October 2007 Newsletter

At times I find myself homesick. It is kind of a non-specific homesickness. It’s like I want to go back to the home of my childhood (which I barely remember). What I do remember is my folks, warmth, love, dreams, laughter, safety -- a metaphorical “safe harbor”, located somewhere in the past, a lost time when things seemed simpler. But, as Thomas Wolfe said, “You can’t go home again”. We can never go back home to our family, back home to our childhood, back home to our dreams of glory and of fame. Why? Because everything we knew then, has changed and life goes on. While we weren’t looking, we got older, and both the past and the memories of our past, changed. And what we are left with are just echoes of sweet and relentless longing.

Such longing may carry within it a yearning for home, but it is for a home faraway in time rather than space. It represents an emptiness that needs to be satisfied. It may represent a relationship that has been lost or never obtained. We cannot create a relationship or fill the emptiness with dreams of a past that may or may not have been real. The past is fixed. However, the future is wide open and shines with hope and opportunity. It will take thoughtful future actions to satisfy the need for a worthy relationship and to fill the emptiness. For me, it is a yearning for wholeness, for redemption, for Grace, for a deeper relationship with my God -- for a future home, one with many rooms and peopled with all of my loved ones. This is the source of fulfillment for me.

And how does Grace fit into all of this? Grace is undeserved gifts –gifts from our God. More broadly, divine Grace refers to God's gifts to humankind, including life, creation, and salvation. Grace will satisfy our yearnings and fill our emptiness. Grace will give us reconciliation with our God and salvation. The New Testament word that is usually translated "grace" is in Greek, “charis”, which literally translates to “gift”. Grace is often distinguished from mercy in that mercy is seen as not receiving punishment that one deserves to receive, whereas grace is receiving a positive benefit that one does not deserve to receive. In other words, Grace happens.

In Christianity, divine grace refers to the sovereign favor of God for humankind — especially in regard to salvation — irrespective of actions, deeds, earned worth, or proven goodness. In Roman Catholicism, grace is not just God's loving kindness, favor or mercy, but God’s divine life itself, which enables the work of Christ to flow through us. Through Adam, we have been disgraced and separated from God, and in Christ, we are restored to grace and reconciled to God.

Although there is no Christian notion of salvation through grace in Judaism, The grace of God is found throughout the Old Testament and relates to forgiveness and atonement. The Hebrew language used different words for the term we call grace. Several examples of the grace of God can be found in the Old Testament in such places as Deuteronomy 7:9; Nehemiah 1:5; 9:32; Daniel 9:4 and II Chronicles 6:14 just to name a few. The concept is rooted in the Hebrew word “hesed” which is often translated grace, mercy, or loving-kindness. God's grace is used in the Old Testament text in three ways: first, in creation; second, in His covenants; and third, in forgiveness as God extended mercy and grace to all who repented.

The song, Amazing Grace, contains some of the most meaningful lyrics relating to Grace, that I can think of:

Amazing grace, How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, Amazing grace

Amazing love, amazing grace. And it is a gift to all of us if we just believe. As promised to us in Psalm 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly”. And what is grace, but the means by which we can satisfy our longing and our loneliness. It is the gift from our Lord that keeps on giving. It is heaven begun below, in the knowledge of the Grace that our Lord rains down on us. As we are admonished by the plumb, let it be our care to walk uprightly, and trust God to give us every thing that is good for us. That man is blessed, whatever his outward circumstances may be, who trusts in the Lord of hosts.

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.

Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

For Healing and Support	For Thanksgiving	For Comfort
Bro. Buddy Schesso, now residing in Friendship Manor.	For our Sister Flossie Eidsvold, who completed her journey here on Earth 7/13, who has now gone home. She has now been healed of all earthly pain and distress.	For Bobbie Wiggins (Bro. Schesso’s Sister)
Bring the help and comfort of our Lord’s grace to our Brothers Tom Peterson and Tom Smith, on the loss of their father and grandfather.	For David Peterson the father and grandfather of our Brothers Tom Peterson and Tom Smith, who went home this September. He has now been healed of all earthly pain and distress.	For our Brother Timothy Jacobs and his family at the loss of his father.
Our Brother, Tim Bollinger’s Grandfather is quite ill. We pray for our Lord’s peace, comfort and grace for Tim, his family and his Grandfather	For Rodney Marek of Montgomery who went home on October 4. He has now been healed of all earthly pain and distress.	For our Sister, Joanne Erickson, whose Husband Ron went home this past March.
Pray for help and comfort for our Brother TJ Berg and his family, that, through our Lord’s grace, they will be granted relief from this passage in their journey of life.		For the family of Roger Marek on the loss of their husband, father, brother, grandfather, and great-grandfather.

Our best wishes to the following brothers who will celebrate their birthday in November:

Eric Menge	Nov 2
Tim Hill	Nov 2
John Laufers	Nov 4
Merritt Henry	Nov 7
Phillip Garbe	Nov 9
Philip Hvidsten	Nov 9
Robert Sass	Nov 11
Paul Peterson	Nov 12
John Loutzenhiser	Nov 22

Last month we met at the Masonic Home in Bloomington. Many of the Brothers, especially the newer ones, had not been there and were not familiar with the Masonic Homes. To further enlighten all of us on the Homes, Brother John Schweitz will provide our November LEO program by providing us with further education on the Minnesota Masonic Homes.

Blindfolding a candidate is symbolical of that state in which he has "long been in darkness and now prays for light." It is not to keep him from seeing the lodge room, or the officers, or the Brethren, but to make a deep and lasting impression on his mind, that Masonically, he has no, or but partial light, and that only by the consummation of the ceremonies for which he has asked and which the lodge has granted, may he receive that Masonic light which will enable him to "travel in foreign countries and receive Master's wages." That the conclusion of parts of Masonic degrees be accompanied by unexpected sight and sound is a very old and very effective way of making an event memorable.

How should I wear my Masonic ring; with compass pointing towards me or away from me

Grace Happens

Prayers for our Brothers and their Families