Where are we going?
Before the beginning of the century
several fraternal organizations were
really "commercial"
enterprises. They "offered" their mem-
bers "services" along with their dues.
Usually the "service" was life and/or
accident insurance. Freemasonry ab-
horred this practice. Actually, most, if not
all, Grand Lodges outlawed them. This
is not so with many of them any longer.
More and more Grand Lodges are send-
ing, or having sent, cards of every de-
scription to their members asking for
"donations" to various endeavors they
are supporting. Address stickers, long
offered by civic and other groups, have
found their way into the craft. Item after
item is now being offered. Credit cards
bear the name of Freemasonry (or Ma-
sonry). Now at least one Grand Lodge
has come full circle - it's selling life in-
surance!



Joseph E. Bennett, FPS, tells the story
of "Baseball's 'Black Mike"' in the May
1996 issue of The Norlhern Light. He also
painted the cover for the magazine. (He'll
be doing the same for The Philalethes for
August.) He covers the life and career of
Mickey Cochrane who was elected to
Baseball's Hall of Fame. Cochrane be-
came a Master Mason in Fellowship
Lodge in Bridgewater, Massachusetts,
on April 19, 1925, and remained an en-
thusiastic Freemason until his death 36

"The Masons of Pennsylvania are an-
swering the call of history at Valley Forge
in 1996, " is headlined on the cover of The
Penn~ykJania Freemason for May. And it
truly is. The National memorial Arch, a
tribute to George Washington, is in
dangerous condition. It's closed to the
public for reasons of safety. Pennsylvania
Freemasons will correct this condition.
They will finance the restoration. Stone
by stone, some weighing more than a ton,
will be refurbished until the Arch is re-
stored to its original grandeur. All of
Freemasonry should congratulate the
Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for its con-
tinuing work in enhancing the image of
Gettysburg and Valley Forge.

Congratulations to our Editor (and
2nd VP) Nelsorl King, FPS. He has been
disseminating the virtues of Freema-
sonry on the Internet. The Society has a
page on thc World Wide Web, and Nel-
son is managing other pages for Freema-
sonry. He is running a ten-lesson course
on Masonic education for a small fee. the
proceeds of which go to help support the
Masonic Leadership Center (This Cen-
ter is sponsored by the Society.)





Can Master Masons be made in one
day? We asked this question in the last
issue. Masonic leaders throughout the
country are asking the same thing. The
answer, of course, is no, but it can start a
man on the road to becoming a dedicated
Freemason . Take the case of 'The Father
ofthe American Ritual," Thomas Smith
Webb. In researching his Masonic
achievements, I was amazed to find he
was initiated on December 24, 1790 (at
the age of 19 + two months!); he was
Passed a Fellowcraft and Raised on
December 27! A Master Mason in three
days! If you don't know what he did for
the Craft during the following years, we'll
let you know later


...



Anti-Masonry is alive and growing.
Con-artists, posing as men of religion,
have long been active via television and
the written word. They will say and do
anything to make A buck. They have
invaded the Internet. But many of them
are still spreading their garbage the "old-
fashioned way. " Here's a tale that comes
by way of Compuserve: A "Preaeher
Steve" was busy placing fyers with his
muck about the "Masonic Cult" near a
Masonic building in Minnesota. When
he saw several Jobs Daughters and their
adult chaperons approach he jumped on
the steps and shouted his anti-Masonic
obscenities. When the adults attempted
to set him straight, he turned on his tape
recorder and yelled: "Don't hit me!
You're hurting me!'' And so on. No one
was close to him, but when the police
arrived, they went along with the lies on
his recorder. The Jobbies and their escort
were alrnost arrested! Unbelievable! Do
we have to start carrying video cameras
with us to Masonic meetings for protec-
tion against being arrested?

Overheard in a Lodge room: ''Call me
if I can ever help you," said a young
fellow to an elderly Brother. Overheard
in the Tiler's room: "Why should any-
one in need have to call for help? If a
Rrother's in a hospital, or laid Up, or
whatever, he needs help. Why not just go
and mow his lawn, trim his shrubs, run
errands, help his wife do the grocery
shopping, or whatever? Why wait for a
call? Far too many in need will never call
for help." Interesting! Does this make
sense? What do you say? Should our
lodges have a "Helping Hand Team"
(or committee)? to assist those among us
who need help? Let's have your com-
ments. Send them to the society in care
of " Windows."

Visit the Philalethes
Intenet Website located at
http:/www.freemasonry.org/psoc

The Philalethes, June 1996
