Immuned to disappointment, I think not!

You would think that as we grow older we would become immunized to disappointment but the truth is quiet the opposite; As we grow older at some point we realize certain things and situations are not going to change no matter how much we desire and it makes us sad. The old saying, "Reality Bites" becomes a staple of our lexicon and if we aren't careful we will allow it to depress any hope of happiness we may have left.

As a Mason who interacts on a daily basis with other Masons I have come to realize that just as in any other organization there are men who are sincere about improving themselves and others who are fakes and frauds. If we are going to grow spiritually and emotionally we need to align ourselves with men who have the same goals and aspirations and just because a man has a current dues card does not mean he is on the same path to self improvement or enlightenment. If you find such to be the case do not closely associate yourself with that man lest he lead you astray.

There was an incident this week which shook my world to it's very foundation but after some soul searching I came to realize had I heeded the warnings of a few good men over the last year, I would have been better prepared for the incident and may have averted the outcome. But since the incident I have been told numerous times that God has other plans for me which I have to believe is true so that I can move on.

Trust in certain areas of my life comes hard for me especially when I let my guard down and get kicked in the teeth (symbolically) it re-enforces my belief that some people are just inherently evil and should be avoided at all cost.

The message I will read at my installation tonight.

12/06/2013

Most Worshipful, Right Worshipful, Worshipful Brothers, Brothers, Family and Friends; Tonight, I am humbled by the mantel of responsibility placed on my shoulders and will endeavor to take it up and lead Plains Lodge in 2014 in a manner which will looking back make you proud.
The number of Brothers who have stepped forward not only from Plains Lodge but from other constituent lodges and offered to help make 2014 a success is astounding and really drives the point home that Masonry truly embodies the essense of Brotherhood. There are a few among us who have come out in support of their friends and family yet do not know what Masons do behind closed doors. Rumours range from riding goats to plotting the overthrow of the free world, well I will let you in on a secret, the free world can rest easy.

We don't take things people say about us to heart because when you have been around in one form or fashion since time immemorial and have suffered as our brothers have under tyrants, kings and misinformed church leaders you tend to develop a thick skin. I get more frustrated with people who know what we do, yet do not support us than those who dislike us for one twisted reason or another.

Masons are men who come together from all walks of life and have chosen this path of self improvement and character building as one which works for them. Our motto is "Making Good Men Better" and we do this by providing opportunities for Good men to be with other Good men and in lifting each other up when we slip, as we all do from time to time, build trust in the bond which holds us together. Through the trials and tribulations we face together we are strengthen and become more than friends, we become BROTHERS. How many organizations do you know who can proclaim with pride as many Kings, Lords, Prime Ministers, Presidents, Church Fathers, Poets, Writers, Singers, Actors, Race Car Drivers, etc... oh and ordinary men like me, among their ranks? I can't think of any and believe me I have tried.

Now to my Brothers who have through their ballot selected me Worshipful Master of Plains Lodge # 135 Free and Accepted Masons for 2014, I say to you, while we all know that in any lodge the real work is done by the Secretary and Treasurer, I want to assure you that, as the plaque sitting on President Truman's desk stated "The Buck Stops Here!" If at the end of this term there are to be any accolades or praises to be given they will have been earned by us all but any failures are to be placed where they belong, squarely on this Oriental Chair.

I want to once again thank each and everyone of you for making this night special. Thank you and May God Bless You all.

David E. Carroll Jr.
WM Plains Lodge #135 F&A.M. 2014

How to act...

As Freemasons we are supposed to respect each others opinions, meet on the level and part upon the square and if we do these things, there should never be any quarrels; Notice I said, "quarrels", not disagreements. Men can and should disagree at times just to keep their friendship interesting but quarreling is a different matter and leads to hurt feeling.

If all men were Masons who lived up to the Masonic principals of Friendship, Morality and Brotherly Love, there would not be any wars because there would be nothing to fight about. I want to follow up by saying we need to be careful how we segregate ourselves as Lodges so that we don't just have men who have the exact same interests or are of the same ethnicity or religion or who are all Policemen, Fireman, Lawyers, etc... I believe if we do that we are in danger of becoming elitists. We need diversity to grow mentality and spiritually.
 

MASONIC TEACHINGS

     Man's first duty is to love and revere God, implore His aid in all laudable undertakings, and seek His guidance through prayer, embrace and practice the tenets of religion, extend charity and sympathy to all mankind, shield and support the widow and orphan, defend virtue, respect the aged, honor the bonds of friendship, protect the helpless, lift up the oppressed, comfort the downcast, restore dignity to the rejected, respect the laws of government, promote morality, and add to the common stock of knowledge and understanding.

E. Dean Osborne 33°

Christians killed

As Masons we do not discuss religion or politics in a tyled lodge or business meeting because of the personal and controversial nature of those subjects. However we are allowed to have our opinions and my opinion, as a Christian, is the murders of Christians in the Middle East is tragic and the Islamists who are perpetrating the atrocities should be brought to justice immediately in such a fashion that anyone else would think twice before killing anymore Christians.

The God of the Old Testament would sanction immediate retribution and rain fire down upon his enemies and I believe we should do the same. But who am I to call for such action but a man in America where the worse thing that happens during my day is the electricity goes off and I can't watch television for an hour or so. These types of killings have been happening for thousands of years and no one have made a move to stop them once and for all. I am not ever sure that would be possible.

As a Templar my first instinct is to call for the immediate retaliation against the enemies of the followers of Christ yet at the same time I must remember that Christ said, "to turn the other cheek." The question remains what happens when you run out of cheeks?

Love Your Enemies

(Leviticus 24:17-23; Luke 6:27-36)

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

 

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Sometimes it is hard to know just what to do because if you keep turning your back your enemy is going to kill you, then what?

God, thanks in advance for all the blessings you are going to bestow on my family, friends and myself in the coming years and for all the past blessings we have already received.

God, help me to be a better man tomorrow than I was today and forgive my shortcoming of which there are so many. Help me to be more understanding and forgiving of others and to suffer fools lightly because they can not help themselves.

God, lead me to someone in need and provide me with the means to relieve their distress. Help me to live in such a way as to fulfill the saying, "I am my brother's keeper" and mean it.

Brothers can be a pain in the ass.

Nov. 6, 2013

The are a few men of whom I am associated who are so miserable that their very presence sucks the air out of an otherwise pleasant room. They bitch and moan over every little issue and are not satisfied until they have gotten their way or have upset everyone else. Crotchety does not begin to describe these guys yet instead of just going away they are the ones who seem to be at every meeting, speaking on every issue and in my opinion just talking to hear their head roar. When they are confronted they become incensed that anyone would have the audacity to question the veracity of their pontifications.
There is another kind of brother and we all know a couple who seem to be walking encyclopedias of Masonic knowledge yet they will not take a role as a lodge leader. They will sit in the background or travel the country dispensing their "wisdom" and selling books yet never take on any real responsibility in their lodge. They think any appendant bodies above the Blue Lodge are a waste of time and resources so they will never join.
 How do you handle the actions of these Brothers because although they are a pain in the ass they are still Brothers?

I do not have the answer to these questions and if I did I would write a book and travel the country giving lectures.

Nov. 6th, 2013 2:11am

Last night I was elected to the position of Worshipful Master of my lodge and as W.M. my job is to lead the lodge for one year. So for one year I get to decide what we will do to raise money to replenish the lodge's bank account, raise money for charity, how we will interact with surrounding lodges and the community at large, in other words I am the public face of the lodge in our community.  I feel honored to have been elected by a unanimous vote to this position for two reasons; First because 2014 will be the year I turn 50 and second because it will give me the opportunity to do a few things that I have been wanting to do to bring awareness to Freemasonry.

If you are wondering who The Freemasons really are and what we do I will tell you; We are a group of men made up of all religions, races and political leanings who have found each other and despite a world which tells us we should not enjoy each others company, we do. We strive to become better men so that we may be better brothers, sons, husbands and fathers. If we need one another all we have to do is ask and someone will step to the plate and help.

I have had people tell me that Masons are bad people and to them I have to say, "I have been around Masons all of my life and although a few were not as upstanding as they should or could have been I have not met any that I would not be proud to call my brother."

Truth

Nov. 5, 2013

What is truth?

Truth is what's left after everything that is not truth is removed.

If we were to live a life based solely on TRUTH, it would be a very boring existence to say the least and could we truly live such a life? If we are truthful with ourselves when asking the question we would have to face the cold hard TRUTH that we need untruths to make our lives palatable to our sensibilities. There are times when I ask, "Why do people lie so much? Then I realize maybe they don't see what they are doing so much as lying as they are protecting others from the cold reality of the TRUTH.

Nov. 4th 2013

Who am I?

My name is David Edward Carroll Jr and I am a Freemason and as a Freemason I am a member of the world's oldest fraternal organization. Once I became a Master Mason I was eligible to join several associated bodies such as Shriners International, Royal Arch Masons, Cryptic Masons and Knights Templar. There are several co-masonry groups which both male and females may join so I am also a member of The Order of The Eastern Star.

The present day motto of Freemason's is "Making Good Men Better" which means we do not encourage men of low moral character to join our order. Just because I made that last statement does not mean I believe Freemasons do not have any character defects; oh contraire, we are not perfect by any means but we are striving to smooth the rough edges and prepare ourselves for the more glorious purpose of becoming useful to The Great Architect of the Universe. With the Book of Sacred Law as the guide to our faith and practice and the principles of brotherly love, relief and truth as the tenants of our profession we are working to leave the world a better place than we found it.

 We are on every continent in the world and in most of those places, men who want to become a Freemason must ask to join because only they know when they are ready to start their Masonic journey. I have heard many uninformed or ill informed people make the statement that Masonry is not compatible with Christianity, a statement which I do not understand. Just because we sit in our lodges with men of other faiths and do not proselytize does not make what we do incompatible with Christianity. As a Templar, my oath to defend the Faith is no less real than a person who stands before a church and professes their love for God. We believe in One God who is the Father of us all and though he be known by many names he is still one.

As Shriners we have fun but we also work to raise money to support 22 hospitals which treat children at no cost to their families and our motto is "Love to the Rescue." 

As the days and weeks pass into the annals of time never to return; I hope to leave some words on these pages that will not only help in my quest to become a better man but maybe they will help someone else become just a little better acquainted with who we are as Men and Freemasons.

Peace be with you!