Thunderbird Lodge No. 15 Free and Accepted Masons
Temple
Talk
552 North 40th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85008-6441
Vol. 17, No. 4
www.thunderbird15.org JULY – AUGUST 2010
From The East:
Congratulations to Bro. Gustavo
Rodriguez on being elected, passing his proficiency, and
being installed as Senior Warden. I know that he will do an excellent job over
the next six months. Bro. Gus has a desire to learn as much as he can about the
meaning of Masonry.
As a tribute to Bro. Gus, I
challenge all the other 159 members of Thunderbird Lodge to answer the
following questions. Please contact me
with your answers. You can reach me at 480-365-9108 or email me at JDG323@msn.com.
I truly want to hear from each one of you.
1.
Why did you
become a Mason?
2.
Has Masonry lived
up to your expectations?
3.
What do you
want from Masonry?
4.
Are you active in
any of the concordant bodies?
5.
How much trouble
is it for you to come to lodge?
Please contact me with your answers.
I would love to receive 159 answers, but I feel that I will get only about 10%,
or 16 Brothers, to reply and that MY BROTHERS is a dirty shame. At one time you
must have had a strong interest in Masonry, because you joined. Let that desire
out and contact me.
On a lighter note, on August 19th
we will be showing My Brother, Where
Art Thou, starring
George Clooney. Meet us at Bill Johnson’s Big Apple on east Van Buren. Be there
around 5:30 – 6:00 pm. After dinner we will retire to the lodge room for the
movie, which will start at 7 pm. We have free popcorn and drinks at a nominal
charge. Please bring your spouse and family to join us.
We will be doing a courtesy 3rd
degree on the 29th of July for Bro. Jake Taylor, who is from
Illinois. It would be nice to have some sideliners. Also, if you would like to
help out, we have several minor parts available.
Several changes were made at the
Grand Communication last month. Most were minor, but a couple will affect some
or all of you. The per capita rate was raised and WB Jim will have an
explanation elsewhere in the Trestle Board. The second change has to do with
fire arms in the lodge room. But as the Shrine does not allow fire arms in the
building at all, we do not have to worry about a storage site for guns. One
other change is that there are to be two Widows Sons Masonic Motorcycle Riders
Associations. One is located in Benson and will be called the Knights of
Cochise and the second is located in northern Arizona and known as Wayfarers
Chapter. If you ride motorcycles and are interested, contact the Grand
Secretary’s office.
May you all have a wonderful summer
and please be careful where ever your travels may take you.
Jeff Grayson PM
2010 Grand Communication attendees, L – R: VW Bill Robertson, Grand Secretary; VW George Stablein, Grand Secretary Emeritus, WM Jeff Grayson PM; PM Reza Farrokh; Sec. Jim Drake PM; J. David. Not pictured is Scott Thomas PM.
From the West:
Hello Brethren,
Time is flying this year and
we are already facing summer too. These are great days to be outside and enjoy
the splendor of sunshine and the warmth of the heat. As I am typing, I can hear
outside the birds singing this morning and it gives me an overwhelming
happiness sensation. I am full of hope to know that summer is the best days to
be outside and do all kind of activities. As these great days of great weather
are here already, I believe this is the right time for our lodge members to
reflect on this summer days and fill our souls, minds and consciences with all
the positive attitudes, feelings and positive energy towards the craft. We need
to recharge our purpose and meaning for a new season that I believe, starting
today, it will be a different lodge as the one we have known for a while. I
believe that our brethren have a huge amount of masonry fuel that is in
storage. We only need a spark to ignite it. I want to contribute to make that
spark. Would you be kind to join us this next stated meeting to make this
happen? I assure you that this meeting will be one that might change our
perspective on freemasonry for the better. I invite you to join us in a meeting
that I am very confident it will be the beginning of a great lodge. I strongly
believe that whatever comes from our next stated meeting will be nothing more
that great positive outcomes that will give us a new perspective for better
improvement.
Do not forget our movie night
in August, which is August 19 at 7:00 PM. We have been enjoying these great
nights as well as our brethren and their special ones. So, do not forget this
event and come and join us. Our lodge is already in motion for better and it
will not stop rolling.
See you there!
Gustavo Rodriguez
Senior Warden
From the Secretary:
As
the Worshipful Master noted above, the per capita will be going up for the 2011
dues year. We still have a few outstanding dues for this year. The dues for
2011 will be $28.00 per capita (up from $20.26 this year) plus $4.00 per month
($48.00 for the year), will make a total of $76.00 for the 2011 dues year.
James Drake PM, Secretary
THE FIRST LESSON TAUGHT IN MASONRY
I would like to ask each of
you to think back to the time when you were a new Entered Apprentice Mason, or
in the case of a ONE-DAY CLASS candidate a new Master Mason. You were probably
excited about learning all that there was to learn about our gentle craft. You
listened with interest as the “old timers” talked about the good old days. You
were anxious to get involved with your new lodge and participate in the plans
and programs that your lodge was promoting. This was truly the best of times.
But now I must ask you how
you would have felt if the very first lesson that you were taught was that it
is OK for a Mason to lie. What would this have taught you about how Masons
should conduct themselves?
As the Grand Secretary’s
Office processes petitions for the degrees, cases are seen where a Brother has
certified that he has been personally acquainted with a petitioner for 6, or
more, months when this is not true. How do I know that this occurs? The first way that I know this happens is because I have had
Brothers actually tell me that they have signed petitions for men that they
hardly know based on the assurance of the other signer that the petitioner was
“a really good guy”. There have been other instances where we know that
this has been done, but the explanations as to how we know this are too lengthy
to explain in this article. I think that most of us know of instances where
this has happened.
One might say “If the
candidate is really a good, honest, quality man, what does it hurt to sign his
petition even if I really don’t know him all that well?
The problem is that the
petitioner knows that the signer has not been personally acquainted with him
for 6 months and therefore the very first lesson that he is taught is that it
is OK for a Mason to make a false statement on a petition. That is a polite way
of saying that it is OK to lie.
Brothers, is this what we want to be teaching our new members? I don’t
think so. What we should be teaching them is to “wait a time with patience”
until he has actually been acquainted with the signer for 6 months as required.
Which lesson do you think we should be teaching our new Brothers, to follow the
rules and tell the truth or to lie if we find it convenient to do so?
George H. Stablein, Sr. PM
Grand Secretary Emeritus
Improve Your Leadership Skills
This month we traveled to Tucson for
the 128th Annual Grand Lodge Communication. Like most years there
always seems to be a few hot button issues that may have a tendency to polarize
the Craft. There is nothing wrong with this as long as debate doesn’t travel
beyond the due bounds of the points of the extended compasses. Remember that we
all want the best for the Fraternity and we will always see that way through
the perspective of our owe looking glass. Albert Pike teaches us, in Esoterika, that the points of the compasses represent the
Moral Sense
and Reason. Our moral sense and reason should always govern our passions within
those due bounds but especially with our Brethren in Freemasonry.
In the latest issue of Arizona
Masonry the Grand Editor talked about a free online course on Leadership offer
by FEMA called “IS-240 Leadership & Influence” it is a resource for building
your leadership skills. You can Google the course title to find it (or link
below). Leadership in the Craft has for years been taught by experience and
advice from the Brothers and to really understand how to lead you need to be in
a position of leadership. This can be from being a committee chairman to the
Master of the Lodge but training is essential if you want to minimize the
“learn by trial and error” approach that many of us use in the Craft. Grand
Lodge has endeavored to improve your skills with annual Leadership academies
but there are many more resources available if you want to improve. Here are
some free and fee based online resources for improving yourself and the craft.
FEMA Leadership Course
http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/is/is240.asp
Masonic Renewal – Committee of Grand
Master of North America
http://www.masonicrenewal.org/secciones.php?pageNum_Recordset=2&totalRows_Recordset=12&idSeccion=6
Leading Brethren in Freemasonry
http://www.leader-values.com/Content/detail.asp?ContentDetailID=176
The Freemason Academy
http://www.freemasonacademy.com/CourseList/200LeadershipCourseforLodgeOfficers.aspx
See you in Lodge!
Eric T. Carter, PM
DDGM District #16
Masonic Birthdays for: July and August
Stephen Adkins 7/10/2003 Reza
Farrokh PM 8/13/1997
Jeff Grayson PM 7/20/1974 Gustavo Rodriguez 7/15/1999
Stan Wood PM 7/15/1957
Many Scottish Rite Brothers from Thunderbird Lodge #15 participated
in and helped organize the Scottish Rite reunion held
at the Shrine and in Scottsdale on May 12 – 15. Pictured above are Jim Drake, Venerable
Master Reza Farrokh and Jay David. Jim and Jay became 32nd degree
Masons at the reunion. VM Reza recently became a 33rd degree Mason.
Calendar:
July 15: Dinner and a Movie, 7:00 PM. Dinner will be
at Bill Johnson’s at 6:00, the movie will be
August 5: Stated Meeting, 7:00 PM, dinner in Red Fez at 6:00. Dinner is on the Lodge.
August
19: Dinner and a Movie, 7:00 PM. Dinner will be at Bill Johnson’s at 6:00, the
movie will be Oh, Brother Where Art
Thou. Considered by many to be the ultimate guy flick and loosely based
on Homer’s The Odyssey.
Sept. 2: Stated Meeting, 7:00 PM, dinner in Red Fez at 6:00. Dinner is on the Lodge.
Sept.
16: Dinner and a Movie, 7:00 PM. Dinner will be at the Red Fez at 6:00, the
movie will be announced
at a later date. Suggestions are welcome.
For more information on any of these events, please
feel free to contact the Secretary.
Information and flyers are also available in the
lodge room. Or check out the web site.
Temple Talk is Published by Thunderbird Lodge No.
15, F.&A.M.
Submit
information for the next publication by the 15th of each month to:
Jim Drake, Editor
552
N. 40th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85008-6441
Or
by E-Mail to: jandvdrake@aol.com
Direct questions or comments to me at 480-756-1105
Contact List
Master:
Jeff Grayson, H C 520-979-7003 jdg323@msn.com
Secretary: Jim Drake, H 480-756-1105, C
480-495-2108 jandvdrake@aol.com
El Zaribah Shrine
Center: 602-231-0300
Website: www.thunderbird15.org
Thunderbird
Lodge No. 15, F.&A.M.
W.M. * Jeff Grayson PM Trustee 2010 Reza Farrokh PM
S.W. * Gustavo Rodriguez Trustee 2011 VW
George Stablein PM
J.W. * Trustee 2012 Don Wilcox
Treasurer $ Vacant
Trustee 2013 Jay David
Secretary # Jim Drake PM
Chaplain Don Wilcox * Also Trustees Ex-Officio
Marshal Jay David $ Also Treasurer of Trustees
S.D. Vacant #
Also Secretary of Trustees
J.D. Michael Gattorna
S.S. Vacant
J.S. Bryan Campbell
Tyler Clint Molodow
Thunderbird Lodge No. 15 F&AM
552 North 40th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85008-6441