Day 1 of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota Annual Communication

I am writing today to you from the very beautiful city of Saint Cloud in the great state of Minnesota. It has been an incredible day of fellowship and brotherhood that has truly opened my eyes to the path for a better Fraternity. It is always a wonderful time to get reacquainted with old friends and meet new friends throughout these two days.

This year, we were fortunate to hear from four very important brothers to our Craft. The first brother is, of course, Most Worshipful Brother Frank Haas. If you don’t know the story of the raw deal that M.W.B. Haas has received from the Grand Lodge of West Virginia, I will point to you the blog dedicated to vindicating the rights of M.W.B. Haas, Masonic Crusade. I had a nice short chat with M.W.B. Haas during lunch about the nasty business down in West Virginia and I gave hi9m my support in his efforts to regain his rightful place in this Fraternity. I am of the belief that the old ways of West Virginia are not the best and I hope that more enlightened men will once again lead that Grand Lodge back to its honored place. Now, it sits, like an old, dilapidated abandon home, waiting for the strong willed hands to fix her rough exterior. Sadly, as is Masonic courtesy,  MWB Haas was not present at our tyled meeting but I know that in spirit, he was in our hearts.

The next two brothers that were able to speak with us were W. Bro. Curtin Winsor, Jr. and Bro. Marc Wachenheim, who were kind enough to explain to us the situation of Freemasonry in the country of Cuba and its role in transforming the country from a totalitarian dictatorship into a democratic country. I was truly impressed by the work that my Grand Lodge has done in continuing to grow the ties between my Grand Lodge and its sister Grand Lodge in Cuba. I have heard Freemasonry the shock troops of the Enlightenment and with this example of generosity and moral fortitude, these brothers are transforming their island nation into a stronger and better nation. I want to applaud their efforts and my own Grand Lodges efforts in bring light to another corner of the globe.

The final brother that graced our annual communication and was, in fact, our keynote speaker, was Robert Davis, 33°, of the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma. He is a preeminent scholar on the subject of Freemasonry and my Grand Lodge has awarded him the Duane E. Anderson National Excellence in Masonic Education Award. As I listened to his speech on the properties of each generation and the ways in which they are joined, I really got a sense by which I joined Masonry. I was able to talk to him about issues affecting Lodges and I really appreciated him taking the time to discuss with me the quintessential quality within Masonry by which men join, to enjoy the company of other men. I think this is truly key in all Lodges, that men seek out other men because they are seen as good, upright men in the community. If you want to read more from W.B. Davis, visit his website here.  I want to congratulate W.B. Davis on being awarded this prestigious honor.

Also, while I was here at the Annual Communication, I was able to see two Minnesota bloggers and great leaders of the Craft, W. Bro. James at the SE Area Travels blog and R.W. Bro. Tom, Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge of Minnesota who writes the All Things Masonic blog. Both of these brothers are active Masons and I hope for them only good fortunes. I would like to add that the Grand Master of Iowa was in Minnesota as a result of RWB Tom’s incredibly work in organizing our Minnesota brothers into a driving force to clean up after the state of Iowa was ravaged by flood waters. I want to congratulate RWB Tom for extending our collective hand for brotherly love and relief. Now, I promised to have video up but sadly, because of something in my steak, I had an allergic reaction. Not to worry, I caught it but now I have lost my voice. Hopefully, by tomorrow after a few hours of sleep, I will return to half strength. Stay tuned for more coverage tomorrow.