Welcome to the symbolic Lodge of conversation where Consciousness and curiosity enter weave into discussion this this is all square podcast I’m your host RL Franks and this week this is the story of my friend and brother Shane straik a seven-year Mason who’s also been embarking into more leadership
Roles being a young man who is balancing work family and masonry this is the story of Shane Shane thank you for being a part of this today thank you for inviting me this is great you know I’ve been watching you go through all these different degrees and branches in
Masonry and it’s great to see another young man of the fraternity being so active what made you want to be a part of Freemasonry growing up I you know I watched like my dad my grandfather um I come from a long line of Freemasons and stuff like that and uh my grandfather
Always told me you know you get out of the fraternity what you put into it and so as I’ve gone Along The more I’ve found I’ve put into it the more I do get out of it the friendships the Brotherhood you know it’s really carries through the rest of your
Life and how you car yourself and everything so you’re a generational Mason how far does the lineage go three as far as I know my dad my grandfather and my great-grandfather and I’m pretty sure that my great great-grandfather was also Mason that’s really incredible and
That’s not a lineage uh a lot of people can get to claim and enjoy in the fraternity growing up in your house being around your grandfather I often notice that a lot of grandsons like us are close to our grandfathers and we kind of get inspired and intrigued in this
Fraternity and there’s a lot of people there’s like a generational difference between your grandfather and normally other your what would be your dad who normally didn’t join there was a trend during the World War II generation in the flower power movement where these flower power men did not want to conform
To what their dad was why their dad was wanting to find fraternity your father did join the fraternity yes but was it well talked about in your house it wasn’t talked about but everything the signs were always kind of around okay you know I remember you know seeing my
Dad’s Bible you know sitting around on a table or something like that every once in a while or I’d go over to my grandparents house and he carried or had a a pocket watch that was my great-grandfather’s pocket watch that he kept in like a glass case and his
Masonic ring was always next to that pocket watch um seeing the emblem on his car you know he always had the square encompasses on the back of his car and my grandma had the Eastern stars on on her side of the car and everything so it wasn’t talked about but it was always
Kind of there in the background now was your family masons in northwest Ohio where we’re currently at now yes my my dad and my grandfather were both Barton Smith guys that’s how I went to Barton Smith as well excellent we have 20 lodges in our district Barton
Smith another great lodge used to be called The Silk sock Lodge I believe because there was a lot of high-end futin people who was part of Barton Smith was a well-known Masonic figure in this area and he did a lot of stuff on the national I actually believe he was a
Um past Sovereign Grandmaster of the northern Masonic dis Scottish right jurisdiction um if memory serves me right I’ll have to fact check me on Reddit and come back to me on that but he was also I believe a grandmas as well um correct me if I’m wrong do you know
Anything about Bon Smith I’ve looked back into it but I don’t want to sit here and like have you quote anything on it or something like that leave that to me leave that to me making the mistakes but I believe no I believe he’s a past Sovereign Grand uh Commander um which is
The head of the Scottish right Northern Masonic jurisdiction so the signs were all there signs are so important in our fraternity why do you think it is why does what is masonry um how is masonry I should say different than Elks moose lion Knights of Columbus a heppa
There’s because you see the signs you know every once in a while you know going into a new town you a lot of times will see the square encompasses up on the town sign and I think as you see them a little bit more of and you know
It’s for someone not in the fraternity it’s all it might be out of the corner of their eye or something but they see it at every town they go to and maybe in a movie or something like that and it just slowly Peaks interest you know you
See that square Encompass so many times you’re going to go I wonder what that is back in the day they would have to go and maybe find a lodge and talk to it now you can get online and start reading up you know you get on Google Square
Encompasses you know or letter G and you know it’s going to pop up from there right but you know what technology is very important in today’s society but one thing that the internet or some of these other social media platforms or uh AI technology can’t convey is the
Meaning that it means to the individual is that would you say that’s a well said Point yeah because it’s different for all of us in the fraternity yeah how has that journey of seven years yeah been for you it’s it keeps me connected in a more disconnected
World like you know everybody wants to say oh we’re linked together by the internet but you know that’s just electricity running through wires you’re not talking to somebody like this so having the fraternity to turn to keeps me connected with you know other other men other likeminded men that you know
Are either going to become mentors or friends or both you know that can teach me you know how to live life and I think that’s a very important thing to have especially today because of how I think disconnected everybody is from each other yeah we’re very isolated with
Technology even though it’s keeping us connected it’s also keeping us apart because I say this in other episodes of all square it’s like I know what you’re doing on Facebook I see the pictures y all look you know my friends look happy but when’s the last time I reached out
To them you know did a wellness check hey just thinking about you just shoot a text message I as you as you will know am a caller I do not rely on text messaging because I’m worried how text messaging can Mis portray my uh message even from B basic messages to
When I’m getting in more um deep conversations in a text message I want to make sure that I’m very poignant on what I’m saying to that individual yeah and what’s great about a phone call is not only do I get to talk to you we have
That what could be a twoh hour text message we can have that in five minutes right but then I can also tell from your tonality oh is everything okay how’s your wife how’s your kids and masonry is that Brotherhood that brings us all together did you ever think you were
Going to experience that kind of Brotherhood in a room full of strangers no I mean it’s you know looking around some of my absolute best friends guys that I could call right now and I know they’re going to answer the phone are 40 years older
Than I am and I know I can I can trust them I can count on them if I have something going on I can go to them um or if I don’t have something going on if I just want to you know BS with somebody
For a little bit then I can call them and I can do it and I I think that is a very important thing for people in general to have and the fraternity definitely gives that to any man that comes in then why do you think that society and not I wouldn’t say society
As a whole but there are certain people who are looking at our frat who are keyboard Warriors and saying masonry is you know anti-christian you know it’s an evil organization we sacrifice we’re baby worshipper you know baby slaughterers you know Satan worshippers but why do you think the
Fraternity gets a bad rep it’s very easy to be afraid of what you don’t know or don’t understand and now that we are in a world where somebody H can en voice their opinion without being face to face you’re just seeing it more uh you’re you’re seeing that hate out there a lot
More because they’re not talking to you oneon-one or in a group or anything like that they’re sitting behind the keyboard like you said and so they’re afraid of what they don’t know and what the fraternity might be rather than coming out and saying you know hey
What’s this all about coming to a lodge and going hey what’s you know what’s happening here and stuff like that it’s easy for him to hate behind a keyboard I think I think sometimes these these men women I think they live in their own personal hell I think
That in a world where so many things are negative on social media Tik Tock and everybody’s looking like they’re having a better life than you are and you even put a post out and disagree with somebody and like 50 um comments come out negative and they really like attack you I think you
Know people are experiencing that kind of hell and they don’t have a organization and a Brotherhood and that Fellowship in their life like what the fraternity can offer because you know I don’t believe every man should be a mason it needs to be the right men coming in
For the right reasons of the fraternity your Lodge how would you describe it we it’s the the demographics are a little older um I know I’m probably one of the younger youngest members that we have right now but it’s a highly intelligent lot these guys have been
There and done that with just about everything in Freemason R uh you know York right guys Scottish right guys guys that have been coming to Blue Lodge for 40 50 years and so it’s it’s a highly intelligent Lodge where when we have to get the work done we know we’re going to
Do it we’re going to do it right and it’s going to be a good representation of what the work is but at the same time we also know how to have a lot of fun you know we like joking around with each other we like ribbing each other and everything like
That you know certain guys you know Michigan fans go blue and know you got your other Ohio State fans that’s always a thing you’re you’re going to find somebody’s chair replaced by a scarlet and gray or Maze and blue and things like that so we know how to
Have fun but we also know how to get our work done yeah that’s fantastic have you had any mentors who you got a whole Lodge full of experience in that Lodge that’s been with you throughout your journey from when you first knocked down the door to where you are where you are
At now yeah has there been a mentor somebody who may no longer be here or somebody who’s still there in the lodge that you contribute to a lot of your success towards there’s any number of guys I can name off any one of them uh my first big
Mentor was worful brother Reed nolles you know he he helped bring me in he was the senior Deacon when I was going through and I was going to Owen’s Community College at the time and he was a teacher there so I I’d go to his office and that’s how I studied my my
Ritual and everything like that so he really brought me in and and made sure I was learning everything correctly and you know today and like I said there’s just any know you know right worse for Rick shider like he’s he’s all over the place he’s doing stuff everywhere and
He’s pulled me along with them and and kind of showed me the ropes and everything like that so it’s but any one of those guys have taught me something somewhere along the way excellent that’s great with this fraternity Shane you wanted to talk about one thing that Mason has really helped you with
That not a lot of people on the outside would truly understand what was that so it it ended up helping me go from being just a a passive Christian um somebody that you know yeah I believe and celebrate Easter and Christmas but never attending church or anything like that to being a truly
Active Christian I I went out and found a church to belong to and I try to make sure I’m active in it you know whether it’s helping out being an usher or just taking part in the events that they’re doing and things like that uh Freemasonry is really what brought me to
That State of Mind of really truly believing in being a Christian again no why is that though there’s just there’s teachings um and as the years have gone by and you know you listen to it over and over again and finally closing my eyes and truly listening to it and trying to
Understand everything and then also as I got into like the York right which has more of like the Christian undertones and stuff like that you know going through all of that really reopened my eyes to why I should believe were you a um really active Christian growing up
Was Faith really a part of your life when you were younger into high school college area or it was kind of a on and off thing it wasn’t very you know a big thing in our home or anything like that you know I’d say by the time I was in
Junior high high school we weren’t really active in going to any church or anything like that so there was those years where I didn’t have it around me and I didn’t you know I would have said you know maybe I’m agnostic or something like that because I just didn’t know it
Very well and so it it took time to get to the spot that I’m in now you I and it’s great to hear that you’re giv back in your community and you you know it brought you in here everybody thinks Mason is anti-religion which is not the
Case when we open a lodge and when we close a lodge we have a prayer it’s a unified prayer because in this fraternity we have men from all walks of life who believe in a lot of different religions the only thing that we don’t accept is atheism yeah because if you
Make an obligation that you are going to be a good man a true man and you’re going to uphold the tenants of being that an atheist who doesn’t believe in anything when they’re making that vow it’s considered nonbinding right because they don’t fear of any repercussions and we have Native Americans Greek
Orthodox lutherans um Muslim Jewish all in this fraternity and I can only imagine what it was like back in the old days like when you know the Cowboys and Native Americans were all being part of but there have been Native Americans who are part of it today you know you can
Absolutely see the Bible the Quran the Torah and Ababa Gita um or the spiritual Scrolls for the Hindus right there as well and we don’t talk about our religions but we appreciate that we all are under this Brotherhood of Man under this fatherhood of God right and it really you know I
Believe in what I believe in and the guy next to me believes in what he believes in and you know the way I look at it is anybody that is religious can take the lessons that we teach here in Freemasonry and apply it to their own faith whether you know I just I’m
Christian that’s what I believe in but it’s no different for somebody that might be Muslim or might be Hindu or anything they can apply the teachings that we give to to their faith in any way and that’s yeah we’re we’re Universal but anybody can learn from it
So we talked about Fellowship we talked about a little bit of religion how are you are you interested in the education of the fraternity um do you you said to me earlier that you like to listen to podcast you know what are you searching for when you’re like watching these
Different podcasts in in today’s Life as a modern Mason by I’m a big history buff um so I’m always you know digging around and and reading different books or listening to different podcast whether it’s Masonic or not it typically ends up being history you know drives my wife
Nuts you know I go on tangents about things but um you know a lot of like Masonic Books I’m reading one right now about like the Civil War and different things that happened out on the battlefield some of the stories all Masons know and s are lesser known
Stories and things like that it just the Brotherhood and how it could bring enemies together you know and things like that and so you know educationally I’m I’m very much into what can we learn from history and how can we apply it to today as well yeah it history repeats itself do very
Often so you said that you’re Civil War did you say you were looking at yeah right now right now um there have been a lot of experiences where prisoners of War were Masons and how Masons of the north took care of the prisoners from the south and vice versa
Yeah and uh I believe there was a like not a mode of recognition but like Masons who were in the Civil War had like a red um oh what would you say string not string but you know like something like a stripe yeah like a red stripe on there to acknowledge that they
Were Masons and brothers were seeing each other on the Battleground yeah um yeah there’s a very well documented case you probably want to go into that yeah I mean that’s there’s a lot of uh you know they’d see Lael pins or somebody might you know give the the certain signs or
Something like that and you know you’d find where guys would actually completely stop attacks just because they saw brother Mason that needed help you know get him out of Harm’s Way you might have to leave him but at least he’s out of Harm’s Way um there’s stories about you know they knew that
There was a dead brother out on the battlefield and a group of Union soldiers that were also Brothers went out there and brought the body back to their lines to give them a proper Masonic burial burial and everything and so there’s there’s just a lot of stories
Of that Brotherhood and you know these guys didn’t know each other at all they just knew knew that they were brothers and they cared about each other because of that and it it allowed people to have glimpses of humanity in some of the worst you know fighting that the world
Has ever seen and I think that’s a it’s a very important thing and it’s an important thing to remember because it allows us to apply that even to today if those guys could do it in the middle of fighting like that then we can definitely do it while everything’s
Civil amen Amen to that brother amen to that um yeah you just think about you try to look at the past and try to correlate that into days times and like you know a lot of things don’t have to escalate to where they need to be when
We can still be able to have that art of discussion and find Common Ground between right brothers and yeah I’ve seen definitely Brothers have nasty fallouts in the fraternity and I’ve also seen Brothers come back and you know um you know regain that uh relationship yeah with those Brothers yep and I think
Masonry is um a it’s a place where all these stories and all these symbols reflect such a deeper meaning on that Humanity yeah right people always say oh it’s world domination well if it’s for the greater good of humanity you know you know I’m all for it personally yeah yeah um and
I’ve seen guys who again don’t know people from Adam I’ve experience this I’ve been across the country and met guys and they treat me just like a brother I know locally who I get to see every Monday at a lodge meeting yeah yeah that’s important I mean you just
Sitting out to eat you know have a guy come walking up to you just go hey brother just wanted to say hi enjoy your meal it’s just a it’s another guy that you might never see again in your life but you have that instant connection even for a few seconds where you know
Like if I’m leaving the restaurant he’s got a flat tire I’m going to help him I know he’s a brother and I’m going to go help him and you know it’s a it’s a very eye openening experience when you just run into somebody and they go yeah I’m a
Traveling man as well yep absolutely man um I think I I don’t know if I said this on a previous episode but like I was at this bar it’s like a beach bar up in M Southern Michigan and I with my dad who’s A new mason these big motorcycle
Guys come in and my dad’s were just sitting there having a Bloody Mar and I noticed a square Encompass and I said to this guy I hailed him down and I talked to him and this guy comes to our table and I say oh you’re a brother and he
Asked me some questions I asked him some questions he knew we were both brothers and him and his part were so jovial to see other masons from Ohio up here in Michigan and my dad’s just like new not understanding I’m like that’s masonry yeah right you don’t you have I have
Friends from all walks of life I got these aren’t strangers to me I can walk into a whole new Lodge and make a whole new group of friends yeah and they travel so deep and I just uh participated in a Masonic Funeral uh for a very well-known uh man and Mason in
Our area Joseph bub who was a pass bate of the shrine oh my goodness the Masons that came out for this funeral and showed their respect I mean you talk about grown men just in tears and then doing like the testimonial section of how Joe Buck um you know had
An impact on the their lives these guys were just popping up and saying oh how this he was helping me put back together my garage he was he was able to help us on our board and just seeing that level of community yeah and his wife’s always going to be taken
Care of he has a great son and great daughters who you know our fraternity and it’s something that not a a lot of just should be more focusing on is taking care of our widows and orphans yeah right taking care of the wives and children of our fraternity yeah yeah
There’s always Brothers there’s always you know widows orphans that need take taken care of and you know that’s one of the biggest parts of our fraternity is you know it’s not just you as the brother it’s your family as well um you know every one of us out there are you
Know working men we have families out there we have kids we have grandkids you know that are it’s very important to every one of us and you know as you know a brother to brother that family is just as important it’s just extended family you know that’s all it is and so when
When they need help you help them that’s it’s a very important thing yeah I agree you just touched upon you know something I really want to talk about you you’re a modern man in the modern world you’ve been married for how long we are going on eight years soon eight years you have
Two kids two yep that’s what I thought what’s it like living in today’s society where we’re taught you know you know to keep our passions in do bounds and circumscribe our desires what’s it like being a man in today’s world balancing that work Life Family Life and
Masonry it can be tough you know there’s there’s days where you’re just tired it’s hard to get up and get moving you know a Sunday afternoon the yard needs mode you know sometimes you got to just get up and do it and you know it’s the same thing there’s you know any day
Where it might be a lodge night and you’re sitting there going man I’m I’m beat I’m tired right now you know you’ve been running the kids around to sports and things like that you had you know wanted to make sure dinner was cooked before the wife got home and everything
So that way she’s set up for the evening and by the time it’s time for Lodge you’re going man I’m I’m exhausted you know I don’t really know if I feel like going but you get up and you do it and the moment you get in there it it it
Goes way you’re happy to be there and you’re happy to have you know other brothers around you and you know it might be just a simple Lodge night you’re there for an hour and a half two hours and then you you’re off again and uh but it is important to find that
Balance you know you got to find times to enjoy your own solitary things whether it is sitting down and reading a book or sitting on the back porch and just watching the birds fly by or something you gotta find that nice healthy balance and it’s it’s easier some days than others absolutely you
Know self-care is so important for today’s men and women believe it or not me and my producer went out and got massages one day I never been to massage my life but it’s my brother and he said hey this is going to feel good and you
Know I tell you what just taking those moments to just unwind let the world uh be on the other side of that door focusing on you know maybe an internal project or just even meditating and talking to yourself and self analyzing like what happened that day is so important in today’s society that’s
One thing I love people think I’m crazy because I’m a South sleo guy I drive all the way out to Waterville to get to Lodge about 25 minutes I actually pass a lodge in Mai Ohio to get to my Lodge I do that because man I take that drive after work in8 hours
And I’m just unwinding on the road and I’m getting that sense of excitement for meeting my brothers talking about some stuff that we can do out in the Community Learning something during the education presentation of the meeting and be able to just connect and then get pretty much recharged in today’s society
You know I’ve actually interviewed um a wife of a mason or my fellow craft and producer Mike L soon to be a Master Mason we’re working on that but you know how has the discussions been with your wife who does she have Masonic uh lineage in her family with
Her dads and brothers she has a grandfather that was a Mason but I don’t think she actually knew until I was out there one day and her grandmother saw my ring and goes oh my you know husband was a master major too and so it was never a
Part of my wife’s life and or anything like that but she knew like when I started getting old enough you know we had been married we we had our first son and everything but um I had brought it up a couple times and she knew like my grandfather and dad were Masons and
Everything like that so you know it was at first I don’t think she really knew what to expect but as we’ve gone along over these years and everything like that um she’s grown to I think enjoy it in some ways you know when we go out and we do
Big group things like like receptions and things like that she has fun she gets to see other Masonic wives around and she knows and understands that this fraternity is not like your college fraternities where we’re out partying and and drinking or anything like that we’re we’re out there to make the world
Better but also make ourselves better and over the years she’s really I think seen that because you know I feel like I’ve been able to take lessons and make myself better and I hope you know that she looks at it as I’m a better husband or a better father because of that and
So she’s grown to accept it and that’s allowed her to be okay with me joining all these appendant bodies and doing a little bit more and everything like that and being busier you know especially with you know inspection season coming up and everything you know I gave her
Fair warning hey I’m going to be gone a lot of nights but she understands and it it helps to have that support system too you know being able to articulate masonry to your spouse and significant other so important it’s something I wish more logic would focus on when a new
Brother’s coming in yeah taking that time during uh the investigation portion going to the house bringing a brother who can break it down and talk to the wife about this asking her questions because there’s so many times I know guys who go through the degree and then they come home that
Night and they the wife ask well how was it I can’t talk about it not the best way to start off trying trying to build a relationship with your wife in this new fraternity that’s kind of scary in the public in the Public’s eye or you know the conspiracy the sites and then
Leaving her go on that path down a rabbit hole on conspiracies and uh articles against masonry we need to figure out a way where we can have those discussions be able to talk about it because I used to hate it when people would say there are no secrets in
Masonry no there is there is it’s what keeps us together though in our Brotherhood yeah I a way I know you’re a Mason compared to a clandestine Mason who just wanted to create a get rich scheme and then Pawn everybody out of their money uh and stuff and there are
Clandestine lodges and that’s really a big thing um in certain parts of the area not really in northwest Ohio there is a CL Lodge in Ohio but yeah to be able to know those modes of recognition once I know you’re Mason there’s that bonding there that you and
I walk through the same steps were you a traditional or a one day Mason traditional okay same so we were walking through those same step steps into the fraternity we both understand what we went through and we’ve gained an appreciation of that not taking any away
From a one- day Mason um especially in the modern times today sometimes the one- day class is the approach some Masons need we’ve had great men who went through a one day class um yeah society as a whole of this fraternity hasn’t made you
A better man I believe so I I really do um because there there are a lot of lessons that you can apply to your life you know as you hear them more often and understand them a little bit better each day you know I can take another chip out
Of that rough ashler and I feel like I have and I got a long way to go but I definitely do feel like a a better man than when I first knocked on that door and you know it’s something I can carry through the rest of my life and down the
Road you know with my two young boys I really hoping that someday they’ll come up to me and go Dad I’m ready I’m ready to knock on the door and then I get to help them do the same thing it’s so important to be able to have your sons be aware of the
Fraternity not give anything away about that experience because and making them make their own decision if they want to join or not yeah so there’s a lot of times I see guys who get pushed him because of their dad and they don’t get the right experience if I had kids I
Wouldn’t care if they joined Rubicon or Bon Smith I would just want them to be active in the fraternity and men should be these young men should be aware of what the fraternity is and let them come to their own free will and Accord because if you P it’s like uh it’s like
A dad living vicariously through their son and Sport right pushing them and pushing them and then when they get out of it out of high school you know they have no interest in the in that sport anymore it happens in masonry too so yeah definitely something as your you
Said you have two boys yeah yeah definitely something to keep in mind and there’s youth organizations too you can always try out like the deay yeah it’s kind of a good starter into the Masonic fraternity and it’s something you can be a part of with them how old your boys 10
And eight okay your one son is actually close enough to be a Squire I don’t know if you know anything about the squires I’ve heard of them a little bit but I I don’t know a ton about them so there’s a few 10-year-old boys so the squires is
Kind of like the Cub Scouts of deai you know it’s called The Squire program and in perisburg there’s actually a uh group that has a few young young 10-year-olds who are part of that there’s like five kids six kids I think right now okay and they’re really rebuilding a chapter deay
Really focuses on um Jack deay yeah if you know any you’re a history guy jock deay was a Templar yep in all the good works uh he did in the fraternity and instead of the Boy Scout uniform they were the men were soups and they got like this like night
Cape or something like that I’ve been a dad adviser for six years I want to say but uh it’s a great institution I know a lot of great uh young men who man I know a guy who was a part of one of the deay chapters in the area worked his way up
To International traveling around the world goes on become a dentist takes on his father’s practice and that’s like a four generation um Mason uh Masonic lineage of that out in vanward Ohio he’s a great individual hopefully I’ll get him on here soon but yeah that’s just something
To keep in mind oh yeah yeah and that’s something that’s it’s important and it’s everything that I’m going to lay out there you know like I said before everything was always kind of around me but it took time for me to really uh come to my own conclusion that
I wanted to join you know and I poked around you know asked you know Dad or Grandpa you know what is this you know what’s going on and they’d kind of you know oh you know it’s just fraternity and all this kind of stuff and I read
Online a little bit but it took a few years it wasn’t until I was into my 20s that I was like you know what no I do want to join and I finally you know I went to my dad went to my grandpa and then um I don’t know if you remember
Jimmy Simpson oh yeah yeah oh my goodness he was a teacher of mine at Owens and he was another guy that I went to he actually was one of the guys that signed my petition for me wasn’t he syia wasn’t he SRAM yeah but you know I just
I found saw one day he had something and you know I was like oh yeah my my grandfather grandfather’s a Mason and so we got to talking about it and that’s that’s when I finally was ready to join you know I met somebody else outside of
The family a little bit and then went back to my you know Dad and grandpa said hey you know I really want to do this and that you know that was when they finally said okay like it’s I think you’re ready now I think it seems more
Genuine than just a curiosity it was a genuine thing that I wanted to join and it did it took until I was in my 20s to do that now you join and then you took a break yes so I had joined and at the time I was still going
To school my second son was born you know newly married working anywhere between 50 and 60 hours a week and something just had to give and the one thing that could give was Freemasonry so I kind of walked away from it for a while really actually almost lost real all contact with it
Um and it took a few years it really took up until well I graduated in 17 Close to 18 um and then Co hit and it was kind of that those alone times you know with with Co and everything that it was I really missed it I really what were you
Missing just the the the camaraderie the Brotherhood of it absolutely having other people around that I enjoyed really spending time with you know everything else was gone at the time there was no going out to see friends or anything like that it was go to work I
Might see one or two people there and then I’m stuck at home and I just really started to miss that extra bit that extra bit of friendship that extra bit of fellowship and so once everything things started opening back up you know I just sent a text hey I’d really like to start
Coming back to Lodge is that going to be okay well you know what do I need to do and they said show up just come back that’s all you have to do and that day I walked in sat down and it was like I never left it was right back to it right
Where we picked up how’s the wife and kids how’s everything going you know it there was it was no skipping a beat it’s so tough to put that into words right how this fraternity affects us yeah but it’s our own little world inside the real world that we can come together do
Good works be there for each other and become better men now you are going to be senior Warden or of yes I’ll be moving up to senior Warden this you’ll be moving up to wor okay senior Warden and you’re going to be f focusing on getting ready
To run the lodge yeah how does that feel being in you know the co-pilot chair of the lodge right now you’re not the captain but you’re definitely you’re about to be sooner than you think I’m just trying to soak everything in every bit of information I can because I know
You know the guys in the lodge want to see me have a successful year and I want to have a successful uccessful year I want to be able to walk away you know when I leave the East walk away and say I did a good job these guys were happy
With what I did and I’m happy with what I did so I’m trying to soak in every little bit of information anybody’s giv me get you know telling me get prepared now make your calendar now that’s you know start sending letters out now if you need to like so I’m trying to do
Everything I can to just be as prepared as I Poss Poss can one way to do that grab a notebook write three things you truly want to accomplish your year could be internally could be out in the community and then call a officer’s meeting talk to the
Worful get it approved and I would say kind of next summer because you won’t be worshipful yet bring the officers and say guys this is what I have these are the tentative dates we can move stuff around but this is what I want to accomplish yeah I want your input I want
To keep on what I have as my agenda but I want your input of how to accomplish this I guarantee you you will be so far ahead than most men who are about to go into the master spot I did that at Rubicon and I just always just wrote down little
Things I want to do and don’t overburden yourself with a bunch of things I took a quadrant and I had I’m going to focus on ritual education fellowship and charity ritual to get the tone to get these new men excited that you’re going to make Masons because you
Will in the future be making Masons yeah education to inspire you said you’re a well educated Lodge to keep those creative juices flowing and learning more about the deep rich history of a fraternity Fellowship that’s that cement that keeps it all together because the camaraderie is what
You’re looking for a lot of men out here in cyberspace who are listening to this are looking for that in their lives yeah and then charity and don’t think charity is all about like writing a check to you know one of the local Char charity organizations charity being here for one another
Working together to do some kind of good work that’s going to impact the community yeah focus on those four things get your notebook get an officer meeting have a couple yeah you will be so far ahead and this is this experience as a junior pass master I guarantee it
Believe it or not that time is this time has flown and I’m G to ask you the last question what’s one thing you want to tell the people watching the fraternity watching this episode about the fraternity when you decide to take that step through the door take time to
Listen and as you go through it and as you experience more of it you know eventually you’re sitting on the sidelines watching it as you’re you know maybe sitting in an officer’s chair for the first time watching it take time to just close your eyes and actually listen
To what’s going on because it can teach you so many different things and just because it teaches you something this way this time five years down the road you might hear those same words and it can teach you something completely different but every time it will make you a better
Man that’s my my brother Shane straik I’m RL Franks we’re going to have him back on here again after during his year as master and after his year as Master to get a followup and you my friends are all Square A
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