Yes a good point lobbus,

Humility is a very valuable attribute.
I should probably take care in how I am perceived.

I have a strong tendancy to run my life by often disgarding politics and just doing what I think is right regardless. Steamrolling over the politics if you will.

Perhaps not a good idea in a Masonic context...
Humility is important, but the whims of oversensitive people are of little concern to me.

Truth-be-told I am no scholar, I only poked my nose around a few books, opinions and internet sites. Most of the quality info I have obtained I owe to the assistance and direction of others.

My pool of knowledge is actually tiny and insignificant in comparison.

eg.
What is the GOF?

Anton :

To you it may be a whim.To an oversensitive person, it may be that by your behaviour, you might cause considerable anguish. This attitude is unmasonic, and has no place in the Craft. To a sensitive personality, his feelings are just as valid to him, as yours are to you.

There are among our ranks many (probably most! ) who have no interest nor flair for our history, and just treat it as a sort of "social club". That's fine too, but for us who look beyond this into the deeper meaning of what we are doing here this would be unfulfilling, and therefore we search. Sometimes we find what we thought we were seeking, sometimes not. Sometimes we discover a path that brings us immense satisfaction, in research, in symbolism, in pondering the import of certain parts of the ceremonies, whatever. Sometimes we meet a kindred spirit with whom one develops a lifelong friendship, with whom many hours of intellectual "fellowship" are spent.

An old catchetism in the First Degree says "What came you here to do ?" and the response is "To learn to subdue my passions and improve myself in Masonry". (From the "More Light" Ritual of 1896 ).

Ponder this well, Bro. Anton.

P.S. GOF is the "Grand Orient of France" which had its Recognition withdrawn by the United Grand Lodge of England, Grand Lodge of Ireland, and most other "regular" jurisdictions in 1877. This situation holds to this very day. I will let you research the reason why, I am sure you will find it of great interest.

Regards,

Lobbus.

I guess I am a rough ashlar at this stage.

But is it right to subdue ones personality?
To maintain a stooped posture so as to not be identified as a 'tall poppy' and thus be 'chopped'.
To tip-toe around so as not to be heard.

Some people out there within and without Masonry will be offended by almost anything.
I may be concerned by what they think or feel, but how am I to cater to everybody without crippling myself?

It is a conundrum.

What about newer Masons in my lodge, am I setting the bar too high?
Will they suffer?

That would be of enormous concern to me but I am unsure of what to do.
The issue has been raised in my Lodge. Particularly in regard to the festive board that I organised and funded.

It is a tricky one.

Anton:

Of course it is tricky, life itself is tricky!

I see in you myself as I was 40 years ago, full of the confidence and hubris of youth, nothing is impossible as long as you hit it hard enough, and who cares how many (sensitive or otherwise) toes you tread on !

I hope I have moved on a bit from that attitude, I like to think that Freemasonry helped me .
I note that you are already feeling some resistance from some certain brethren in your lodge, and are cogitating about it.

Here's one for you to discover from the 2nd Degree. What is the difference between a "pillar" and a "column" ? ( This is an open question, not limited to Anton, as it is "on topic" in this thread).

You have not as yet reacted to my question about why Prof. Prescott would probably be comfortable in a GOF setting...........

Regards,

Lobbus.

Is Prof. Prescott (an avowed atheist) a suitable candidate for the GOF?

Well GOF "excludes no one because of his beliefs."
So he is probably eligible, but his suitability is probably more influenced by his impressions of the GOF and UGLE.

Would he wish to join the GOF?
Does he like the French?
Is he fluent in French?
Do the French do workings in English? Somehow I suspect they prefer French.
These questions I am not qualified to answer.
__________________________________________


What's the difference between a Pillar and a Column?

Depends who you ask.

http://www.masonicdictionary.com/column.html
The Greeks called the top or summit of anything kolophon; in Latin culmen had a similar meaning; from these origins come our culmination ;" excelsior, colophon, colonnade, colonel, and climax appears to he closely related to it. A "column" is a cylindrical, or slightly tapering, support; a "pillar" is a rectangular support. Either may stand free or be incorporated into the building fabric. The officers of a Lodge are figured as columns because they are the supports of the official fabric of the Lodge. The Great Pillars are symbolical representations of the two pillars, which stood on the Porch of King Solomon's Temple.

- Source: 100 Words in Masonry


http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/column
—Synonyms 1. Column, pillar refer to upright supports in architectural structures. Pillar is the general word: the pillars supporting the roof. A column is a particular kind of pillar, esp. one with an identifiable shaft, base, and capital: columns of the Corinthian order.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.


A challenging question, I have only scratched the surface here.
I will enjoy digging deeper later.

Does a more knowledgable Brother wish to contribute?

Brothers,

Unfortunately there is a great amount of negativity promulgated in dogmatic (or regular) Freemasonry about the Grand Orient of France. The tag 'irregular' for the GOdF is absurd.

The reality is that regularity is a concept not of ancient Freemasonry but of Masonic political control invented by the British Masons relatively recently. Regularity is clearly a matter of perspective. The Grand Orient has an exceptionally high standard of ritual, dress and membership. It is represented on all continents of the world and has an influencial following. It is a regular Masonic body in all ways, except that it is rejected by the English system, a masonic system in much decay and decline, mainly due to the lack of modernisation which Masonic bodies such as the GOdF have undertaken.

IF you stand still, you effectively move backwards. The progressive Masonic powers base their constitutions on excellent articles such as the Declaration of Human Rights, not an outdated ambiguous set of landmarks. Whilst women are not initiated, they are accepted if initiated by Masonic womens lodges, again - this is a natural progression of Freemasonry, it is just, equal and fair. Women should have the right for enlightenment and why should Freemasonry, an order of enlightenment deny this natural right? Thirdly is the point of religion. The use of the Bible or other VSL as a light of Freemasonry is a recent invention, as ancient Freemasonry had no such requirement (the oldest Masonic manuscript on Freemasonry the Regius Manuscript has no reference to the Bible or any other book as a VSL). On a point of Masonic law, the idea that lodges carry one book or another is really unnecessary, infact divissive, in South Australia many VSL's are not allowed in lodge (Jainist, Taoist, Aboriginal etc) hence religion becomes a point of exclusion, which is clearly against basic Masonic philosophy.

The GOdF should not be so harshly judged without Freemasons first making a comparisson, an analysis, independently for themselves, about its worth, its ideals and stature. I have travelled the width and breadth of the world and have nothing but very positive experiences with the GOdF, they are leaders in their community, they shape the world around them, they uphold Masonic philosphy - a philosophy members such as George Washington (a member of the GOdF) fought for.

Any brother wishing to investigate the GOdF further, I suggest reading my book the 99 Degrees of Freemasonry available at www.amazon.com or www.klovekorn.com

Let us work together as Brothers, let us focus on the ills of the world, not fight amongst ourselves on the basis of regularity.

Fraternal regards,

Henning.