Thursday, November 19, 2015

New Elections for the Coming Year

Greetings, Bretheren.  It's been some time since I've posted here.  I see the pageviews keep coming, so thank you dearly for that support.

It's Winter, and with that time of year comes Lodge election season.  I'm honored to have been elected as Junior Warden of Jackson Lodge #42 in Centerville, Iowa.  I will gladly serve my brothers as the office calls for, and then some.  (Hello Lodge pizza party!)

Rumor has it I may be drafted elected to office in my local Royal Arch Chapter as well.  I consider that a tremendous honor, as I've not held office previously in that body, nor have I yet been Exalted for a year.  I am humbled by the mere suggestion that I should hold office, let alone be elected to such.

This Saturday, the 21st of November, is the fall York Rite Festival in Des Moines, Iowa.  I will hopefully be in attendance for much of the day, dependent upon the weather.  Central Iowa is to experience its first winter storm of the year, and of course on a day I've been looking forward to for weeks.  I do hope to make it, as it will be my first chance to observe the Order of the Temple as a Sir Knight.

Plus, as an added bonus, a Brother and I plan on meeting up for a post-festival herf at one of the many cigar lounges Des Moines has to offer.  I don't make it up that way very often, but when I do, I can't help but pick up a Cain Daytona, Oliva G, or Romeo y Julietta, and some nice pipe tobacco.  Something about the antiquity of Freemasonry and a nice pipe or cigar seem to go well together.

On the note of pipes and cigars, I've been floating around the idea of a cigar shop hop.  Essentially, a group of Masons who are also cigar enthusiasts meet at a predetermined location and spend the day visiting cigar shops and lounges.  My wife does something similar with some quilting friends.  It's a great way to get together and share a common hobby.  Plus, if enough of us Brothers sign on, we could possibly arrange for discounts from participating shops.  If you live in Central Iowa and would like to show interest, please let me know in the comments below.

Moving on, work has begun on a project that I've been considering for some time.  I cannot go into much detail at this time, but will say that it looks to be a huge undertaking that will be quite rewarding if done properly.  Perhaps in the coming weeks I will be able to divulge more.  Stay tuned for more information and updates.

I've been reading a number of Masonic books lately, mostly related to Chapter and Council.  The amount of quality works written on Masonic and related esoteric topics continues to astound me.  In today's world, anyone can write a book on anything and instantly publish it.  This wasn't so in the latter 19th and early 20th centuries.  Not only did many Brothers write quality works on The Craft, but they were able to justify the no-doubt considerable cost associated with printing them.  I'm so glad that our past Bretheren had the knowledge and foresight to preserve these books for future generations.

In closing, I'd like to draw your attention to websites I've made for my Blue Lodge and York Rite Bodies.  Please excuse the extreme lag in page loading.  I'm not sure why they take so long, and I've yet to have the free time to call my webhost to troubleshoot the problem.  I welcome your feedback and suggestions for those webpages, should you have any to offer.

Until next time,

Rob Matherly
Junior Warden Elect
Jackson Lodge #42
Centerville, Iowa


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