Tonight I had another wonderful evening of ceremony with my fellow Masonic brothers. Tonight’s ceremony was at Buffalo Lakeland Lodge. At first I was just a visitor, but I was asked to be a fill in as a Steward for the evening. There were not enough line officers for the ceremony to take place! I did enjoy the evening a lot. We did a Second degree and raised two brothers. It was a wonderful opportunity to refresh some things and of course have a practice. I had not done second degree work in quite a long time. Afterwards the lodge had prepared home made chilly, which I loved. Usually I do not eat chilly, because I do not like how spicy people make it. This one, though, was amazing, it was not spicy at all and it was rich on meat. During the dinner, I also had an opportunity to mingle with the guys. I hear some really good stories from the times when they were rookies at their jobs and the pranks that were played on them by those who have been at the job longer.

Last night I attended Third degree ceremony at Livingstone Lodge. That was amazing! There were about thirty or forty brothers there. The ceremony was moving, colorful, and kept everyone’s attention. We raised four brothers. It was interesting to watch them and their body language as they went through the ceremony… But, just like tonight, I was asked if I wanted to leave the sidelines and take part in the ceremony. So, I said “yes” and jumped in. I had fun, seeing that I had not taken part in that particular part of the ceremony before. It was educational, and also helped me loosen up little bit. I had not been to Livingstone Lodge before, so the number of brothers I knew there I could count on the fingers of my hand. I have been always told that Livingston is a growing lodge unlike many other lodges in the district. Well, last night I had a chance to observe that. After the ceremony everyone had dinner, it was wonderful to observe the young mix in and talk with the older brothers. Why am I saying that? Well because too many times I have seen segregation in the age groups, where people of the same age would only hand out and talk with other people of their age. There is not passing of traditions, jokes, experience. That is how knowledge is lost and mistakes repeated.

Livingstone Lodge had number of new and young guys both on the sidelines and in the officers’ ranks. It was good to see that. I have not really seen too many guys my age joining the craft. This is sad, only because that is the situation not just in this district but throughout New York State and in the rest of the country. I can not talk about the situation out side the United States, simply because I do not have access to members’ statistics information. Freemasonry is still a secret fraternity in most countries. But like most things these number of members go in a circle, similar to the economy, they have their downs and ups.

I might expend on the above at some point in the future, but for now I will leave it as is.