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!