to evangalize the craft. Young men and women who feel adrift, disconnected from their government, and dissillusioned with opportunties to follow a well lit path, might be drawn to Masonry if they only knew what it offered.

What does Masonry offer? Besides good moral principles and a big ass building? What it offers is so basic it is quite simple. It is a gathering of individuals who meet in harmony and peace, independent of their personal religious or poltical beliefs, with a simple shared bond; belief in democratic principles and universal moral guidelines. It is widely open to both men and women, and not even mildly exclusionary in any way.

What impresses me more than any building? What impresses me are the men. Last evening I met the secretary of the Napthali lodge. This morning we spoke on the phone and had so much to talk about that we ended up going to lunch together. I spent an 1 1/2 lunch talking to a 77 year old man about his life and experience in Freemasonry and it was one of the most delightful conversations I have ever had.

Think about who you are? What kind of things do you really care about? How often do you meet people in 'regular life' who care about the same things you do? Do you have too many friends? Real friends? Good friends? Can you go anywhere in the world, walk inside a building, and find yourself with a dozen friends who will make you feel at home?

This is what the word 'fraternity' really means. I used to be very anti-Fraternity. Its a long story but in my youth it even led to a fist fight about it. I realize how very wrong I was. I thought Fraternaties were stuck-up, egotistical, and exclusionary. And, maybe some are. And, if so, I wouldn't care for them today.

However, Freemasonry is not. It is open to men of all religious faiths, political affiliations, and financial means. Its requirements are basic. That you respect the religion and politics of others and treat men as equals regardless of their soical status. It merely requirese you to be tolerant. It asks that you be of good moral character and to meet in harmony.

Had I known this before, my views on Fraternity would have changed a long time ago. I hope others realize this as well and when they ask themselves, where can I meet some really high quality new friends who share my values, maybe they think to call the local lodge.

I remember when the Fox theatre languished for decades before it was turned into the awe inspiring entertainment venue it is today.

Something great can happen to this building. And, no matter what happens, its rich history must be preserved and recorded for mankind to know. The sculptures, art, architecture, and majesty of this place must not be lost. Masons should still meet here and still maintain it as a beacon on hope to the rest of our community.

I am suprised at the depth of the emotional reaction I am having to simply this, a building. I have walked through great buildings in the past. I have explored some incredible architecture in my life. I have been to Kyoto Japan, as well as the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Versaille, Westminster Abbey, and Stone Henge. I have explored Castles in Germany and been moved at each occasion.

But, here is the big difference. In each of those cases I was able to go on a formal tour of this great building, because men and women of great dedication made sure it was accessible to the public and who's history was preserved.

There are no tours at the New Temple. There are no gift shops, postcards, or picture books. And, it deserves this. Simply to honor the memory of the men and women who created this facility. They had long range plans for this building. Plans that extended for centuries.

Most of the Masons that built this building are dead today. And many who once met there will be gone tomorrow. And, even I will pass on myself in my own due time. Yet, this facility is designed to live on for *CENTURIES*. We should honor that, respect it, and record it for the future.

I feel so honored and blessed that I can attend a Masonic meeting in this building; the same place where Charles Lindberg and Harry Truman once called 'their lodge'.

It may never become what it once was. Perhaps it too will become a movie theatre or office space. The Masonic fraternity is waning. Young people most certainly don't seem attracted to it. When people see things wrong with America today they must remember that the *ideas* behind it, described so beautifully in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights, are always worth fighting for. When you subscribe to the princples of Freemasonry you are accepting the simple fact that these ideas which were once worth dying for still are.

Maybe things aren't perfect today. Fine. When were they ever? But the ideas behind them are still of great value.

What does it mean to be a Freemason? Simply nothing more than swearing an oath that you believe whole heartedly in these democratic principles. These are not republican or democrat, right wing, or liberal. They are simply American.

If you think there is no place left in America where you can still feel this, well you are wrong. You have only to petition a Freemason lodge and meet in a place like the New Temple to feel in absolute and complete *AWE* of the men who had such vision that at the height of the Depression they could build a Temple for the ages.