Oh O Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh W Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Supposed to be on okay I think we’re good what’s up everybody how are y’all Hello friends and brothers welcome to the Masonic Improvement live podcast hour with your host this guy and this guy hour you see him trying to trying to set the pace there the hour yeah right I
Can’t even breathe in an hour it takes me that long just to just to collect my thought right off the bat we got a really good comment so I don’t address uh a brother uh named David Bendle maybe met him before he said oh I’ve heard of
Him glad we fixed all the problems last week is there anything left to do there’s a lot left to do yes there is there’s a lot left you know there is are you baiting us no um I know the first thing is we have to we have to
Build forward moving forward right use this opportunity create excitement create positivity in the fraternity again move forward you say we completed a lot we fixed a lot sure but if we don’t take advantage of that it was a waste we also have to keep in mind that what we did
This year we have to do every year we have to show up in force know exactly what we want out of our grand lodge and demand it demand it because we cannot have we cannot relapse we cannot step back it is a constant fight but we have
To be willing to show up and put up that fight every year otherwise everything I need to give I need to give you this hat I need to give you this hat you know it just sounds like you it’s GNA be great we’re gonna keep on going we’re gonna do this
Yeah by the way this was this was given to me after uh the big day at Grand Lodge somebody gave it to me I don’t even know who maker was of this but I thought I’d wear it tonight just to uh just to say yeah we’re we’re rocking
With Grand Lodge but but Justin’s right we we do have to continue on but the most important thing that we can do right now is realize that we were not the only ones in this fight oh yeah you know we saw a lot of brothers step up
That finally felt like they had a voice when when when we took that when we took took a survey of the lodge and I’ve said this a couple of times now when I when we took a survey of the lodge we saw a lot of white hair and I’m gonna also
Throw in bald heads in there because there’s a lot of too there’s a lot of glares and white hair all the way around lot of lot of Reflections right the but the silver line in all this is those Brothers really felt like they finally had a voice back
And they came to show give their voice and and that’s the beauty of what happened this this time because you know sure there was a few brothers that that uh took a stand to make sure we got back on track when they tried to manipulate
The the uh the the form and rules of of our of our uh of our session but if if it wasn’t for all the brothers that showed up in force to reinforce those thoughts and those beliefs then then it would have been all for not you know we
Would have we would have been just sitting there with our our neck strung out just waiting like that one post that that they were talking about joking about building the guillotine you know we would have been seriously just sitting there waiting for the guillotine to come down because it would have if uh
If we didn’t have the support of of all those brothers so you know now is the time time for us to embrace that Unity that we didn’t realize that we had you know for so long we’ve separated ourselves from the other Generations thinking that we had all the answers and
These guys were just the old guys that let it all fall the crap but really the these guys were the guys that felt like they had their the the thumb on them by a couple of guys um maybe in their District or their Lodge or you know even
As far up top as as Grand LOD with the past Grand Masters they felt oppressed and suppressed under tyranny to where they were afraid to to get out of line and get squashed and end their Masonic career that they put 25 40 years into so
Now is the time for us to embrace what we have as a Brotherhood of a mentor generation that is ready to Mentor us as well as the apprentices to what we have to offer coming into this uh this new era of Freemasonry that that we get to
Experience here in Texas I I hope that answers your question daava and I’m so glad you asked because that is such an important thing we have to think about every day as we move forward we have to think about how we’re going to run with
This and not just sit on our Laurels and say hey we had this great Victory we’re the man we did all this and and then all of a sudden it all just falls out from underneath us because if we don’t show that we deserve what we had then it will
Be taken back away from us absolutely absolutely excuse me I’m gonna a costume change real quick sure uh David Lawson says that I think a lot of eyes were open after hearing some of the reports and seeing them rejected yeah I I agree and I think it really
Kind of set the tone uh when the grand West is is saying no we’re that’s not that’s not accurate that’s not the full story we’re not going to hear that um it showed it showed a a kind of a change of mentality because in the past we would just accept
Reports and and approve them and that was all there was to it we didn’t really look too far into it uh but now it’s a new it’s a it’s like a new generation of accountability we we’ve entered into like you actually need to if you’re going to tell us actually show us the
Facts don’t give us a report based off something that was just saw by one person or or partial information or half truths especially when we know that was beautiful that was beautiful when they stood up and said wait this was only read by one person how can we approve
This yeah and and just really made them look like a you know like a sack of potatoes right there in front of everybody that was that was beautiful I just gotta say that was that was awesome and that’s and that’s the way it should be right we should be standing up for
The um splitting up pieces in those reports because there are so many things that fall into that that we can’t just do a massive approval of the whole report we have to really dissect it yeah and make sure that we approve every bit of it or approve none of it until we can
Approve every of it I think the the biggest one of the biggest takeaways in context of what we’re talking about right now is you you have have to be constantly Vigilant and we assume because we we take good men and we we well we claim we take good men
We claim that we make them better that it’s just an organization of good men and there’s no need to have a constant vigilance and that’s not true and and it’s been demonstrated not just here other jurisdictions as well it’s been demonstrated if you if you get um you
Start resting on your laurels if you get comfortable then and the enemy will come whatever your beliefs are right the enemy will come and it will infiltrate and so you have to be constantly Vigilant and and like I said in the comments it’s an uphill battle it is a
Constant uphill battle and that’s not to be discouraging is just to be factual be be ready if you want to improve your fraternity if you want to keep it at the highest standard you that that is possible you have to be constantly vigilant and constantly willing to fight
That uphill battle and there there’s no there’s no rest there’s no breaks because when you do that’s that’s when we start sliding downhill and it’s the same and it’s it’s not the it’s not exhausting it can be but it’s no different than saying I’m going to go to
The gym and I’m going to start taking better care of my body once you stop going to the gym everything slides down too or I’m going to start eating healthier well once you stop eating healthy everything slides it’s the same principle I’m going to uphold high standards in my Fraternity in my Lodge
And in my Grand Lodge and I’m going to hold other people accountable because frankly and I’m sorry for for my rant here we are an honor group we are an honor group and I’ve talked about this before on the show an honor group means
That that here we are and if you want to be in this group you have to rise to meet this we don’t come down here we don’t meet you where you’re at you rise up here and if you fail to maintain this standard you’re not the group anymore
That’s what an honor group is and that’s what we are and we have to start holding one another accountable here not down here well he’s had a rough day he’s had a rough month no here this is this is the level this is the level because we
All have rough days we all have rough months we all have highs and lows in our life but this is this is the level right here I’m taking a picture of this because I’m gonna I’m gonna make sure and tell you that next time I have to
Remind you not just kidding I I would like to say also along those lines and and I’m going to revert back to brother bindle I’m so happy you’re here I was just thinking about you yesterday I was thinking man I need to call him I hadn’t
Talked to him since before uh all this debacle and but I’ve been sick I’ve had the flu all week in fact I’ve had a headache still all all day today and U these interviews are really the only activity I’m doing except for you know just trying to nurse myself better but
In thinking about Dave and and the talks that we have um let’s let’s not forget that every one of these people even though they’re they’re more members than they even though they are more member driven in their mind and not Masonic driven in their mind um they thought
They were doing the right thing right so you got to remember that these these brothers they’re still Brothers but but they had they had these thoughts in their in their mind that they were doing the right thing and so it’s not that we we um I’m not out out to hang anyone you
Know just yet I mean there’s people that obviously deserve to answer for some of the things that they’ve done don’t get me wrong and there’s some very bad things that have happened within our fraternity to some very good men that should never have happened and I think
That people need to be held accountable however um remember and keep in mind and be pass compassionate within um because just like we feel like we’re on the right side of Justice they felt like they were on the right side of Justice trying to protect the fraternity they believe in
Right they have this different thought of what the fraternity is and they were fighting for that same thing so in our in the back of our mind even though that we we I think I truly believe we did do the right thing because we gave voice to
Craft and that is number one and it’s Paramount Above All Else above what anybody thinks the collective is what matters in Freemasonry um but we have to be compassionate because we fail as humans because we are human so we have to uh remember that in all of our dealings and as we’re going
Forward and and do this with a little bit of humility and uh and understanding that you know we need to watch ourselves as well just like uh you know Dave and I have talked about you and I have talked about Justin and and of course it
Started all with me and and my mentors Chris and and Brad um one night us three were sitting around talking and drinking and and Brad looked at me and said man we cannot become the men that we’re trying to get out of this uh Power struggle we we cannot
Become those people we’re not doing this just to become the other force that everybody despises because we’re making all the rules and all the changes we have to do this with a pure heart and with pure intentions and give it to the craft to make those decisions and help
Them along the way that’s our job and I got to tell you man I am fortunate to have brothers that that that are that caliber leader that they’re so confident in their abilities that they don’t need to be in the spotlight they just want to give give the option and then let the
Craft decide and they believe in the in the good willll of Freemasonry always prevailing and that is the kind of Hope in the the message that we need today going forward in this in this project of unity and rebuilding of of Texas Freemason I think as long as you’re
Keeping the power in an educated Grand West you’re safe from becoming what you’re trying to change if that makes sense absolutely education is key and and I mean we we hit the education hard last year and we’ll I mean we’ll continue to do that but the grand West showed up in force
Because they were educated I think because they knew something was a foot and they had to take care of it and so that’s there’s no danger of becoming what you’re trying to uh what you fear the most if if you’re giving it giving it Democratic right um and there’s a difference
Between y’all can vote on this guy choose or this guy choose as opposed to the Grand West nominating people and voting like we did it’s it’s very different if if if I tell you you can have mintt flavor spearmint flavor but I chose both of them it’s not
Really a choice right it’s not really an option as opposed to as opposed to actually people nominating and voting for who they think is the most qualified so I’m so proud of Texas for what we did um because I I knew that the eyes all the eyes were going to be upon Texas
This this Grand session and and they still are they still are and we had the opportunity to say hey look we’re not going to take this and when we saw when we showed the other jurisdictions no no no we’re going to show up in force and we’re going to vote the change that
Tells the other jurisdictions hey wait a second maybe I could do something maybe we could do something in our jurisdiction too and you can you can the Grand Lodge and every jurisdiction belongs to the Grand West so you have to work in whatever parameters your law allows to to be sure
That it stays there and you have to fight and it’s constant y but man I I don’t know about you Dennis but I breathe the S of relief I didn’t I did not I did not let my guard down until that last caval dropped like I KN until
I knew it was over and uh but man I breathe a side relief on the way home well I I once um once we got there and it took a while to get going the next morning I I got to tell you man I I got pretty emotional uh Saturday morning
I actually you know drew a tear driving up to Grand Lodge because usually at 7:30 in the morning it’s um there’s quite a few cars there but there’s not what was there that Saturday morning when I drove up I actually had to park two blocks back from where I had parked
Previously the previous two days that I was there and um it it just brought a tear to my eye because really we were worried that they were gonna actually come in and and open Grand Lodge and then close it and let everything carry forward through the next year um and
They could have done that if there hadn’t been enough people there but there were enough people there that there was no way they were going to get away with that and so for me when I drove up and saw that because I knew that if we didn’t get
There by 7:30 it was very possible that the doors would be sealed at 8 and and we wouldn’t have an opportunity to to protect our grand lodge and so and that was a real fear and and those are real tactics that have happened in different Grand lodges and stuff and and so it’s
There there was good cause for that so when I saw that that Saturday morning man I just knew I knew right then and there that the brothers were there they meant business they were serious and everybody was paying attention to every little movement of Grand Lodge throughout the whole weekend because we
Could post one thing and say hey get back to to Grand Lodge and I before the election oh my gosh everybody had gone out for lunch and they immediately started elections and so I texted get back they’re starting elections and oh my gosh people were just pouring in the
Lines just would not stop it was like a waterf flow of people just pouring in the the halls and and I’m not saying that I’m you know Mr popular or whatever but that’s just how close closely everyone was paying attention and if one person saw it it was like telling 20
Others let’s go we got to go and the only people that didn’t show up were the ones that were across the street stuck with a tab to pay that couldn’t get over in time but as soon as they drew in the uh the grand Marshals hit the Gabel and
Said seal the doors because that’s what happens every time we go to vote and but he let all those people Pile in and that freaking Auditorium was damn near a fool I was that in itself made me just want to cry right there because I’ve never
Seen such unity in our Fraternity in our jurisdiction like that I mean it was it was beautiful it was it really was one of those moments yeahor S no um so Friday morning I got there like 8:30 or something and I mean it was pre packed but I can still get
Parking like I I pay it’s like an old gas station they right kind of caddy corner and I pay to park there usually if I can’t get a like a spot in the parking lot and then Saturday morning I showed up an hour earlier because everything got
Pushed up and I went around that corner and it’s just cars as far as you could see I like holy cow like my like I had to park three blocks away in front of somebody’s house said walk I mean but that’s that’s that’s crazy but that’s so
Good like I’ve never seen Grand L pack like that and I don’t think most people maybe the like the like the the real Old-Timers like back that were allive during like the 50s and 60s they may have saw it that full but it has not been that full in a long time so
That was super cool um Steve Anderson says they’re having the beginnings of a power struggle up in Oklahoma and he hopes they can handle it as well as as Texas did that’s interesting I haven’t heard anything about Oklahoma he says theirs is in November the struggle is over matching funds of the State
Charitable fund man don’t don’t don’t give an inch decide what you think is right and and don’t step down don’t back up right uh David L says they tried sold tactics to control the situation but the grand West will let them get away with anything yeah as soon as as soon as they
Announce they’re going to change the order of business yeah I think we all knew they’re up something but it’s all right well it’s all good we kind of planned on we kind of planned on that to begin with so we we already knew that that that was going to happen because that’s that’s
One of their favorite tricks right because most Masons that that go into Grand Lodge don’t really fully understand all the The Rules of Order and and all the different laws that apply to the actual Rules of Order and so and and there’s not that many really there’s there’s only like four or five
And and but they’re they’re pretty you know they’re they’re they’re pretty uh I don’t know elaborate but anyways most most Masons don’t really understand that and so they utilize that that lack of understanding to uh to manipulate the the way that things are done I mean they can I’ve actually seen where
Committee reports that would normally be done in the beginning be pushed back to the very end so that everybody’s gone because they don’t want to see elections and then they do those committee reports right before elections and there’s nobody there to to say no so it all gets approved and things like
That so they you know those tactics are pretty common within uh Grand Lodge with the uh with the particular people that were trying to pull the same thing within the the structure of the of the Rules of Order yeah uh Steve Anderson says basically talking about Oklahoma it’s
Basically Urban lodges trying to shut down rural lodges I’m very interested in the situation but I don’t know enough about it but uh first i’ like to know if somebody wants to come on then let us know if somebody yeah that yeah if there’s someone in Oklahoma
That can that can give us kind of a yeah R maybe sometime they come on the show or something yeah maybe if we had one person on one side of the coin on one you know for one session one talk and then another person on the other side of
The coin on the other talk that way we could kind of get idea of both sides and and understand what’s going on yeah um that’d be great because the more people that that are watching the more serious everyone starts taking the the uh the proceedings and the more people will
Probably show up to your grand communication to get get things done education man we’re we’re here to help Dennis by the way um while thinking about it you I don’t think you ever sent me a copy was it you that I asked to send me a copy of yeah it was goliad’s
Um uh standard operating procedures will you send that to me sometime when you think about it please okay yes yeah I just randomly because I got to do some stuff in my lodes so this what made me think about that um let’s back up speak go ahead and look at the comments while
You’re doing that I’m going to State real quick if your Lodge is one of those ones that would like to have alcohol at the end of the meetings or whatever um make sure you remember the very next uh stated meeting to bring up changing the uh standard operating procedures all you
Have to do is vote on it and it can be done in one meeting and um and vote on changing the standard operating procedures to uh to include um having alcoholic beverages on the premise um don’t you think they need to maybe do it anyway if they don’t want
It they need to say they don’t want it in their s so no or at least Ral no that’s that’s over that’s overthinking it that’s that’s why we have such a big law book all you got to do is State what your what your intention is because if it’s not there
Then it’s not there you don’t you don’t get to just bring it in that’s that would be against the law got but if it’s there as part of your standard operating procedures then you actually can make it happen because it has to be the will of the lodge in its entirety and with
Standard operating procedures that’s basically the members that show up normally to the lodge the U the bylaws if if you never have included uh uh rules of business or standard operating procedures to your bylaws then you’ll have to change your bylaws and that takes two months to do and you have
To send it to Grand Lodge for approval but this can actually be done in standard operating procedures if you’ve got that set up in your Lodge yeah email Emil all that to me if you vot just one vote and it’s notifying Grand Lodge they don’t get to say they just have to okay
It because it’s it’s how you do things bylaws is what you do the standard operating procedures is how you do it and so that’s why it has to be in there so remember guys those laws have changed but there are actions you have to take to stay within those bounds and so make
Sure you’re doing that make sure you’re reading those new resolutions properly as amended and uh and follow them to the te so that you’re not breaking the laws of of Texas go ahead Justin sorry about that sure no no no yeah send me all that if you will um yeah Caesar says these
Struggles Masonic muscle by the way if you haven’t listened to podcast it’s a great podcast these struggles are happening everywhere they’re just manifesting in different ways but they stem from the same place yes the west gate that’s where they’re stemming from the west gate US US lowering our guard and then
And then people that shouldn’t be be in letting other people in that shouldn’t be in because we lowered our standard I think it’s also I think it’s also what we touched on you know last week and then this morning on our on our interview with on the level down in
Florida so guys be watching for that that one’s going to be coming out soon um it’s on the level it’s another Masonic podcast out there and um they’re doing great work and uh we were on it this morning but the thing is with um with the the struggle it’s
Because some people are members and some people are are masons and and the members tend to seek the feathers and then they put themselves in a position of of a high a high place let’s say an imitation only body and then they invite certain people in and they give them the
These feathers and everybody owes their feather to this one guy to the one Chief and then they say okay you guys are going to go into this body this body this body this body and this body and that’s all on the back of this one Chief and then all these people become heads
Of these different bodies and then they put themselves in each other’s in in each other’s bodies to build themselves up so they have all these feathers now the reason why these feathers are so important is because when it comes time to make yourself available elections or whatever we’re not allowed to to politic
In in in Freemasonry well actually it’s not even called politicking it’s it’s actually uh electioneering we’re not allowed to do electioneering and so when people are looking at the lists of people’s achievements all they see are their feathers and so you’ve got these guys that have these these huge lists of
Feathers and you have these other guys that have just been working they’ve been working it just trying to do the best they can for the craft and and some of them have a lot of the same feathers but man they earned it from the ground up
And and so there’s a big difference and if we didn’t have this popularity contest with feathers then maybe we could get down to some people who were honest and genuine about their intentions and had a real platform to uh to make themselves available and give us
A good reason why they should be there and until we change that we’re always gonna have that problem so David Bendle said as and this would be a great shirt as we as we’ll be in the 2024 proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Texas we’ve upped our standards up
Yours nice Texas is up their standards up yours I like that I like that something I wanted to add to what you said that’s awesome the difference between members and Masons and the reason it’s so easy to find bad Masons and leadership in a lot of places is
Because members will do things to a to obtain power that Masons won’t do and that’s why it’s so important say that again members members will do things to obtain power that Masons won’t do right and that’s why it’s so important to be vigilant and to hold people accountable
And to guard that gate guard that West Gate well and and to be fair the members that are doing these things that Masons won’t do that’s just because that’s what they know what know to do they I don’t think some of them some of them the ones
That are just starting off in this game right I think they’re doing it because they think that’s how you have to do it I I don’t think that they’re doing it intentionally to be malicious or or anything like that because I specifically saw people that that would normally um be on the dark
Side help with the light side on on that Saturday and that that Friday I personally saw that I witnessed that firsthand people that I normally would not um communicate amicably with all of a sudden we’re we’re communicating and things are getting done and achieved um imagine that together yeah well The Well
Wise man A wise man sees When the tide is turning right well right but I also think that means that that that’s not so engraved in that person that they can’t make a better decision today right because we all make mistakes and we learn from those mistakes that’s that’s
How we grow as individuals and so you know as we now of course it’s not going to be easy because he’s engraved in that system or they there’s a few of them that are engraved in that system it’s not going to be easy but with enough
Enough touches of the good you end up um showing somebody that there’s another pathway that they can take instead of instead of following the same one that they’ve been on so I I think that I think some some positives came out that way as well and we can’t always
Think of every one of them as being so engraved ingrained in in that theology that member theology that they can’t be they they can’t become Masons because I think some of them were Masons when they started they just became members because masonry what they thought was masonry
Wasn’t at their Lodge was at their Lodge was membership right so they just learned what they what they were taught so I I think that they it kind of man I’m I’m so bad today I’m so wishy-washy I guess I’m I’m on the fence on everything it sounds like you’re a
Nice person but really I’m I’m trying to I’m trying to remind everybody that you know we there’s been some awesome Silver Linings in this whole thing that we need to grasp on to instead of looking at all the you know we did this we accomplished this we we’re badasses and all this it’s
Not about that it’s about you know all the all the sources of light that we can that we can take and and put into our story and uh Build It Up strong so that we can have something to share with brother next to us yeah and I think
Really Grand is done we’re done for another year right let’s we we were successful it was a great Grand Lodge let’s just build off that right moving forward let not let not focus I mean it it’s easy to spend the entire 2024 year looking back on how awesome January was
And get so caught up in that that we don’t accomplish anything right it’s wa it’s time to it’s time to I don’t know don’t you watch TV don’t you watch TV is that farticus that’s from uh oh [ __ ] now I I it just left my mind now that you
Everybody else knows what I’m talking about um uh Maximus what was that what was that gladiator Gladiator yes Gladiator yes yeah um that was well the resolution about calling a special special communication has to lay over another year doesn’t it is that like a like a a two-year thing
Uh no that was not that that was not a an amendment to the Constitution that was a uh I I need to look at that that I think that was a change of it’s like the Sops kind of thing not got you a change to theual at that let’s
This I want to spend the rest of this year creating positivity in Texas free masonry support in our grandm supporting our grand large officers supporting our district deputies um because they kind of had a they kind of had a uh there through for a loop at the last minute so are you not
Entertained most War shank is on here welcome sir hey but let’s thank you most that’s awesome let’s focus on positivity and improving our lodges improving our Freemasonry we have we have a lot of options uh after some of those resolutions passed let’s work within the parameter of our grand large laws let’s
Work with our grand large officers be supportive of them and just make it a great 2024 and there and there’s no reason we can’t do that and then when when December November December rolls around we’ll start looking at January again what do we need to do but let’s enjoy
The time we have and enjoy our Freemasonry and build up our Freemasonry travel do degrees be vigilant and use this opportunity to improve your Lodge look at your procedures improve your procedures look at your operating procedures look at your your bylaws and and and and just take time to just
Re-evaluate how you’re doing everything and start improving your Lodge oh nothing was held over well that’s good that’s good that’s already in effect so I feel bad for uh for most worful shank because because he shows up and he loves it so much here in Texas
Because he loves us so much in Texas he’s got a a trailer full of guys that are coming in like like a heard of cattle coming into New Mexico for his Grand session we’re gonna have a good time there I cannot wait until we get there and and uh and have some some
Fellowship and brotherly love with our our New Mexico brothers because uh that’s a the most genuine brother I’ve ever met this the second weekend of spring break and I’m trying to talk my wife into a New Mexico trip so she’s not she’s not so enthusiastic about hanging out in New
Mexico while I’m at Grand Lodge but I’m working my wife did you show her what where the resort is I didn’t know there was a resort are you taking your wife well yeah I always do they love going to New Mexico that’s one of the their favorite
Things to do is go to New Mexico she’s a she’s a message my wife and talk her into it should listen to I wouldn’t she’s like I don’t know what there is to do in New Mexico it’s like it there’s there’s I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff to do it’s a state
There’s things that you haven’t done there there’s plenty well that and that’s like the destination Town that’s that’s kind of only use is is being a destination Town what RI Doo RI Doo RI Doo okay yeah and it’s the and in the uh the the hotel is is called um oh my goodness
Oh my goodness something of the Gods come on most wor G of the Gods guard of the Gods um I need to look online Hotel of the Gods is a hotel it never mind it might be it the resort of the gods or something Resort of the Gods I mean
That’s that’s a but it but it’s awesome it overlooks this this beautiful lake with the mountains in the in the rear I mean it’s just it really is an awesome place I can’t wait uh mountain in of the Mountain Gods yes the Mountain Gods March 14th through 16th yes yes
Yes yeah yeah yes so have have your wife start messaging my wife put the pressure on her yeah we we uh we had planned that on and it was just a bonus that it was on spring break weekend because we you know we would have taken Sarah out
Anyways we’re bad parents like that we believe we believe in you know the understanding of travel is just as educational as sitting in a classroom oh yeah you learn you learn Texas geography take them to actual places Yeah Yeah Yeah we actually stop at all the sites we we do it family
Vacation style right the holiday rooll yes but I really I really hope to be there I really want to go especially because um hopefully by then I’ll be a uh in New Mexico Freemason I think they’re supposed to they may have already voted on me my
Second vote this month I don’t know it’s it’s soon if it’s not and then I’ll be I’ll be official so I’ll get me one of those hats too well I’m I’m official for sure so I I’m gonna you know I won’t be a voting
Member be a past Master but I uh I am definitely a member of of New Mexico Freemasonry and couldn’t be more proud can’t wait to go get all the swag so that I can show it off in Texas David Lawson says it’s right on a lake and
There’s a zip line across the lake so yeah did you ever see that video that it was like the bachelor it was a parody and that dude was only there for the zipline and so it was like a zipline going across the swim pool they’re like I got the
Feeling he’s only here for the zipline you like kept hogging the zipline and going across it I have to send that to oh my go all right let’s get back to Prem yes we’ve been talking Freemasonry we we took a quick detour about ziplines apparently there’s a casino there too
That might be that might be yeah it is a casino and resort I don’t so if if if you don’t see me at Grand Lodge you’ll know exactly where I am money bag I’ll be on yeah I’ll be on the craps table for sure oh don’t do that don’t crap don’t craps on
The table dude they’ll kick us out in New Mexico uh yeah kade’s du a membership with England and France Mr Mr showof over there I know rock R I can tell you when when I go over that’s what I’ll be doing is is getting petitions and and
Joining I want um we need to get Kadeem on the show sometime because he took that trip and he went to all those lodges oh no I want to hear I want to hear his story and so we definitely because he then I won’t have a chance to talk that’s fine that’s
Fine I want to hear I want to hear his story he was kind of ring me at Grand LOD like you never let me on the show I like dude you been on the show 100 times but he’s got a point like he yeah black jacket where it’s at yeah
I prefer black jack it’s more um You can count cards that’s a recovery game and you can’t count cards if you can count cards I’ll give you 20 bucks right now really I’ll just give you 20 bucks if you can count cards I I’ll play a hand with you
Because I used to deal Blackjack and I’ll play a hand I’ll see how well you count it’s just like dominoes you count the dominoes it’s the same thing if you play Oldtimer you know how to count dominoes you can count cards yeah whatever all right back to Mason yes
Yes so so what are the questions that are on that are online instead of talking about gambling and zip lines and I’m commenting off the off the comments like that’s what’re that’s where the conversation’s at we’re talking about gambling and Ziplines go playing playing Blackjack on zip lines um we have we
Have lost our relevance Sonic Community that’s that’s awesome um let me back some of these I’d like to say earlier today um brother Joe wages he uh kadim brought me in on a post where Joe had had shown that he has his books available on Amazon and uh and
I want you to know I’ve ordered those books they’re I got I ordered the hardback copy because I’m a hardback kind of guy but um but they he has the the softback as well that’s about 1212 less than than the hardback and uh what it is is it the translation from French
To to English on the uh degrees of the Scottish right oh cool and oh yeah yeah and so it’s available to to be purchased now and you really ought to do that and and I’m going to tell you there’s there’s a few brothers that I really
Love to listen to when they give a presentation and and and brother Joe wages is one of them and if you ever get a chance to listen to to one of his presentations you really need to take advantage and do that he’s he’s really a hidden gemm within
Freemasonry um and that’s really because he’s always traveling so much uh going to different countries and different states and things like that for Freemasonry but he’s written a bunch of books and and is so knowledgeable that uh it’s it’s almost like hanging out with de HOAs right they’re actually
Friends good friends and they hang out a lot and then you hang out with him and it’s almost the same thing it’s it’s almost the same way because you know he’s so knowledgeable in all the the aspects of Freemasonry that I love and uh and so he’s always a great
Conversation so I re I strongly recommend to to get his books because uh you will be a smarter Mason reading the books that he writes just wanted to throw that out there because uh there is a link on Facebook on Texas Freemasons right now and you ought to you ought to
Take advantage and and go do that that’s cool man um Kadeem says he’s working up to be like Dennis but uh all the presentation requests you get are about the travels so I mean well you did something a lot of mes don’t get to do they don’t get to
Travel like that um I would say that speaking of speaking of presentations I’ll be at Faith Lodge this Saturday this coming Saturday February 3rd I think I think the I think they said a presentation David Lawson correct me if I’m wrong I think the presentation starts at noon I have to
Look at the time as it get a little closer but uh it’s like midday it’ll be around lunchtime so um if you’re in the witch Falls area or it’s not too far for travel come come give us a listen we’re going to be talking about the Cardinal
The cardinal virtues it’s going to be a good time I’m sorry not just cardinal virtues we’re going to be talking about the virtues of Freemasonry interesting well expand on that just a little bit um give us a teaser well for one the the cardinal virtues we we kind of gloss over them in
Our degrees so I want to look into those a little bit more deeply but we also have three other virtues that are very pronounced that we we talk about a lot but we don’t really recognize them as as as virtues and we kind of misunder we
Misinterpret them but I don’t want to go into that too deeply I don’t want to run the presentation but uh I think it’s something a lot of people aren’t aware of it kind of blew my mind what I heard about it so we’re going to dive into that it’s going to be fun
Time okay so that’s it de mlan says looking forward to it David law yeah it’s just it’s right now the working to is just the virtues of Freemasonry we’re just we’re just leaving at that we’ll see as it flushes out more with I Chang the title but I kind of like that right
Now okay but that comments are quiet man everyone got I just gave one I just gave one during the uh Robert Burns night and it was about a living Legacy and uh you know everyone has celebrated Robert burn burs um in fact the 27th is is when most
People celebrate Robert Burns and um and I think there was a festive board or two during that uh at least Robert Burns Lodge had a f board for sure um if I had been feeling better I would have been happy to to go but I just wasn’t feeling
So good after Grand Lodge but I I gave a talk on it was for Robert Burns night and uh over at C Lodge and it evolved it it moved away so much from Robert Burns himself and moved into our own legacy and our own responsibility and that’s not only you
Know the the legacy of of uh of what we leave behind but we have to be thinking about the the Legacy in front of us that has been left behind for us you know our Legacy is only as good as how we interpret the Legacy in
Front of us so if we interpret it one way then the way we’re going to leave it is going to be a certain way if we interpret it the wrong way then the way that we leave it is going to be wrong from the original interpretation so it’s our responsibility to educate ourselves
On the true intent of our brothers of the of the past so that we will know how to um regurgitate that information basically and and leave it for those in the um behind us but for the future for the future Masons and the reason I thought about that is
Because Robert Burns was relatively Young when he passed away but in that short time he became um he became one of the founding fathers of the Romantic Period in in poetry and and song and a lot of that was just basically recording or taking down
Writing down a lot of the lyrics of Some of a lot of the pub songs and a lot of the the traditional songs that were that were sung throughout um his um his time on Earth and and he wrote a lot about a lot of that down and then he also wrote
His own own as well and uh and it impacted a lot of people he he made a real impact in such a short time but he really took advantage of what the forefathers had left him and and really made it something worth leaving behind in his tracks
Though he’s remembered by being one that was able to um put the love of of the forefathers into a relevant uh place of that time time and it lived forever after that so when you’re thinking about your legacy then U we always got to be thinking about what was the intent of
That person and how do we stay true to that intent and of course that’s the traditional feel that we try to keep Freemasonry right that’s that’s what makes us stop in our tracks and not do anything because we’re afraid of ruining the traditions of of Freemasonry but if
We really have a good understanding by educating ourselves um on who the brothers were their intentions what they were what they were trying to accomplish with the craft then we know how to nurture it and leave a a better a better pathway for those behind us to come so
Just just a thought I that’s that’s a that’s the Gest of what my presentation was on and uh hello long was it when you gave it out of curiosity uh probably about five minutes longer than that right there no it was no it was it was it was actually
Probably 20 20 to 30 minutes long most of my presentations are 20 to 30 minutes if if if if you can’t have me speak in in shorter time than that then I don’t need to speak because I don’t like to just touch on the surface of anything I
Want to take some kind of a deep dive and make you think about something on your way home I want something to stick with you so that you’re going to think about it on the way home if if you’re not doing that then it was a waste of my
Time to even show up yeah so that’s that’s kind of the idea that I take whenever I’m riding and and hopefully you Brothers appreciate that out there and and keep me busy which y’all have so far that’s for sure nice all right noon on thir for another wardrobe got
You this guy over here he’s got he’s got a hat for every occasion look at that this is to celebrate right next like your hat wacks right speaking of right speaking of my my legacy my great great great grandfather’s Lodge wwo Stanfield number 27 in the house right here I was gifted
The the the hat and the T-shirt uh last week by Lodge brothers and man I couldn’t be more proud talk about talk about a feeling of belonging when when a brother from North Texas comes in and says hey I got something for you and brings you a shirt that has your great
Great great-grandfather’s name on it and you know that it was such an integral integral part of Texas Freemasonry in the early days golly talk about break you down I I really so touched and and felt so loved right in that moment I still do every time I see it thank you
Thank you Brothers I I’m grateful that’s awesome man that’s really cool how do they know you were your Granda was a member there oh I tell everybody oh okay is fair Chris Chris Chris is the is a is a regular member of our of our podcast Chris
Rubbe got you he’s he’s from Stanfield Lodge and and all the things that they’re doing man I’m I’m all all ears on everything that they’re doing right now nice they’re doing some great things they’ve got a FES board coming up soon and they were doing it before drinking
Was cool in a lodge based on Texas law yeah I hope to I hope to see some of these fed boards pop up close by I want I want to start attending some of those they are they are man everybody’s getting ready so that’s why I say get
Your bylaws changed and get ready because you too can have a FES board and and you know toast toast to the mysteries of a masonry that mean that’s hey had those do you have those toast yes that you asked me for that not yeah yeah I need those also will you
Just post those to the uh Inner Circle if you have time yeah post that to the inter circle to the Facebook group and um that way we all have access but I I guess you can post the Sops and everything too if you don’t if you want
To but uh I for sure want I want all because uh even if we don’t do a feser board you could do the toast you could do the toast if you if you do if you switch your meal to after your meeting you could do the toast during your meal
And I I assure you a fesa board doesn’t sound like much it doesn’t sound special until you actually attend one or you host one and it is it is it it is so cool it is so awesome even if you’re just doing toasts at your dinner you’re you’re elevating you’re you’re raising
The bar and it’s so cool it it’s it’s a new tradition it’s a custom that that brings you together so it’s definitely worth doing and if you really wanted to get you know become traditionalist or best in practice I should say um there’s videos online that you can watch some of
The brothers from England and and watch them you know join their hands and sing at the table uh closing out their their festive boards mean it’s it’s really an awesome Yes uh it’s really an awesome sight seeing that happen and and seeing the love in in uh in all the brothers
And and and that’s not just in England that’s all across Europe that they do that kind of thing and and so that would be very cool if we could get back to some Basics like that that we don’t have rules against it so if we can get back
To doing stuff like that getting back to the the the old traditions then uh man that would be awesome that would be a statement for Texas you know saying look we care about what we’re doing and and we do W to celebrate our traditions and and things that you know where we come
From I laugh that I totally I Shar that video before but I didn’t even think about that till you mention it and there’s no reason there’s no reason you can’t absolutely let’s bring Lodge let’s bring some positive Traditions back into into Texas freak masonry and embrace
Them yes yeah I love even if even if you don’t want to get dressed up with the suit and tie and all that kind of stuff just doing the the stuff and like like our brothers at stenfield and and many other lodges they have their own uh
Shirts and and hats and whatnot so just imagine everybody in the same shirt you know unified unified in the at the table doing the the song and and then toasting the brothers and toasting the ones that are gone toasting the ones that are there toasting the you know the grandm
Toasting you know you’re toasting everybody right what is that song they sing um I need to look it up it’s not that uh Aldi whatever that that I don’t know how to pronounce it Old Lang old L yeah oh it’s something different okay I couldn’t remember what it was but yeah man that’s
A good idea yeah I I’m stoked that’s the very first thing I thought about when I thought about drinking in lodes I didn’t think about having parties or anything like I thought about closing Lodge with a badass meal and and and everybody getting together and doing fested board
Style you know toast and everything and if you don’t drink and make sure your brothers that don’t drink know that they’re welcome there and that that you have plenty of iced tea for them plenty of you know seltzer water whatever they want plenty of that for for them to
Partake in and toast with because because you love them just as much nobody’s GNA look in your glass nobody’s gonna look in your glass right it’s it’s just about well if you positive if you want tips yeah if you want tips uh on non-alcoholic beverages man called car Carlton Newberry he
Doesn’t drink and he has all kinds of cool beers that he drinks and he has all kinds of you know different different beverages that he drinks in the place of alcohol and you notice and all that stuff is what you mean yeah he he had
All the he has all the zero beers and you notice he he had he hosted all the U the events at the hotel um the Newberry um hospitality suite with drinks for everybody but he doesn’t drink and and but just because he does it doesn’t mean he polies other people
Right he he wants everybody to have fun and so uh make sure that your brothers that don’t drink have an opportunity to have just as much fun as you make sure they feel includ make sure they feel loved and uh and if it’s just not their
Gig that’s fine if they can’t be around it you got to understand it respect it and love them for it Y and say man next time next time we hope to see you there uh most shank says traditional observant lges uh New Mexico has one and it really
Takes a large experience to the next level absolutely yes we have a few in Texas but they all the ones I know of in Texas will quickly tell you they’re not traditional observant but if you look at Trad yeah best practice but if you look at traditional observ on paper best
Practice kind of the same thing right so um yeah I wonder which which one is that in New Mexico that’d be interesting to check out sometime too I checked out one of them in Texas and I enjoyed it quite a bit that would be neat to to have we
Need to talk to wri warful I mean I’m sure your your weekend is probably planned most worful and I’m not trying to push anything on to you I know you’ve had a long time dealing with a bunch of garbage you know it’s that’s all part of
It but you know next year we can try to influence right worful and say hey man why don’t you uh throw this in you you want to have this party at the end of the at the end of the installation why don’t you have a party at the at the
Beginning of the the the year next year and and let’s let’s do a traditional style dinner and and uh show everybody how it’s done and you and actually put the words up on a big screen so everybody has the words and you know that if you’re getting every body
Together that would be awesome could you imagine filling the Hall of a hotel with 300 men uh you know going uni unified hand inand at the table singing that song and and uh doing doing masonry right oh my gosh oh my gosh it’s an exciting Year
Dude I’m excited for 2024 you notice how we we’ve got all these possibilities now we feel so so enthusiastic and and full of Hope and possibility and all it took was just a couple of Vates and it turned everything around that’s the beauty of of masonry right is
That we sound like we did back in 2022 now yes we came out of came beginning of 2022 yeah yeah uh SOS slge I’m not sure I’m pronouncing that right c e r r i l l oos seros SOS SOS lodge number 19 is Santa Fe that’s what he’s talking about nice very
Cool yes I want to make sure and and check out their their uh their meeting times and stuff by the way Brothers last was it last week I saw a post on on uh Texas Freemason somebody said hey I’m traveling to Florida to uh to Jacksonville can anybody shoot us in
The right direction and and I said well maybe n can and he he sent them to the Grand Lodge of Florida’s website that gives you locations man I had a complete brain fart use Amity that’s what Amity is for you can see which lodges are which and if they’re if they’re
Recognized within your Lodge your Grand Lodge system or not and U and take it from there call them up let them know you’re coming make sure you call your grand lodge and and ask for a a certificate of travel so that you can go do that if you if you know well in
Advance um but usually Brothers don’t get toned away at the door if they really have valid IDs and all that kind of good stuff yeah well let’s let’s start W I got some kids stirring in the other room I know they’re gonna be in here any any second now they’re gonna
Start waking up iard coughing in there I still had one more hat well throw it off for your wrap up just I’ll take the lead on the wrap up um because I know you like to go last Bob mine is 2024 is a year of
Optimism it’s a it’s a it’s a year to move forward don’t focus on don’t focus on remember the lessons that we learned during Grand Lodge in 2023 but don’t focus on the negativity right remember what you learned it goes back to forgive but never forget right let’s move
Forward let’s be positive we got a great Grand large lineup we have great officers we passed some fantastic resolutions and so let’s let’s build with that let’s be supportive of one another let’s be supportive of our local Lodges of our wor masters of our district deputies of our Grand Lodge
Officers as be supportive because other jurisdictions are still looking at us so this is the year to show not only can we do not mess with Texas but we can grow we can we can improve ourselves and move forward unlike any other because other jurisdictions are going to be
Watching us if they’re not already and they’re going to the the brothers of those jurisdictions are going to try to look for lessons that they can take to their jurisdictions and improve what’s going on there so let’s let’s be that light let’s be that that Lighthouse
Let’s be that um Candle on the mountain top or whatever uh for the other states because we have a lot of great surrounding jurisdictions but but there’s also a lot of states in the United States where their jurisdictions are are are dealing with drama and so they they need that
Inspiration they need to see that hey the grand West is what controls the Grand Lodge and and they need to work they need examples and ideas on how they can work within the parameters of their grand lodge law to turn things back to the Grand West and start fixing things
Freemasonry and we said this before is truly entering a Renaissance it’s a renaissance man and and 10 years from now we’re going to look back and and and this was the time it all changed across the country and so we have to be vent diligent we have to be vigilant we have
To move forward build support one another stand on the shoulders of giants and then lift one another up even higher that’s the goal that’s what 24 needs to be about that’s my final thought good good one and uh based on the beginning of yours I’ll I’ll say
Something that a lot of our Mentor AED Mason said one second I gotta I gotta interject this CU we have someone watching we can grow our fraternity but we have to slow the process down while we do it now you can’t call me [Laughter] out go
Ahead what who who said that I I’ll tell you after oh okay so okay that’s that’s cool that’s cool um so for a lot of our our Mentor aged uh Brothers out there that are watching that are listening and the ones that that really stood up and and uh gave us
This opportunity this year um first and foremost I want to say thank you um for for too long I created this divide in in our narrative thinking that that there was U that it was an age difference that was the problem and I really at this point I know it was not
An age differ that difference that caused the problem because we know that our average age in Texas is 66.9 years old that’s our average age Mason in Texas and you could definitely see it in when you looked across the room in in Texas during the grand annual communication you could see that that
Was pretty much the starting age in in a lot of areas um though there were a lot of young Masons there but you could tell that the mentor age had shown up to to do a job and and you got it done and and I’m grateful to you and I apologize sincerely
For the the things that I’ve said in the past that were derogatory towards what you were doing doing or what you had done because now I realize that you were just going through the same thing that we went through except you had 30 years under your belt of going through it
Where we only had 10 right and so I I want to say first and foremost thank you and and for showing up and and doing what you did and uh we love you and and I’m sorry I truly am sorry and um there’s just not enough words to express
That and I hope that through our actions we’ve proven that we care enough to uh to not only um carry our our voice but carry your burden that you’ve been putting up with for so long um the next thing that I’d like to to talk about is like what Justin had said at
The very beginning um and again the mentor age will will identify with this and it’s the thing trust but verify you know Ronald Reagan said that about the Russians because of uh things that they said but but didn’t necessarily always do so while we while we move forward we will trust that
Verify everything that happens because it was not verifying that got us into the situation we’re in right now you know but now we’re in a better place so we will look to the Future and we will trust that the brother didn’t didn’t necessarily mean to
Uh to take it the way that they to to do what they had done they thought that was masonry and now they found out that it’s not what masonry is in Texas and it’s not what we want it to be in Texas so we’re going to trust that verify at this
Point try to build those build and mend those fences and uh move forward with the masonry that that you Brothers have been looking for and what we’ve been looking for and we hope to build that together to to Really honor our forefathers um with their intent take it in and then leave it
Better for for our kids in the future so that they don’t have such a [ __ ] show to deal with when we’re gone you know because at some point we’re going to be that that that Mentor age that has to relinquish that that um we’re going to have to relinquish
That that Authority we’re going to have to relinquish that that um that need to control we’re going to have to give that to the Next Generation so it’s our job to teach them right based on what we’ve seen before us and and interpret that properly hand it down to them so that we
Can hand it off to them and let go and say okay it’s your turn it’s your turn we trust you we did our very best and we hope that you understand the pulse of masonry like we did when it was our opportunity to make the difference yeah and so I love that this
Year this year’s not a a um not a year of anything else but rebuilding and Renaissance we are we are planting trees for our children we definitely are we’ve never had a a better opportunity to to prove to the world that that Freemasonry is still relevant it’s still and even
Really more important today than ever because it we have you know our our fraternity has been a symptom of of what’s been going on in our world for quite some time and with our Fall From Grace we realize that we do have something special to offer that nobody else can offer offer and
There’s there’s young men out there that are looking for that and so we have this opportunity to embrace who we are and what we are bring back some of the old Mysteries and and traditions and U and then utilize today’s technology and and U and the the the ease of accessibility to to
Really help our fraternity flow flourish in education and understanding and so that we can be the very best people that we can be for our lodges for our families for our communities and for each other and and it all boils down to to you and me right brother to
Brother so with all that being said Peace and Harmony is the key and it’s not the end result how we approach each other and getting these things done with the with the understanding that our brother’s intentions are pure as gold just like ours and we love each other meeting each
Other we love each other embracing each other we love each other debating with each other and then we love each other when we walk away that’s peace and Harmony Brothers we love you keep it between the points
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