Is the Bloom off the Rose?

Well, I've been a Freemason for well over a year now and the question in my mind is this; is the bloom off the rose?

I have a bad habit of getting really interested in something, devoting massive amounts of time, energy, and thought into a topic, and then exhausting myself to the point that I become bored with it. My wife knows this is a pattern of mine and she accused me repeatedly of being 'obsessed' with Freemasonry in the past year. While I generally agreed with her I also argued 'this is different'.

Well today, a little over a year later, she was right. I was obsessed with Freemasonry. I have become bored with it and it doesn't captivate me in the same way any more.

I searched for the 'esoteric' in Freemasonry. I found nothing. I repeat, I have found absolutely nothing in any way, shape, or form, 'esoteric' about Freemasonry. I searched for mysterious rituals and illuminating experiences. I didn't find much of that either. I searched for the hidden mystery of the institution until I was tired of reading books about it.

I have a huge Freemason library and have read so much on the topic that now most any book I pick up is just a rehash of material I have consumed elsewhere in another form.

All of that said, I am still a Freemason. I am still a Shriner. I am still a DeMolay advisor. Even though an intellectual obsession might cool and interest may wane in the mythology of the institution, you do not become bored with friends.

I have met so many great men and women in Freemasonry. The social aspect of the fraternity is so rich and so enjoyable that I cannot fathom ever becoming bored with it. On Saturday morning I helped cook for the Boy Scouts fundraiser at our lodge spending hours with my brethren in friendly and social intercourse. In weeks past, and in events in the future, I will support the Shrine by attending parades, dinners, BBQ's, and fundraisers. In DeMolay I will be taking our entire chapter to State Conclave acting as a mentor and leader for the promising young men in our group. I will be attending the 3rd degree ceremony for my friend Bill when he is raised at the New Masonic Temple.

So, no I didn't find anything esoteric in Freemasonry. I didn't find a link to Knights Templar. I didn't find secret cabals or hidden agendas. All I found was a bunch of friends and many great opportunties to become more involved in my community.

On that note I will close with this 'Masonic Thought for the Day' emailed to me by my mentor and friend Right Worshipful Brother Russ Tinker

---------------------------------------

A FRIEND OR TWO

There's all of pleasure and all of peace
In a friend or two;
And all your troubles may find release
With a friend or two;
It's in the grip of the clasping hand
On native soil or in alien land,
But the world is made---do you understand?
Of a friend or two.

A song to sing and a crust to share
With a friend or two;
A smile to give and a grief to bear
With a friend or two;
A road to walk and a goal to win,
An inglenook to find comfort in,
The gladdest hours that we know, begun
With a friend or two.

A little laughter; perhaps some tears
With a friend or two;
The days, the weeks, and the months and years
With a friend or two;
A vale to cross, a hill to climb,
A mock at age, and a jeer at time---
The prose of life takes the lilt of rhyme
With a friend or two.

The brother-sound the brother-heart
Of a friend or two
Makes us drift on from the crowd apart,
With a friend or two!
For come days happy or come days sad
We count no hours but the ones made glad
By the hale good times we ever had
With a friend or two.

Then brim the goblet and quaff the toast
To a friend or two,
For glad the man who can always toast
Of a friend or two.
The fairest sight is a friendly face,
The blithest tread a friendly pace,
And heaven will be a better place
For a friend or two.


Wilbert d. Nesbit--