May the blessing of heaven rest upon us...

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.

Every blog entry here is ended with the above blessing. It is offered sincerely and whole heartedly to all masons. However, it appears there are some, a few, who have a lot of anger, resentment, whatever over the whole regularity issue. This blog has addressed Regularity, and women/co-ed Masonry, so there is no point in rehashing that issue here.

Regularity, as has been noted elsewhere, IS a Grand Lodge issue. Regular, irregular, clandestine etc. are legalistic terms for describing various types of Masons. This blog is not about categorizing brothers and fellows. If you consider yourself a Mason, no matter the provenance of your degree, the author is willing to extend personal recognition of your being a Mason.

Now, the blessing that is offered at the closing of every entry is taken directly from the California ritual. The Master, as part of closing his lodge, offers this benediction to the assembled craft. In the same vein, the author extends to the readers who have been at labor with him, the author in writing and the reader in contemplating the words so created, the benediction used to close a lodge, acknowledging that the mutual labor is at a close… for the moment.

It is a symbolic lodge that we create, when we labor toward a common goal. The Lodgeroom is this small segment of cyberspace, yet, Masons all, we labor here together toward common understanding. My Lodge teaches that when we labor together there should be no contention, except that noble contention, of who best can work and best agree.

Therefore, at the close of our common labor, the author offers the benediction to all readers, regardless of whether they are a Member of the Grand Lodge of California, the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of California, Inc., another Grand Lodge with whom these Grand Lodges are in amity, or ANY OTHER BROTHER.

In California, a new master mason is told by the master that he commends the brother to the kind care, love and protection of all master masons, withersoever dispersed around the globe. In the same sense, this blessing is offered to all masons. Regardless of your membership, it’s the Masonic thing to do.

So, if you consider yourself a Mason, the blessing offered to you, and if you are reading this, and are not a Mason, consider the blessing also extended to you. Masons are, after all, taught to consider the whole human race as one family, the high and the low, the rich and the poor, who, as created by one almighty parent and inhabitants of the same planet, are to aid, support and protect one another. Lets have a bit more brotherly love in our lives, and a bit less looking for reasons to separate ourselves and get our feelings hurt, ok?

May the blessing of heaven rest upon us and all regular masons. May brotherly love prevail, and every moral and social virtue, cement us.