My Life and Times

I will come back to "I was a soldier once and young" later.
Today being Thursday, May 14, 2009 was the beginning of the end, a renewal of life to move forward.
It is with regret that I may have contributed to an earlier closure of North Gate Lodge 591. I was encountering many personal and physical issues while struggling to be Master of the Lodge. After all was done and said; and I shall not go into detail, It was motioned to close the lodge forever. Preparation were made and a committee was appointed. I chose the same brothers, that were intent on belittling me, to chair the committee and close the lodge. It was only appropriate, not that they realized my intention, to punish them further. Let them do all the work...
Yes... they worked hard and they made sure that I as Master was not invited to attend any of their meetings with Grand Lodge.
So, at the last couple of days before closure I was apprised of the ceremony and how it would be conducted. Even that was changed at the very last hour.
I have to admit that these guys worked hard. They were in their glory because they were still running the lodge.
Now, normally when a master finishes his term of office he would be awarded a Past Master Jewel. A highly coveted jewel to say the least. According to the Grand Lodge Constitution, a master having served out 12 months is recognized as a past master but it's up to the lodge to present the jewel.
So you guessed, my punishment was that I did not get presented with a jewel by the past master, period.
Later, another past master friend pulled me aside. He told me he and another past master didn't agree with the committee that I should not receive a jewel and as such he gave me a jewel that was worn by a deceased past master. I thanked him and later we parted company. I will always remember him. Perhaps one day I'll regain my compassion and charitable attributes on which I had always prided myself in my earlier lifetime.
The evening closed, the committee and a few of the other past masters remained. I was not happy to know that I was terribly disliked as I had found out earlier. Hey, these guys are not forgiving. I finally realized I was no longer part of the Lodge or their group. For a moment or two I stood in the middle of the banquet room, alone. It was then that I did the right thing. I said my Masonic goodbyes and left the Lodge Building. My punishment for them was to clean up banquet hall themselves. Normally, I always helped clean and put away chairs and tables.
So, it goes to say in every order, there are politicians, the old guard, and the ones that really run the Lodge, never ever cross any of them.
By the way, I don't feel sorry for myself. And, I still belong to another lodge that recognizes me as a past master.
So let it be said and so it shall be written.