California Division IX Masonic Calendar of Events
Title: Teacher of the Year (SW Hackett)
Location: SW Hackett 574
Description: SW Hackett 574 June Stated Meeting dress code changed back to Tuxes
Date: 2009-06-02
Corn, Wine & Oil - Tyler’s Toast
At our April Stated Meeting Wor. Achenbach delivered a presentation for Masonic Education regarding “Corn, Wine & Oil”. After the meeting, at our “Tyler’s Toast”, we we all enjoyed some bread and beverage along with Extra Virgin Olive Oil supplied by Brother Timothy Wood of Wood Ranch Estate.
Bro. Wood was featured in the FREEMASON magazine (Dec/Jan 2009) and after enjoying some of the oil at home with his family, Wor. Achenbach decided to bring in a bottle to share with the Lodge.
Was John the Baptist the cousin of Jesus of Nazareth?
Brethren and Ladies as we spend much time contemplating the Holy Saints John I thought I would share some of the research I have dug up on the Baptist. Some of it is controversial speculation but interesting none-the-less...
John the Baptist was the son of Zachary, a priest of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Elizabeth, a kinswoman of Mary who visited her.
He was probably born at Ain-Karim southwest of Jerusalem after the Angel Gabriel had told Zachary that his wife would bear a child even though she was an old woman. He lived as a hermit in the desert of Judea until about A.D. 27. When he was thirty, he began to preach on the banks of the Jordan against the evils of the times and called men to penance and baptism "for the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand".
According to Albert Pike in
"Knight of the East and West" St. John the Baptist was likely a member of the Essene sect as he followed their ascetic doctrine. Pike further says that his teachings like those of the Essenes were truths gathered from India, Persia and elsewhere from the east as well as from Pythagoras and other Greek thinkers. Thus Masons carry on with these truths taught by John the Baptist, The Essenes and others now gone.
"... and the old faiths have faded into oblivion. But Masonry still survives, vigorous and strong, as when philosophy was taught in the schools of Alexandria and under the Portico; teaching the same old truths as the Essenes taught by the shores of the Dead Sea, and as John the Baptist preached in the Desert; truths imperishable as the Deity, and undeniable as Light. Those truths were gathered by the Essenes from the doctrines of the Orient and the Occident, from the Zend-Avesta and the Vedas, from Plato and Pythagoras, from India, Persia, Phoenicia, and Syria, from Greece and Egypt, and from the Holy Books fo the Jews. Hence we are called Knights of the East and West, because their doctirnes came from both."
Edmond Szekely is an eminent scholar and author of numerous works on this subject including
. Szekely obtained access to Aramaic documents in the Vatican archives in Rome, and corroborated his translations with other ancient Greek and Hebrew documents (and confirmed by the writings later discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls) surmised that both lived and studied at Qum Rum, that this is where Jesus "lost years" were spent, at the monastary of the Essenes by the Dead Sea where the scrolls were undoubtedly written, then sealed up and buried for eons.
The finding of these long lost Essene documents have created a problem as they mirror the story of the passion play in the Gospels of the bible. They follow the ministry of one called only "Master" in the scrolls, but who also speaks the Sermon on the Mount and ends with the Master being crucified before Passover. Szekely states that the problem for the orthodox churches lies in carbon dating of these scrolls, which dates them 100-years prior to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
At any rate Jesus and John were cousins. Mary mother of Jesus was the sister of Elizabeth mother of John, and Mary and Elizabeth have been tied to the Essene sect by scholars. That John and Jesus were preaching different doctrines is unlikely. In fact it was probably orchestrated, as the church of Rome teaches that John the Baptist was to lead the way for Christ.
This is the account from Catholic.org: "He attracted large crowds, and when Christ came to him, John recognized Him as the Messiah and baptized Him, saying, "It is I who need baptism from You". When Christ left to preach in Galilee, John continued preaching in the Jordan valley. Fearful of his great power with the people, Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Perea and Galilee, had him arrested and imprisoned at Machaerus Fortress on the Dead Sea when John denounced his adultrous and incestuous marriage with Herodias, wife of his half brother Philip.
John was beheaded at the request of Salome, daughter of Herodias, who asked for his head at the instigation of her mother. John inspired many of his followers to follow Christ when he designated Him "the Lamb of God," among them Andrew and John, who came to know Christ through John's preaching. John is presented in the New Testament as the last of the Old Testament prophets and the precursor of the Messiah. His feast day is June 24th and the feast for his beheading is August 29th."
Fraternally Yours,
Steve Laurvick
Junior Warden
SW Hackett #574
How to Define Tolerance
Author: http://www.sandiegofreemason.com
To be tolerant is to learn to respect the opinions of others though they may diverge from ones own belief system.
The human family is diverse. The principles guiding value systems in each society are different. And while one may not agree with some aspect of another persons cultural interpretation of morality or justice, to be tolerant would require one to work at accepting and understanding it.
Thus tolerance is the acceptance of something an individual disagrees with. Hence tolerance is so highly regarded in Freemasonry for it is vital to its existence. Acceptance of others' spiritual beliefs and traditions without being required to share them is the cornerstone of our fraternity.
Tolerance is the highest of masonic moral dictates. In one of the earliest speculative masonic texts (the Ahiman Rezon, or The Book of Constitutions of the Ancient Grand Lodge of England written in 1756 by Laurence Dermott) the first charge does not mention tolerance but defines it:
"...In antient Times, the Christian Masons were charged to comply with the Christian Usages of each Country where they travelled or worked; being found in all Nations, even of divers Religions.
They are generally charged to adhere to that Religion in which all Men agree (leaving each Brother to his own particular Opinion): that is, to be good Men and true, Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Names, Religions, or Persuasions they may be distinguished for they all agree in the three great Articles of Noah, enough to preserve the Cement of the Lodge.
Thus masonry is the Center of their Union, and the Happy Means of consiliating Persons that otherwise must have remained at a perpetual Distance."
We are taught in Freemasonry to understand that each brother is different but equal.
We are also charged to, "Love your God with all of your heart, and all of your soul and all of your mind and all of your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself."
In contemplating tolerance as an actuality one would logically adhere several attributes to achieving tolerant behavior. An ability to forgive others, sympathize with their peculiar circumstance, and the patience to reflect upon differences rather than react would seem mandatory to effecting a tolerant attitude.
If put into effect in everyday life, tolerance of others beliefs and respect for their equal right to believe something we may not agree with, will translate into a higher form of personal existence.
The spread of this practice among individuals of all cultures can only lead to a higher degree of mutual respect among nations and a more peaceful world.
To give this rationale crystal clarity one need only look at the antithesis of the idea of tolerance.
Who embraces intolerance?
Certain names spring to mind- Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and other infamous authoritarian figures of the 20th century come to mine. Ideologies also emerge- the Ku Klux Klan, Skin Heads, Nazis and Radical Islamic Militants.
An Austrian brother visited our lodge a couple of years ago and presented the master with a pin. The pin had the representation of a forget-me-not flower on it.
The brother explained that it was symbolic of Austrian Freemasonry for he said the first thing Hitler did to consolidate his power was detain and murder prominent Freemasons in Germany and Austria.
Hitler could not allow Freemasonry to exist because the Nazi philosophy was entirely based on the inequality of human species and intolerance of those races deemed inferior.
Thus the forget-me-not is a symbol of remembrance on the pin. It is to remind us of the danger of allowing intolerance into our own lives and society as well as the need to regularly incorporate tolerance into our hearts and minds.
By Steve Laurvick ...
(As the incoming Master of our lodge) please allow me to present my biography for your information.
I was born at Denver, CO. My father, Bro. Jordan E. Detzer (recently deceased), and both my paternal and maternal grandfathers were masons. As my father received his Doctorate in Theology and was an ordained minister in the Methodist Church, our family consisting of my mother, Jeanne, and three brothers, David (deceased May 2006, Jordan and Mark, moved every four years to a different Church in the southwestern area of the USA (Phoenix, Barstow, Lemon Grove, etc.). While living in Lemon Grove, I received the highest award in Boy Scouts, the Eagle Scout award. In 1966 I spent the entire summer teaching the first aid merit badge and life guarding at Camp Cherry Valley on Catalina Island.
I graduated with a B.A. Degree from the University of Arizona at Tucson. For six years, during the summer months, I was employed in the southern Arizona Catalina Mountains by the U. S. Forest service as a firefighter. During 1971-72 I backpacked about Europe, Morocco and Greece. I met my future bride, Anne Campbell, while she was completing her Masters Degree in Library Science at UA.
I graduated from USUI, California Western School of Law with a Juris Doctors Degree. Anne and I were wed at Torrey Pines State Reserve. Our son, Adam Campbell Detzer, also an Eagle Scout, recently graduated from the University of California at Davis.
I have practiced law in San Diego County for more than 30 years. My area of expertise is probate, wills, trusts and conservatorships. My office is located at 8264 University Ave. in La Mesa. I serve the Continuing Education of the state Bar association as an instructor to other attorneys an conservtorship law. I am a member of the superior Court’s Probate Mediation Panel. The California Department of Corrections utilizes my services as an Administrative Law Judge at Donovan State Prison. For the past 17 years I have been an active member of the Board of Directors of the National City Boys and Girls Clubs. I served 16 years on National City’s Planning Commission. My interests include travel, hiking, backpacking (section hiking the pacific Crest Trail), fly fishing, being married to Anne, being Adam’s Dad, and working to make our world a place where our children’s children will live and prosper.
Fraternally,
Ronald J. Detzer, SW
What's going on in the lodge this month along with contact information for all officers and calander of events.
Click Here For this months S.W. Hackett # 574 Trestleboard
Contribution from James Achenbach October 5,2007
In 1727, Benjamin Franklin convinced 12 of his friends to form a club dedicated to mutual improvement. Meeting one night a week, these young men discussed the topics of the day. The group lasted for 40 years and eventually became the nucleus of the American Philosophical Society.
Franklin himself described the Junto in his autobiography this way; “I should have mentioned before, that, in the autumn of the preceding year, [1727] I had formed most of my ingenious acquaintance into a club of mutual improvement, which we called the JUNTO; we met on Friday evenings. The rules that I drew up required that every member, in his turn, should produce one or more queries on any point of Morals, Politics, or Natural Philosophy [physics], to be discuss'd by the company; and once in three months produce and read an essay of his own writing, on any subject he pleased. Our debates were to be under the direction of a president, and to be conducted in the sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fondness for dispute or desire of victory; and to prevent warmth, all expressions of positive opinions, or direct contradiction, were after some time made contraband, and prohibited under small pecuniary penalties.”
The meetings were organized around a series of questions that Ben devised, covering a range of intellectual, personal, business, and community topics. These questions were used as a springboard for discussion and community action.
The questions are as follows:
1. Have you met with any thing in the author you last read, remarkable, or suitable to be communicated to the Junto? particularly in history, morality, poetry, physics, travels, mechanic arts, or other parts of knowledge?
2. What new story have you lately heard agreeable for telling in conversation?
3. Hath any citizen in your knowledge failed in his business lately, and what have you heard of the cause?
4. Have you lately heard of any citizen’s thriving well, and by what means?
5. Have you lately heard how any present rich man, here or elsewhere, got his estate?
6. Do you know of any fellow citizen, who has lately done a worthy action, deserving praise and imitation? or who has committed an error proper for us to be warned against and avoid?
7. What unhappy effects of intemperance have you lately observed or heard? of imprudence? of passion? or of any other vice or folly?
8. What happy effects of temperance? of prudence? of moderation? or of any other virtue?
9. Have you or any of your acquaintance been lately sick or wounded? If so, what remedies were used, and what were their effects?
10. Who do you know that are shortly going [on] voyages or journies, if one should have occasion to send by them?
11. Do you think of any thing at present, in which the Junto may be serviceable to mankind? to their country, to their friends, or to themselves?
12. Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since last meeting, that you heard of? and what have you heard or observed of his character or merits? and whether think you, it lies in the power of the Junto to oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves?
13. Do you know of any deserving young beginner lately set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto any way to encourage?
14. Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of your country, of which it would be proper to move the legislature an amendment? Or do you know of any beneficial law that is wanting?
15. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the just liberties of the people?
16. Hath any body attacked your reputation lately? and what can the Junto do towards securing it?
17. Is there any man whose friendship you want, and which the Junto, or any of them, can procure for you?
18. Have you lately heard any member’s character attacked, and how have you defended it?
19. Hath any man injured you, from whom it is in the power of the Junto to procure redress?
20. In what manner can the Junto, or any of them, assist you in any of your honourable designs?
21. Have you any weighty affair in hand, in which you think the advice of the Junto may be of service?
22. What benefits have you lately received from any man not present?
23. Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion, of justice, and injustice, which you would gladly have discussed at this time? 24. Do you see any thing amiss in the present customs or proceedings of the Junto, which might be amended?
The results of the original Junto are still evident today as an integral part of American society. The Junto gave us our first library, volunteer fire departments, the first public hospital, police departments, paved streets and the University of Pennsylvania. They recommended books, shopkeepers, and friends to each other. They fostered self-improvement through discussions on topics related to philosophy, morals, economics, and politics.
The outgrowth mentioned earlier, the American Philosophical Society, was created in 1743 to "promote useful knowledge in the colonies." Franklin proposed that the group be comprised of "ingenious men"—a physician, a mathematician, a geographer, a natural philosopher, a botanist, a chemist, and a "mechanician" (engineer)—who lived throughout the colonies. The purpose of the group was to facilitate the sharing of information about discoveries being made in the various fields. A respected intellectual institution, the American Philosophical Society still exists more than 200 years later.
Would a Junto society work today? Michael Stetz, staff writer for the UT had an article in the Monday, October 1, 2007 paper titled “Dishing out the latest dirt on...Voltaire?” This article detailed the meetings of the P&R, a discussion group that discusses the two things you’re not supposed to talk about in polite company, Politics and Religion. The creator of the group noted that the mostly middle-aged men meet not to argue but to think outside of their comfort zones.
Perhaps the questions isn’t would a Junto work today, but rather, where are groups such as these and are they asking the right questions?
