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 2007 Newsletters
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Minnesota River Valley Lodge #6 April 2007 Volume #9, Issue #04 "Issued with the Permission of the M.W. Grand Lodge of Minnesota"
From the Master’s Desk, Greetings, may this letter
find you and your family well. If other circumstances find you, please
contact Chaplain Greene and what will follow is the help and support of your
brothers. I believe the entire lodge
membership will be pleased to hear the subject of future housing for the
lodge has begun and in a substantial way.
At the March steering committee an Exploratory Committee was created
and its operational structure established.
It will over see the committees to research objective data for
analysis. Analysis combines
market forces and lodge resources.
Approaches mentioned to me over my term have run the whole gamut of
possibilities: lease, build or
purchase, with or without rental property, stay where we are or conversely
be a traveling lodge. We begin with open minds
and ears though the work requires that we narrow the approaches to the
preferred quickly. Perhaps,
research will indicate one which simply "rises up" as the most beneficial. If you haven't attended a
lodge meeting in awhile, I would encourage you to take a look.
Ask a brother who has been regular and hear what he has to say.
Much is happening, a number of petitions keep coming in, committee
work, new business and excellent LEO sessions are just a part of the agenda.
We have been receiving 1 to 3 petitions each month and another 3 have
come in for April. We are
receiving good men into our ranks.
You will not hear any complaint from our brothers about substituting
quality for quantity. Ritual Director Mike
Kottwitz is doing a great job scheduling the degrees, with a 1st and a 3rd
degree now scheduled and a 1st and 2nd degree already performed. The degree
teams are POLISHED. I would call
each member of the degree teams up for acknowledgement had space permitted.
I say to you "great job."
Your lodge participation and motivation is displayed on any level we choose
to address. We receive guests
because brothers invite them, a token of a healthy lodge.
We receive guests because other lodge brothers want to experience
this unity. I may be effusive in
my praise, but look at this lodge from outside and you will agree with me,
this is how Masonry will grow. The Officers who formed
this lodge in 1999 were amazing.
Acknowledgement of their accomplishment will remain as long as the lodge
itself. Their work has obligated
their successors to further that success.
Chanhassen Dinner Theatre Event 2007 The 79 people who attended the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres had a great time bonding as a group and most of all being able to see the World Premiere of EASTER PARADE with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. This was a great show being produce for the first time by a Theater with the Chanhassen Theatres being honored to write and perform the show. The food, refreshments, and deserts made a great meal and put us all in the mood for the show. This year the weather man gave us a sunny day for traveling which is always a concern when you have some older people traveling. Due to our contract with the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres we had outstanding seating. This seating area will be the same for the next 3 years as per our contract. This year, with the help
of Brother See you all next year 2008 Chairperson Brother
The Chaplain’s Corner
Great Expectations
It is the celebration of life after life that is the theme of this month.
Birth, death, resurrection, and
ascension – it is the cycle of our life as taught to us through our
relationship with our Lord. The resurrection is divine proof that there is
no death for the soul, and in our belief in the creator, we share in the
promise of resurrection. The return of spring is nature's proof that life
always continues from death. The days begin to lengthen, the sun warms the
ground, and the seed that fell on the ground last year now springs up into a
flower, a stalk of wheat, a tree. Yet the outer form had to die before the
life-force within could grow into the light. Our great expectations are
realized.
The way of nature is a quiet yet constant succession of day and night,
summer and winter, birth and death, until at last, after many cycles, the
story behind the cycle of life, that the earth can teach, will have been
learned. But the "death" and "rebirth" as taught in ancient schools was
something more than we witness every year, inspiring as this is. The method
and purpose of "the Mysteries" of which many religious figures spoke is a
quickening process -- for those who have the courage to undertake the task
-- the conquest of one's self, the triumph over death, the resurrection of
the Christi that lives within the heart of each of us.
This is the significance of Easter: the atonement with Divinity itself and
the expectation of life forever. To the Freemason, it is both the subduing
of our passions and the acquirement of the Royal Secret. It is the awakening
within our soul of that power by means of which man and Deity become
partners in both this life and the next.
We may well think of the several steps we
take before receiving the title Master Mason, as rebirth. Coming out of the
darkness of ignorance and being raised to the Sublime degree of Master Mason
refers to being exalted or elevated. The significance of this degree is the
removal of everything that keeps us from rising to that state where the soul
communes with the Divine. It also represents a symbolic rebirth into the
spiritual world, the true abode of the soul.
Initiation into the Mysteries of Freemasonry
was not simply a means of attaining intellectual knowledge, or “learning”.
As Aristotle wrote about the Ancient Mysteries, it was actually the
“experience” and not knowledge learned, that allowed the initiate to
comprehend the secret meaning of the mysteries. This enlightening,
transformative experience has generally been termed rebirth, and appears to
be the central theme of the most important rituals of almost all the
The doctrine of rebirth is something every
dedicated Mason should become familiar with. It appears that many of the
violent deaths—of Osiris, of Christ, of Hiram—have something in common. They
symbolize vice, ignorance, and chaos, inevitably slaying the pure self and
thereby making rebirth necessary for salvation. These legends reveal the
nature of our circumstances and enlighten us to the trials that we must
overcome. Only through the death of one’s imperfect self, the leaving behind
of the old, and acceptance of transcendent truth, can one truly be reborn
into a new self, no longer tainted by the sins or ignorance of one’s past.
In a certain sense, and depending on one’s
perspective or religious background, rebirth or regeneration is a process
that is constantly occurring. With such an understanding, it is up to the
initiate to ensure that he is improving himself on a daily basis by
following the morality taught within the Lodge and carefully watching and
analyzing his behavior and motives.
In the initiation ceremony for the third degree of
Freemasonry, this story is reenacted and the candidate plays the role of
Hiram Abiff. This is partly to tell the story, partly to teach a moral
lesson that it is better to die than to betray one's promises, and partly to
enact a symbolic death and rebirth, so that the initiate will hopefully
emerge purified of his bad and immoral habits and become a more moral and
spiritual person.
Our
manner of instruction makes use of symbols and allegory such as in the story
of Hiram Abiff, to instill in us the profound truths brought to light by the
sacred word of God.
Through
the grace of our Lord, great expectations indeed.
Prayers for our Brothers and their Families Please feel free to send me the names of any of our
Brothers and/or their family members, who may be in distress as we pray to
our creator for their comfort and relief. When we think of our experiences
in taking the third degree, we cannot help but remember the words from
Ecclesiastes: “Remember now thy creator . . .”
and please remember those listed below in your prayers. We name the
welfare of our brethren in our petitions because we love them; and knowing
our own need of their prayers, we realize their need of ours.
Be still – and know. . .
Job's Daughters Bethel 85 of Shakopee, MN
is lead by Honored Queen Paulette P., Senior Princess Kellie S. and Junior
Princess BriAnna M. Other
members include: Toni H.(Guide), Katie H.(Marshal), Jasmine T.(1st
Messenger), Cassi M.(2nd Messenger), Taylor J.(3rd
Messenger), Alyssa W.(4th Messenger), Courtney J.(5th
Messenger), Alicia V.(Recorder) and Ashley B.(Chaplain).
We also recently initiated April G. We usually meet on the first and third Monday’s of the month and do other activities in between. March 30 - April 1st, 2007 is our Grand Bethel at Cragun’s in Brainerd. Many of our girls are going. Besides taking care of business there are fun events and competitions to enter. Some of our current projects are Penny Wars where we raise money for our activity accounts by having a competition using change to gain or lose points. We are also doing a fundraiser to support the bethel by collecting used cell phones and empty inkjet cartridges. They get recycled for money. If you have any of these we could use them! We are also looking forward to the upcoming dress swap. We have invited other Job’s Daughters to join us by bringing and donating their previously used semi formals and formals. Then girls can buy one of the donated dresses for $5-$10 with the money going to support HIKE (Hearing Impaired Kids Endowment). Also, on March 3rd some Jobies, their family members and some of the Mason’s worked a shift at Feed My Starving Children in Chanhassen. We packaged over 9,000 meals that will go to little kids in other countries who don’t have food. Thanks for your help! It was fun to do something together! Respectfully Submitted, 
Making Connections In today’s fast paced
world of email, blackberry, instant communication and constant connectivity,
we fail, too often, to make real connections with people, one on one
personal connections. Those connections are the mortar we talk about in the
working tools of the third degree. Personal connections are the cement that
binds our brotherhood together into a strong spiritual edifice. There are
great things happening in Our edifice is strong; the
great foundation laid down by our brothers serves our lodge well, and
continues to be the base of a lodge which is attracting a great number of
new quality brothers this year. If you haven’t been to lodge in the last
year or so, I think you’d be surprised to the number of new faces you’ll
find. Since the new officers were installed in January we’ve had the great
pleasure to welcome several new brothers to craft, so many that it’s
becoming hard to find time for all the degree work, it’s a wonderful problem
to have. One of the most important
factors in attracting and, more importantly keeping new brothers active and
interested in becoming active in lodge, are those all important personal
connections. All of us owe it to our newly admitted brothers to meet them
and to make the deeper personal connections on which our institution
thrives. You’d be surprised to learn about our new brothers, their
fascinating backgrounds, their skills in music, arts, handy work.
I encourage all of you to make a
point of getting to know one of our brothers on a more personal level. You can do this in lodge,
at during our pre-meeting diners, or at one of the many degrees we’re
putting on these days, check the lodge calendar for details. When you come
to lodge, sit with someone new, talk to brothers whom you don’t usually talk
too. There are great things happening in Lodge these days and we can all be
proud of the work we’re doing.
Submitted By:
WISDOM OF LARRY THE CABLE GUY: 1. A day
without sunshine is like night. 2. On the
other hand, you have different fingers. 3. 42.7
percent of all statistics are made up on the spot. 4. 99
percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 5.
Remember, half the people you know are below average. 6. He who
laughs last, thinks slowest. 7.
Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm. Stay
tuned for more wisdom from Larry next month.
From T.J. Berg, S.W. It is the mysterious
nature of the reading that intrigues me, such that I never pursued its
meaning during these, my Masonic years.
I had enjoyed it as a poetic and unknowable verse. Until now. It has been one of my
favorite portions of the Degree work.
I have since researched it and discovered that I should have sought
enlightenment from that verbiage, rather than keep its significance at a
distance There is, of course, the
obvious allusion to the Masonic working tool, but what else? During high-school, when
trying to unravel the profound metaphors of Shakespeare and Dante, I was
clay-headed. I regret that I
still am. The clay has simply
become a bit more malleable. Because of that, I
recently attempted to decipher the meaning from the Amos text. God’s Word to Amos was
direct and firm: From now and
forever, the people’s sins will not be overlooked without consequence.
A new weight of responsibility was placed upon the people of Why is the passage
relevant in the Fellow Craft Degree? Just prior to the
Obligation of the degree, the Worshipful Master tells the candidate that,
previously bound only to secrecy, it is now time to choose to behave as an
upright man before the Brethren and to God.
We are, from that time forward, to actively submit ourselves to
uphold certain moral values: To
assist a distressed worthy Brother, to never wrong or steal from a Brother,
to never aggravate or cause disharmony among the members of the Craft. The new Fellow Craft is
called to proceed with a new and active disposition, obliged to constantly
try himself by the upright standard of the Plumb.
He then carries that weight of responsibility placed upon him and
must constantly evaluate his conduct agreeably to moral principles learned
in Masonry. That moral responsibility
does not end at the Those principles are not
new to us as Masters of the Craft.
I had not, however, realized that those principles were so eloquently
affirmed in the Book of Amos, Chapter 7. “Thus He showed me:”
Newsletter Articles for the next newsletter will be due by May 18th. You may send articles to me for the newsletter; by any method you desire (email, fax, regular mail, etc…). Articles that are not received by the due date will be held over for the newsletter. We would also like to encourage the other organizations that are affiliated with MN River Valley Lodge #6, such as the Jobs Daughters, Eastern Star, Demolay, etc… to feel free to contribute items to our newsletter and to our Lodge’s Web Calendar. Thank You, Steve Scheffert (news@mn-rivervalley.org) 2224 Birch Circle Blair, NE 68008 Fax: 402-533-8344May Birthdays Our best wishes to the following brothers who will celebrate their birthday in May 2007
 Northeast Lodge #345 Details: We will be
gathering at 6:00 PM on Tuesday May, 15, 2007 at the Anoka Lodge #30 (1900
3rd Ave So) and the gavel falls at 6:30. Masons and their guests will
celebrate with the 7 traditional toasts presented in the French Military
tradition. The meal will consist
of roasted turkey breast, dressing, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, rolls and
dessert. Beverages will include coffee, milk and toasting wine with a
non-alcoholic option. The cost is
$15.00 per plate and the checks should be made payable to Northeast Lodge
#345. Please include the
following information with your payment: Number of Plates, Number of
Toasting with Wine, Number of Toasting with Non-Alcohol, and the Name of
your Wife or Other Guests. Please send
checks and
information for the Table Lodge addressed to: Questions;
please call Larry at 763-421-0249. Please send checks to arrive no later than 5-10-07. List of Upcoming Events:
April
24th
– 6:30 P.M.
Steering Committee Meeting - Light Supper
Provided
May Visit
the Lodge Website and view the Lodge calendar for our complete list of
events.
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It
is a new day – we woke up again and the day is filled with new possibilities
and we are filled with great expectations. We know that life is a mystery
and that our journey through life will make many strange and sometimes
painful passages. We don’t know what or when, but we continue to have great
expectations for our future and that of those we love. This is human nature.
Regardless of anything else in our lives, there is one thing that we can
absolutely count on, and that is the great expectation of life after life. 
