South Miami Lodge
#308 F. & A. M.

" We hold these truths to be self evident: that all men are created equal: that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights: that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness...

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States...And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."*

May America remain loyal to the principles of the Declaration of Independence and apply them to ever widening areas of life.

May our country be always free from oppression, persecution, and unjust discrimination; may we overcome religious, racial, and class conflicts.

May we learn the art of living together in harmony, and come to appreciate our differences, to reconcile clashing interests, and to help one another achieve harmonious and abundant life.

May we acquire and follow the wisdom of our founding fathers.

May the resources of our America be utilized for the good of all humanity.

May the enterprise of our American people be blessed now and forever more.

Amen.

*From The Declaration of Independece.

Please see photo in the album section.

South Miami Lodge had an open part of our Sateted Meeting on May 12th for the purpose of presentiong Brother William Lee Popham with The Daniel Carter Beard Award.

We were graced by the presence of M:.W:.Joe Fleites Grand Master of Masons of Florida, and honored by the surprise visit of W:.M:. and Brethren of Hibiscus Lodge.

Brother Popham was nominated by Brother William Sharp of Endeavor Lodge of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Delaware for this award, who flew that night just to attend the presentation. Just to furnish sufficient proof of "how good and pleasant it is for Brethren to dwell together in unity" a Florida Mason nominated by Delaware Brother for a Masonic award from The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

The Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award is an honor due to the countless Freemasons who practice the ideals of Freemasonry and act as role models to the young men who are part of one of our nation's most outstanding youth organizations. The Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Award not only supports the Masonic relationship through the man who brought Scouting to America, but proclaims the integrity of the Freemason who is honored by receiving the award.

Freemasonry's relationship with the Boy Scouts started with a Freemason named Daniel Carter Beard. Bro. Beard was made a Mason in Mariner's Lodge No. 67, New York City, NY, and later affiliated with Cornucopia Lodge 563, Flushing, NY. In the late 1800's he founded a male youth program called the "Society of the Sons of Daniel Boone." By 1905, the program had become "The Boy Pioneers." The man who would create the first "Boy Scouts," and be known as its founder, was Lord Robert Baden-Powell of Great Britain. Lord Baden-Powell, who was not a Mason, read of Beard's program and, based on his own military experience, developed what is known as the "Boy Scouts." In 1910, the Boy Scout program came to America when Bro. Beard merged his organization into the "Boy Scouts of America" and became its first National Commissioner.

Bro. Beard, known affectionately as "Uncle Dan" by millions of Boy Scouts, worked tirelessly to create the Scouting Program that we know today. He developed the elements of the Scout badge and the Scout uniform, and wrote and illustrated various early publications of the Boy Scouts of America. Bro. Beard exemplified the Masonic ideals throughout the Scouting program.

Source: The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania.

Please see photo in the photo section.

We are taught that Masonry unites men of every country, sect and opinion and conciliates true friendship among those who might otherwise have remained at perpetual distance, here's a short history of a Rabbi and Mason.

The Very Reverend Sir Israel Brodie (1895?1975), Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the British Commonwealth of Nations (1948?65), was an active and energetic Freemason and personified British Jewry at its best.

Israel Brodie, son of Aaron, was born in Newcastle-upon- Tyne on 10 May 1895 and received his primary education at Rutherford College, in the same city. This followed with higher education at Jews? College and University College, London and finally at Balliol College, Oxford. In 1917 Israel Brodie enlisted in the RAF and served as a Jewish Chaplain to the Forces to the end of the war. In 1921 he worked for social services in the East End of London until an opportunity to move to Australia came up.

During Chief Rabbi Dr Joseph Hertz?s visit to Australia in 1921 Rabbi Brodie was recommended and finally appointed to replace Rabbi Dr Joseph Abrahams as chief minister of the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation. He served the community from 1923 to 1937. He was the first President of the Zionist Federation of Australia and New Zealand (ZFANZ) established in 1927 to co-ordinate the activities of the State Zionist Councils of Australia under the patronage of Sir John Monash. In 1937 Rabbi Brodie expressed interest in returning to England which was a disappointing news to congregants in Australia.

The Lodge of Israel in London welcomed him on 25 January 1944 as a visitor and saluted him as a Past Grand Chaplain of the United Grand Lodge of Victoria. Within two years, on 19 November 1946, the year, incidentally, of his marriage to Fanny Levine, a native of Warsaw, he joined the Montefiore Lodge No. 1017, proposed by Bro. Leslie Sober and seconded by Bro. E. Braham.

His advancement to the chair was speedy. He was elected Master in November 1948 and installed at the Café Royal in London in February 1949. He was to visit the Lodge of Israel on several later occasions: on 9 January, 1958 he was received as W Bro the V Rev Israel Brodie, Chief Rabbi and was accompanied by RW Bro Max Seligman, Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel. He returned again on 28 April 1960, once more accompanied by Max Seligman, now the MW Grand Master of Israel.

By now Israel Brodie had been appointed Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregation of the British Commonwealth of Nations, and it is not surprising that the Montefiore Lodge attendance book for the day, which has eight pages added, lists 466 guests, including 169 Installed Masters.

It reads like a Masonic Who?s Who: the Very Rev. W. Bro. Canon Lancaster, Grand Chaplain; the Very Rev. VW. Bro. Bishop of Woolwich; W. Bro. Nat Gordon, RW Master of Montefiore Lodge No. 753 Glasgow, leading a deputation from Scotland; W. Bro. Saul Taylor, IPM; W. Bro. B. R. Gates and W. Bro. S. Barclay, Past Masters and Bro. I. Hyman, and many other distinguished visitors.

The minutes record Bro Brodie?s active participation in Lodge affairs. His talks and orations were already popular, and as Master, his lecture Four Cardinal Values was particularly well received. At the end of his year as Master, the Lodge presented him with a leather-bound volume of the Summonses issued during his year in office.

Sources: MQ magazine, and others.

Please see photo in the photo section.

Freemasonry can count many extraordinary members in its history, but surely one of the greatest must be Abd El-Kader ? an Algerian nationalist, a Sufi Saint, and a towering figure of nineteenth-century Islam.

Abd El-Kader was born at Guetna near Mascara in Algeria in 1808. He was a descendent of the Prophet Mohammed and by the age of fourteen he memorized the entire Koran. In November 1832 he succeeded his father as Emir of Mascara and henceforth he led a skilful insurgency against the French who had invaded Algeria in July (France occupied Algeria for 132 years). In October 1852, after several years of imprisonment in France, Abd El Kader was exiled to Turkey. Three years later he resettled in Ottoman-controlled Damascus along with his family and a thousand-strong Algerian bodyguard. And it was there, in the ancient Syrian capital, that the Emir would subsequently perform a remarkable deed that not only elevated him to the status of international celebrity, but one that also led him to become a Freemason.

In Damascus, Abd El Kader devoted most of his time to his philosophical and religious studies, and he also established a new Islamic school which employed more than sixty scholars, but when violent rioting erupted in July 1860 he personally intervened with his bodyguard to try and prevent a rampaging mob from massacring the city?s Christians. At some considerable risk to himself and his men, and with the Christian quarter already ablaze, the Emir began rescuing as many Christians as he could, using his own house and lands as a safe refuge. And when the mob demanded that he should hand over all the Christians for execution, he angrily unsheathed his sword and ordered them to disperse, or otherwise his guards would open fire. Reluctantly, the mob backed down and, as a result, an estimated 12000-15,000 Christians were saved.

News of his actions reverberated around the world and he was feted by several governments and associations, one of which was the Parisian-based Henry IV Lodge (registered with the Grand Orient of France) who, on 16 November 1860, wrote to the exiled Emir and congratulated him on his brave and tolerant act; they also enclosed a jewel inscribed with his name as a token of their heartfelt admiration. The Emir was evidently moved by their letter and on 27 January 1861 he replied and thanked the brothers for their ?noble? sentiments and expressed a wish to join their fraternity.

What greater honor can excel the love of man for mankind? [he wrote] ? If there were no love in us, would we belong to a right religion? Of course not. Love is the unique foundation. God is the God of all: we must, therefore, love this All.

Accordingly, in July 1861, the officers of the Henry IV Lodge wrote again to Abd El-Kader and this time enclosed the traditional questions put to potential members. Two months later they received his reply, which included some remarkable responses to their questions. Regarding man?s duty to his fellow man, the Emir wrote: he must advise them, ? show respect to the elderly, be kind to children, ? not be jealous, do good and resist evil. All religions rest on two foundations: the first one consists in glorifying God, the second one in being good to His creatures.

?All men?, he mused, ?come from one soul that became manifest under different aspects?, and this ?universal soul? ? ?is like the center of the circle, and the particular souls like the circle.? ?Man?, he continued, ?must also take into account the rights of the body ? to neglect the body and expose it to death is one of the greatest sins and a way to oppose one?s Creator and the wisdom of the Most High.? ? the perfection of man?s condition is to know truth in oneself, and to practice it.

On 18 June 1864, at nine in the evening, the Abd El Kader was finally initiated in the Lodge of the Pyramids (Grand Orient of France) in Alexandria, during a sojourn in Egypt. During the ceremony he was informed that Freemasonry did not advocate any particular worship, only in God, and that everyone was ?free to believe, according to his convictions?.

He was also told informed that Freemasonry was dedicated to the ?propagation of universal morals and the practice of benevolence? and that a true mason is someone who ?makes his heart a pure temple so that the divine spirit takes pleasure in it?; ?Nobody more than you?, he was told, ?illustrates a truer brother?. The Emir then received the second and third degree, before the lodge was finally closed at midnight.

On 30 August he did manage to attend a special meeting of the Henry IV Lodge in Paris and talk to his new brothers in person. After witnessing an initiation, the Emir was asked about the future of Freemasonry in the Middle East. Answering, he explained that the society was misunderstood and mistrusted in the region, and that before he had read the Order?s statutes he too had ?shared the same opinions?.

?But?, he added, ?after having looked further into its goals and its laws, I was convinced that it is the most admirable institution in the world.?

His words were received with loud applause and he was then presented with a diploma which confirmed the ranks that he had received in Alexandria.

Sadly, little further is known about the Emir?s involvement with the craft, although it is known that three of his sons subsequently joined lodges registered with the United Grand Lodge of England.

Abdelkader died and burried in Damascus in 1883, his remains later exhumed and transported to Algeria after independence from France (1962).

Sources: Freemasnry Today magazine.

by Brother D. L. Clements - 1917

The white leather apron is more ancient by far

Than the eagles of Rome, a symbol of war,

Or the fleece of pure gold by emperors given,

A rich decoration for which many have striven.

The Garter of England, an Order most rare,

Although highly prized, cannot with it compare;

It is an emblem of innocence symboled in white,

And purity ever brings the greatest delight;

With pure thoughts and actions how happy the life

How care-free the conscience, unclouded by strife.

No Potentate ever can upon us bestow

An honor so great as this apron doth show;

No king on his throne in his highest estate

Can give us an emblem so cherished or great;

'Tis the Badge of a Mason more noble to wear

Than the gold of a mine or the diamond most rare.

So here's to the lambskin the apron of white,

That lifts up all equals and all doth unite,

In the Order so ancient that man cannot say

When its teachings began or name its birthday.

Since its birth, nations young have gone to their tomb

And cities once great turned to ashes and gloom;

Earth's greatest achievements have long passed away

And peoples have risen and gone to decay.

Outliving all these never changing with time

Are the principles taught in our order sublime.

And now my good brother this apron's for you,

May you worthily wear it and ever be true

To the vows you have made to the lessons most grand

For these, home and country, we ever will stand.

“We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before, and it changed for the better; so I trust it will again.

If difficulties arise, we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to the exigencies of the times.”

- George Washington

This article was published in The Grand Lodge Florida Mason magazine, 2003.

Special thanks to W:. John Garnder.

MASONIC EDUCATION, OPINIONS & POETRY.

NOVEMBER 2003 THE FLORIDA MASON

"THE PIGEON DEGREE"

This is a true Masonic story of what happened at one Masonic Blue Lodge.

A few years ago, the Lodge was having trouble with flocks of pigeons roosting on their roof.

These pigeons caused the worst smell from their droppings, which were bringing insects to borrow into the droppings.

The Worshipful Master, and other elected officers of the Lodge became alarmed at this situation and formed a committee to take

care of this pigeon problem.

Well the Lodge committee, on removal of pigeons, met to study and talk about a solution, and what matters to take to bring about the permanent removal of the pigeons. The first thing the committee did was to go up on the Lodge building’s roof and tie several strips of cloth in various areas to scare the pigeons away. These efforts did not work and the pigeons remained there.

The committee then, as was planned, bought several decoy Owls and placed the Owls in several areas of the

roof, again in an attempt to scare the pigeons away. Again these efforts brought no relief and the pigeons had covered the roof by now.

When after several fruitless attempts were made for the removal of the pigeons the committee then, as was planed, hired a professional pigeon removal company who advertised and guaranteed in writing the permanent removal of the pigeons or they would refund all monies to anyone having this problem if they failed to cause the permanent removal of the pigeons. Well this company came to the Lodge building and after several weeks, and several attempts, to cause the permanent removal of the pigeons, and all attempts failed, the company refunded all of the Lodge’s money.

My Brothers, I am happy to report to you there was not a sad ending to this pigeon problem. It so happened that the following month the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons of Florida was in Miami on Masonic business, and the Grand Master came to Coral Gables Lodge on

an unofficial visit. After the business of the Lodge had been conducted, and the Lodge was closed, the officers, members, and visitors retired to the Lodge dining room where the Lodge Stewart's had prepared and served dinner for all. While the Brothers were sitting eating

and talking in general, and near the end of dinner the then Most Worshipful Grand Master, whom was sitting next to the then Worshipful Master of Coral Gables Lodge, asked the Worshipful Master how the business, and Masonic work, of Coral Gables Lodge was going on under his Mastership of the Lodge. The Worshipful Master then told the Grand Master that all of the Lodge business and degree work were being held and preformed in all Masonic principles in due respect and honor of Freemasonry. The Master then said to the Grand Master that there was only one problem the Lodge was having and that was the pigeon problem the Lodge was experiencing for seven months and of all the attempts which were made to relive the problem. The Master also told the Grand Master this pigeon problem was becoming out of control and that the Lodge could not find a solution to end this problem.

My Brothers all this will perhaps sound strange to you, but there are those Brothers who will confirm what you are about to read next as it is all true and it did happen in Coral Gables Lodge. Upon hearing this tale of woe from the Worshipful Master about the pigeon problem, the Grand Master stood up and told the Lodge’s Master that he could solve his problem for the Lodge then and there. The Grand Master asked the Master to show him the stairway to the roof and the Master led the Grand Master, with the pigeon committee, up and onto the Lodge roof. The Grand Master seeing the thousands of pigeons then and there raised his hands skyward toward the starry-decked heavens and the Grand Master said

these words.

“By the power in me invested I now declare all pigeons Past Masters.”

And lo and behold, all of the pigeons disappeared and never came back to the Lodge.

Thank you my Brothers all for your attention in reading and consuming this very important Masonic knowledge.

I know by now you believe, and understand this Past Masters Pigeon Degree.

Yours in Brotherly Love, and Masonic Education.

W:.John E. Gardner, PM

jgard40022@aol.com

Coconut Grove Lodge No. 258

What Fortitude Achieves*

An EA candidate must decide by his own free will to enter the Lodge through a door. After entering, fortitude is associated with the first point of our entrance. Fortitude teaches Masons to have the strength of heart and mind to persevere in all noble endeavors.

Fortitude is an earnest enthusiasm that is disciplined by reason and ennobled by sincerity. It is a dynamic quality that is essential for all great achievement. Men with fortitude reject temerity and timidity. They have courage to match their convictions. They inspire confidence, invite action, and generate progress. Temperance, prudence and justice lose much of their effectiveness without the driving force of fortitude. The greatest achievements of man are tributes to the blending of these virtues.

When we practice fortitude in little ways we will be better able to call up great fortitude when we most need it. By standing firm for truth and growing in courage, we will also be improving in fortitude. As we achieve greater fortitude, we become better men. Growth in fortitude fosters leadership roles for us in our homes and workplaces. We become leaders who embody heroic fortitude in good times and in bad. Let us demonstrate our courage and fortitude so that our actions match our convictions.

__________________

*The National Scholastic Honorary Society in Business, Beta Gamma Sigma, presents three lectures on honor, wisdom, and ernestness. The lectures are derived from Plato. Some of the language from the speech on ernestness has been adapted for this section on what fortitude achieves.

THE TWELVE POINTS WERE BASED UPON THE 12 SONS OF JACOB, AND SYMBOLIZED

THE PATH OF THE CANDIDATE THROUGH HIS FIRST DEGREE.

1. OPENING OF THE LODGE:

REFERS TO THE TRIBE OF REUBEN, THE FIRST BORN OF JACOB - THE

BEGINNING OF HIS STRENGTH. WITHOUT THE OPENING, THERE WOULD

BE NO LODGE.

2. PREPARATION OF THE CANDIDATE:

WAS TO SYMBOLIZE THE TRIBE OF SIMEON, BECAUSE SIMEON PREPARED

THE INSTRUMENTS FOR SLAUGHTER OF THE SHEMITES. IN PART, IT

SYMBOLIZES THE MASONIC ABHORENCE TO CRUELTY, MANIFEST IN THAT

EVENT. (BEING DIVESTED/DEVOID OF ALL METALLIC OBJECTS).

3. THE REPORT OF THE S.D.:

REFERS TO THE TRIBE OF LEVI. LEGEND HAS IT THAT LEVI

SIGNALED HIS BROTHER SIMEON IN THE EXECUTION OF THE SLAUGHTER

OF THE SCHEMITES. MASONRY DENOUNCES CRUELTY TO A HELPLESS

PEOPLE.

4. ENTRY OF THE CANDIDATE INTO THE LODGE:

SYMBOLIZES THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, FOR THEY WERE THE FIRST TO

CROSS THE RIVER JORDAN, AND ALLUDES TO THE PASSING OF THE

CANDIDATE FROM THE WILDERNESS OF DARKNESS INTO THE LAND OF

LIGHT AND LIBERTY.

5. THE PRAYER:

SYMBOLIZES THE TRIBE OF ZEBULUN, BECAUSE THE PRAYERS AND

BLESSING OF JACOB WERE GIVEN TO IN DEFERENCE TO HIS BROTHER

ISSACHAR.

6. THE CIRCUMABULATION:

REFERS TO THE THE TRIBE OF ISSACHAR. BEING SOMEWHAT

SHIFTLESS IN CHARACTER, THIS TRIBE NEEDED A SPECIAL LEADER TO

ADVANCE THEM TO AN ELEVATION EQUAL TO THE OTHER TRIBES.

7. ADVANCING TO THE ALTAR OF FREEMASONRY:

SYMBOLIZES THE TRIBE OF DAN. IT SHOWS US THAT WE SHOULD

ADVANCE TO TRUTH AND HOLINESS WITH SPEED, IN CONTRAST TO THE

RAPID DECLINE OF DAN INTO IDOLATRY.

8. THE OBLIGATION:

REFERS TO THE TRIBE OF GAD, AND ALLUDES TO THE SOLEMN VOW

MADE BY JEPHTHAH, JUDGE OF ISRAEL, AND A MEMBER OF THIS

TRIBE.

9. THE ENTRUSTING WITH THE MYSTERIES OF THE ORDER:

WAS SYMBOLIZED BY THE TRIBE OF ASHER, FOR THIS TRIBE WAS

PRESENTED WITH THE FULL FRUITS OF MASONIC KNOWLEDGE.

10. THE INVESTITURE OF THE LAMBSKIN:

REFERS TO THE TRIBE OF NAPHTALI, FOR THIS TRIBE WAS INVESTED

WITH A PECULIAR FREEDOM BY MOSES IN THE PROPHECY, "O

NAPHTALI, SATISFIED WITH FAVOR AND FULL WITH BLESSINGS OF THE

LORD, POSSESS THOU THE WEST AND SOUTH."

11. CEREMONY IN THE NORTH EAST CORNER:

REFERS TO THE TRIBE OF JOSEPH, AND HIS TWO SONS EPHRAIM AND

MANASSEH, HEADS OF TWO HALF TRIBES.

12. CLOSING OF THE LODGE:

REFERS TO THE TRIBE OF BENJAMIN, THE YOUNGEST SON OF JACOB,

THUS CLOSING HIS STRENGTH.

 By Brother Red Skelton 33. January 14, 1969

?When I was a small boy in Vincennes, Indiana, I heard, I think, one of the most outstanding speeches I ever heard in my life. I think it compares with the Sermon on the Mount, Lincoln?s Gettysburg Address, and Socrates? Speech to the Students.

We had just finished reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, and he called us all together, and he says, ?Uh, boys and girls, I have been listening to you recite the Pledge of Allegiance all semester, and it seems that it has become monotonous to you. Or, could it be, you do not understand the meaning of each word? If I may, I would like to recite the pledge, and give you a definition for each word:

I Me; an individual; a committee of one.

Pledge Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.

Allegiance My love and my devotion.

To the Flag Our standard. ?Old Glory?; a symbol of courage. And wherever she waves, there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts ?Freedom is everybody's job?.

of the United That means that we have all come together. States Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that?s love of country, of America.

And to the Republic A Republic: a sovereign state in which power is invested into the representatives chosen by the people to govern. And the government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation Meaning so blessed by God.

Indivisible Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty Which is Freedom.The right of power for one to live his own life without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.

And Justice The principle and qualities of dealing fairly with others.

For All. That means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.? Now let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that be eliminated from our schools, too??

Here's a link with his voice.

http://www.htconsult.com/Pledge.html

Courtesy: W:. John Gardner.