*A GENERAL DESIRE OF KNOWLEDGE*

_W.Bro Oppong Clifford Benjamin_

It's pretty much alright to search for the face of God in a white ceramic cup and a pot of hot Chinese green tea and also in the white pages of the blue booklet.

The other night a Master Mason walked up to me and dragged me against my will to the forecourt of the Temple and said: I've a question for you. His eyes were dead curious and I could taste his breath - fine confusion. Upon his question, I asked for space to collapse and die temporarily. What keeps your interest in the craft? I'm asking you, please. I'm asking your conduct and zeal.

A laughter kicked my cheeks so hard that it burst out. 'I'm serious, please.' 'But who said my laughter isn't serious too?' 'Well, I'm interested in Masonry because I keep seeing the face of God whenever I open my ritual books. The only difference between you and I is probably that I didn't lie to myself, at least I'm true if not to anybody, to myself, that, I am.'

His face started forming all kind of seriousness. Anger had mixed with ugliness. 'Are you mad? What are you talking about?' His words filled my entire being with laughter. I nearly choked myself to the floor. I swear that God was right there. Salvation! Salvation!!
Look here, Mason, I said rather authoritatively, directing a package of his attention and curiosity to my lips and I carefully and deliberately allowed my words to flow from a mountain like a fountain and hit his soul. He was lithic. He was the stones beneath the grace and anguish of a fountain. Suffer! Pleasure! Say truth.

'How long have you been made a Master Mason?'

'Last three years.' (Three years ago)

'Do you have a ritual book?'

'Massa please go on.' (A snobbish way of saying go ahead, please)

When was the last time you read it? When did you perform a role in an opened lodge?

'Massa time no dey oo.' His face was not like it. His forehead read laziness and some other things were clear on his pointed nose like an awkward marriage ceremony.

'Okay, let's get to why I am different from you. Do you know there are other superior degrees in Freemasonry than the Sublime degree?'

'What's the sublime degree?'
I brought my lips together ahead of time to form a long and tiny chuckle.

'You don't even know that the sublime degree of a Master Mason is the third degree and its ceremony is called the Raising? Okay, tell me what you know in Masonry? Talk of Masonry; meetings, heavy banquets and more alcohol and fine ladies like a night's sky, is that not what you know?'

His face was a funeral.

'Look here, to me any Mason who has been a Master Mason for more than two years and hasn't made an effort to further his Masonic career is a liar and unfit to continue as a Mason. It is so for me because as at your initiation the WM asked you a question which he trusted you answered with candour: 'Do you likewise pledge yourself that you are prompted to solicit those privileges by a favourable opinion preconceived of the institution, A GENERAL DESIRE OF KNOWLEDGE and a sincere wish to render yourself more extensively serviceable to your fellow creatures?'
To which you answered 'I do'.

And then when you were admitted, you chose to forget that these are sacred promises and words you have said in the lodge room and so any conduct contrary to those words means a repercussion to you indirectly. Most Masons including myself invite curses for ourselves. Taking sacred obligations in the presence of the God and sealing it with kisses of a Sacred book and right after acting contrary to the words of our obligations. May Heaven aid our united endeavours and deliver us from the many things we do wrong, knowingly and unknowingly - curses. Amen!'

He clapped his hands together in prayers after me. This my brother is not even remorseful. I shook my head. I smiled.

'A general desire of knowledge and you get to the third degree and you are tired already. And you don't want to read what has been given to you. And you are still searching your heart curiously for those privileges you were told Freemasonry possesses in the faces of her members, in the kisses of forks and knives, in the makeups of our beautiful ladies. Good luck, my brother.

Let me help you as the brother who would serve you just the truth about everything in flames of fire. I set your heart ablaze and burn you to ashes that you may taste like water- soft and fresh. Start reading the book. Make progress in the science. Ask. Ask. Ask for exaltation into the Royal Arch Masonry. Ask for advancement in the Mark Master Masons lodge. Ask for perfection in the Rosecroix, otherwise known as the Scottish Rite. Ask your WM for duties to perform in your lodge and visit other lodges. Ask for your summons. Ask. Don't just attend Masonry, belong to Masonry. Be married to Masonry, she is a kind woman. She serves you the truth about the face of God, she relieves you of your necessities and soothes your afflictions and she loves you that's why she fucks you so hard.🤣🤣🤘🏿

W.Bro. Oppong Clifford Benjamin
Worshipful Master of Excelsior Lodge No. 7670 EC.

I'm respectful inviting Brethren to Excelsior Lodge meeting on this Saturday, 16th Sept 2017 at Fante Newtown Masonic Temple in Kumasi. Tyling time is 5:30pm prompt. IGYW Brethren

THE PLATEAU MASTER MASONS FORUM.

 By Brother Oppong Clifford Benjamin.
       Master- Elect of Excelsior Lodge No. 7670 EC. (to be installed 18th March, 2017)

I have visited them twice. It means I have really being educated and enjoyed twice from their Master Masons forum. And I dare say this has become a ceremonial ritual for Plateau Lodge No. 89 in the register of the Grand Lodge of Ghana. And I must congratulate the Worshipful Master and Brethren of the lodge for a wise initiative taken to repair the neck of Freemasonry from breaking off its long and antiquated body.

Though the Master Masons Forum is not a novel of Plateau Lodge (it is already in practice among lodges elsewhere), it can boldly be labelled on their banners as the originators of the initiative in Ghana.
The Lodge meets on certain Saturdays, and on all Fridays predating those Saturdays, in the evenings (at about 7pm), bottles of assorted beers, chairs and silent faces of Master Masons and very revered senior Masons would be arranged in circle with a lonely table placed at the centre and bottles of whisky on its smooth surface such that every brother present is equidistant to the whisky from the circumference. And very loud of the setting is the atmosphere of sedate oneness that filled the air in Right Worshipful Brother Lawyer Kwaku Baah's living room. ( Plateau meets in an inbuilt temple in his home and his large living room is the venue for the forum).

In this busy world, especially in our 'change has come' Ghana, just to be frank, Freemasonry is becoming less and least attractive to the modern society. With new pressures, lifestyle choices, technology a today young man has so many and so much to keep him playing in life so much that he no longer can differentiate day from night. It has therefore become not only necessary but also, I am afraid to say, very crucial for Masons to adopt measures in recruitment, retention and retrieval in accordance with the giant generational difference. It is in view of this fact that Plateau Lodge held and holds the Master Masons Forum to shred off titles and ranks to a common level of Master Masons the better to enable a free and sincere environment of discussion. A discussion of how to meliorate our system of morality, how to lift the veil carefully in order not to naked our allegory and symbols but high enough to retain the young Masons under, hear the problems of the MMs and most importantly for the Master Masons to take emotional strength from the stories about the patience and industry that have kept some Senior Masons in the order for decades and still counting.  Master Masons get a chance of vomiting their hearts out, and the Senior Masons pick and fix them.

In the evening of the immediate past Friday, the rulers embraced new ideas to make Freemasonry as dynamic as the world  from the Master Masons, who in exchange were advised to have patience and move in the faith of our fore fathers. And to climate it all, when Right Worshipful Brother Lawyer Kwaku Baah (an octogenarian) who was quiet in his seat all the while was invited to speak, his words were brief and precise and he said and I quote " In Masonry nobody is going to teach you anything but you acquire the Masonry yourself".

THE LIE BROTHER MALIK AZONG INADVERTENTLY MADE ME THINK OF FREEMASONRY.

by Brother Oppong Clifford Benjamin

Let me be frank with you, before I joined the Masons I was a passionate confederacy theoriser against Freemasonry - the type that argued vehemently against the system, that said Freemasonry was evil and ruled the world from behind the scenes and had a secret agenda of introducing to our already chaos world a new world order. By my theories, the new world order was some kind of mystical power which I presumed was secluded within the very inner circles of the highest ranked Masons -the 33 degree- I thought, that by its manifestation it will heighten the topsy-turvydom of the world. And a popular engravings on the 33 degree ring affirmed my mentality back then. ORDO AB CHAOS, translated as Order out of Chaos. So I made many believe it was rather the other way around they (33 degree Masons) sought to achieve with their new world order mystical enchantments. Silly boy!

Unlike many others of the ignorant popular world, I didn't think Masonry was about blood money rituals or that all Masons were rich. Perhaps, it was because I knew some Masons in my town. If ever anything informed my decision to join eventually, I would say it was the sweet and lovely brotherhood those Masons exhibited towards each other right before my eyes and nose- their jolly end-of-year parties in the community which they invited their ladies and children ( those were the times I would bite my father for not being a Mason), those Masons had many shibboleths that made even a flying bird pause to laugh. But sincerely those weren't my principal drives for my membership. I don't tell, so don't ask.

I thought of those Masons as elite men whose corporeal and mental faculties were in their fullest energy, thinking for the whole township and influencing the governance of Tarkwa. This fallacy, however, was affirmed by my knowing that a particular traditional ruler of the town was a member and also, two very famous doctors but highly dreaded by the people of Tarkwa were also members. It called for no further consideration, I thought.

And then on the night of my passing ceremony, Brother Malik Azong did something that made me believe Masonry was going to make me rich. The thought only crossed my mind right after the Malik gesture, but in the next moment I asked myself why then were some Masons I knew back in Tarkwa not so rich. Quickly, the more excited side of me retorted, maybe they didn't perform those sacrifices. Fear gripped me and frissons were all over my brown November skin. I would remain a poor Mason, my rather disappointed side thought.

Malik arrived at the porch of the Temple to find a lonely man sitting there. My face found no meaning in the moment or maybe in life. It wasn't as if I was scared of the ceremony that was about to take place. I had gone through the initiation ceremony only the previous month and even that didn't frighten me a bit. But I was trying hard to appreciate the system of Freemasonry. I didn't feel belonged and nothing mystically powerful had been entrusted to my keeping, save a word with its corresponding grip which had no meaning to me except its Biblical import. I doubted if it was Freemasonry I had joined here. What then? Nonsense!

"My brother why are you so dull... are you sick?" Brother Malik asked and stretched his hand to feel my forehead. I smirked briefly.

"I am well, my brother" I managed.

"You are not, and is clearly written on your face" he retorted loudly in an authoritative voice. As if he had some charms to determine if a person was sick. (I'm chuckling) And then he did what I have since then come to like most about Malik, he pulled out his fat wallet and counted ghc200 and dashed it to me. WHAAAAATTT? I thought. Who does this? I asked myself. If not the Masons, who else? I answered myself with a rhetorical question.

"Really! Thank you so much but this is too much" I said to him and held the money openly in the space between us.

"Oh! I know you are a student, you are going to need it. Get some medicine, and cheer up. This is Masonry and we know no misery." He yanked up my spirit and like whirl wind, he flicked himself into the temple.

Right there, I knew Masonry was going to make me as rich as Malik on that night or any future period. I would wait patiently, I assured myself. But my excitement was short lived by a memory and a thought. I remembered the not-rich members among the Tarkwa Masons and I concluded that if at any point I was asked to perform any ritual for money, I rather a poor Mason.

But now I have come to appreciate Malik's gesture as a common trait among most Masons - selflessness. I have come to know that Brother Malik Azong was not any rich but he acted so because of the one value which he had so professed to admire - charity. And need I mention that he is one brother who loves his brothers genuinely and cares the most? I need not itemize the various ways he had selflessly shown that he was a proper Mason at heart. Much can't be said about his performance in the lodge, unfortunately.

MASONS ARE NOT RICH MEN

ARE NOT ANY MORE INTELLIGENT

BUT ARE THE PRINCIPLES AND TENETS

OF MORALITY, CHARITY, TRUTH AND JUSTICE.

I beg, whoever said Malik can't speak proper Grammar is warned. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Some Cutlery Etiquette Every Mason Must Know.

By Brother Oppong Clifford Benjamin. (OCB)


After labour is indeed refreshment. We are constantly reminded by the junior warden's duty to call the brethren from labour to refreshment and from refreshment to labour that profit and pleasure may be the results, to, once in a time, halt our crafty work and retire to the comfort of forks and knifes.
As the junior warden, which also means that I'm the chief steward of my lodge (Excelsior Lodge No. 7670 EC under the roll of the District Grand Lodge of Ghana in the register of the Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of England), I deem it necessary to educate Brethren of my lodge on some rules governing the use of fork and knife at refreshments. And as a Mason, it is only brotherly that I share this information beyond my lodge, the better to enable fellow Brethren to satisfy their general desire for knowledge. 

I was as guilty as anyone may be in cutlery malpractices when I first joined Masonry. Some senior brethren corrected me. Sometimes it was embarrassing and other times it was intimidating. But I learned them anyway. And now I will beg you also to please step down to my class and let's do this on the level. Thank you.

 I will use my experience to illustrate the lessons, so please don't get too angry when you read many 'I's than 'you's. I'm not that selfish. I hope you can smile now. (Two 'I's and counting....)

On the night of my initiation, just after the ceremony, the director of ceremony announced that there would be banquet downstairs and it was the Worshipful Master's singular honour to wine and dine with all brethren present. I said to myself that this must be a gentleman's society. But where we had the banquet wasn't that close to gentility. Let me save that for another day.
We got to the part when the WM proposed the toast to the initiate, and I was prompted to deliver a short speech, which I did with ease and with a poetic touch. There was a thundering sound upon completion of my speech. I still don't know the name of that auditory gesture but I suppose I can call it a Masonic Applause - the hitting of glasses against the dinning table and the tapping of shoes to produce not noise but sounds.
I felt too good. At least I have made a good first impression. Everybody's goal right? But something happened. Something insignificant to the Brethren but really affected my mood as a newbie. 
The WM asked if I needed some more food and I thought he was only making sure I was satisfied. So I smiled and replied that I was okay. Then he retorted calmly that my cutlery shouldn't be in this position; I had left the fork face down somewhere on the plate and the knife was also somewhere behind the chicken thigh residue. 

He then taught me these etiquette;

1. When you want to pause eating and attend to something else that needs your attention: place the fork face up and the knife meeting the fork at tip ends at 90 degrees at the north of the plate such that the handles of both cutlery are widely apart at the south. (See attached image)

2. When you are done with the meal on a plate and want some more or ready for the next plate: cross the cutlery on the plate with the fork on top and face up. (See attached image)

3. When you are done with your meal: place both fork and knife vertically side by side. Always remember that the fork must always face up. (See attached image)

4. When you don't like the food served, you don't have to scream at the steward or make your plea by shouting. All you have to do is: you insert the blade of the knife into the spiral openings of the fork and them in the position so described in number 1 (the Pause). (See attached image)

Brethren, our society is one of gentlemen and for gentlemen, for which reason we MUST continually act in conformity with all rules that govern gentility in its entirety. Such is the nature of our fraternity. 

I Greet You Well.

WHAT HAVE WE (young masons) ALSO PUT INTO MASONRY?

Young Masons in Ghana and their old brothers are playing a funny blame game. And it appears to me, as it may to many young Masons that the old men are fast losing it, because of the truth in the accusals been laid against them. I am also playing the game and I am much aware that am right in front of the goal posts, but until today, I have never paused to think in my thinking that all should be blamed on the Old folks.
It is a plebeian veracity that, the recent issue of membership declivity should be blamed on the inability of the old Masons to sustain the interest of new made brothers, and also that they have allowed brotherly love, which was sometime ago, one of the pillars on which the order was founded, to die with the nippy demise of the nation's economy. Oh I have just been reminded that brotherly love is still among the three founding pillars of the order. Okay, thank you, I only thought it collapsed in today Masonry in Ghana.

A lot of young Masons have their own stories to tell in relation to uncongenial encounters with the craft and old Brethren. I have mine too. They are many but one should suffice the moment. I was added in a whatsapp group of experienced Masons by a middle aged Brother who was cock-a-hoop about his ten years experience in the craft as compared to my two years. One afternoon,  when I thought the group had been quiet for long, I posted a question which was suppose to spark a fruitful debate. I asked; 'Should smoking be encouraged among Masons, especially when we are employed in the building of moral self?'. Then, the reply came from a senior member whom I have so much respect for; "That is rubbish, is a rubbish question, you don't have any right to question another's habit". Instantly I realized where I was and where I stood as a young mason. In my mind, it was only a question which demanded a constructive response, but to go to the extent of attacking me, I thought, was way too far. And the Worshipful brother who had added me to the group worsened the situation, he called me on phone and spoke angrily at length while I listened attentively in utmost appallingness , after which he removed me from the group and blocked me. Such an unjust and a bully. I was not given the slightest opportunity to justify my stand. I felt very bad that whole week. I felt Masonry in Ghana wasn't worth my time. Oh Yes, I said it, MY TIME. And it didn't end there, the hostile bumps, thereafter, occurred almost everywhere with most brothers. But, in as much as I would love to quit, so do I,love to be a part of the process of the eventual flip-flop to the good old days of Masonry in Ghana, which we can now only read about.

But this afternoon, just when I was chatting with a much older brother but newly initiated about the situation, I had a shift of paradigm. I decided to, for the first time, put on the suits of the old men, and analyzed the situation. I had never thought of how hard they might have struggled to keep the craft and the other orders alive up to now. Unattractive as it may be, they have still sacrificed a lot to uphold the art for us to enjoy today. They have kept on to hoist the flags of Masonry and sailed the  craft through tumultuous  waves to a peaceful one. Through the regime of Rawlings, where we learned that Masonry was strongly frowned upon in the country and temples were being burnt. They deserve a pat on their shoulders for once. They cannot be entirely blamed for the membership dwindling away. I asked myself that, what have I also done to better the situation?

Though I have proposed and initiated a quite a number of newly made brothers to the craft, I am still challenged above all things about how am I sustaining their interests in the craft? Have I also been a mentor in my own small way? Or because the mentor of the lodge is not doing his work, I also feel relaxed? I dare you, young Masons, to better the situation of membership now while we are young. We can join in the recruitment of members. They say a candidate must come of his own free will and accord, but it doesn't mean we cannot talk about our freemasonry with non-masons, we can. Let us do it more often and leave the decision to join to their own volition. That way, we are still making the candidate come to light out of his free will and accord.

The least said about brotherly love, the better. This is where the old Masons are losing the points. Old brothers, let me tell you something you probably don't know or have refused to know; young masons are not a group of hungry guys that are waiting to feast on your hard earned food, No. We are not that parasitic. However, we are too anxious a people. Yes, some of us are unemployed and may be searching for jobs, if it is in your connections or positions to help, please do. But that is not how we defined brotherly love after all.
And young masons, what love have we shown the craft and the old folks, that warrants us to expect same from them? I believe the world is not round but I know for certain that what goes round definitely comes round. It is GIGO.

I was privileged to travel with one of the assistant district grand masters as his personal assistant to a lodge meeting. And on our journey we discussed a whole lot about the craft. He asked me why some young masons are no longer active, to which I answered; "Master, some of them have lost interest because there seems to be nothing going on in the lodges. Perhaps the lodge have been narrowed to our ceremonies alone, no activities or initiatives. Lodge life may have seemed boring. But the majority of the inactive young men, have been abeyant because they can no longer keep up with the financial obligations expected of them. They are unemployed and are struggling to manage a living, and don't want to be a burden to their lodges."
Then he replied in a humble tone, -he sounded more sorry- "that is unfortunate. But the lodge is not only about money Cliff. And we can't all be rich at a time, so while some should be ready at all times to pay, others have to be also ready to sacrifice their time for the craft. Two resources are most needed in the running of a lodge; time and money. And some may have both, while others may have one. Whichever way, bringing your quota is what is important. You, Cliff, you are unemployed and don't have money right?" - there and then, I realized I had agitated too much about my worries and perhaps, those of other young masons- "Yes Master" I replied. "Have you paid your dues for the year?" He further asked me. "No Master" again I replied while avoiding his eyes. "But why are you still active?, You see, that's what I mean by service. Once you make time to volunteer to the service of a cause, you automatically find joy and all other benefit of it come later."
So the questions now come back to us, what have we sacrificed for Masonry? Are we a little patient in Life? Have we forgotten that we are virtuous men with a heart characterized by many virtues such as patience and selflessness?

Let me end here by giving you fellow young masons a testimony. I had been visiting my lodge secretary when I was in Ghana. He is an old man. I figured out that he might need my company more often, so I visited him more frequent than any other young mason in my lodge did. Now, that is brotherly love. And in return, he gave me more than relief. He had a guest house, and he had apportioned a particular room to me alone. He went further to ensure that I didn't need anything, needless to mention the monies he gave to me. So, I ask you, young Masons that, when was the last time you thought about visiting an older member of your lodge. Do we care at all, as we wished they cared about us.
Another, was the willingness of the Assistant District Grand Master to pay my air ticket to Russia. And it was not his first time doing this gesture, he also partly financed my travel to South Africa. Why?, just because to him, I was rendering myself more extensively serviceable to the craft in general. I was devoting my time to the ritual and was reading more.
I had enjoyed far too many as a Mason. In sight of medical care, a senior Mason who happens to be a Doctor and has his own Clinic, has been giving me free medical care. And the list is endless in truth.

So guys, I think we should all focus our attention on how best we can be to the well being of our noble craft and put every emotions behind us. Which of the resources we can offer; time or money or both. When some one wrong you, take it as a human error and that he must be forgiven immediately. We have no much time to fight, and yet we can't waste our youthful time in Masonry complaining. We must assume offices now, and act now. The old men also need love from us. And the good health, I have learned, is the richest. Let us communicate happiness, for we are but happy people.

So Mote It Be.

Brother Oppong Clifford Benjamin
Excelsior Lodge No. 7670 EC
Ghana.

GHANAIAN YOUNG MASONS ARE UNIQUE.

GHANAIAN YOUNG MASONS ARE UNIQUE. You need to know.

Freemasonry is undoubtedly a very expensive fraternity. It costs its members a lot of cash, time and noetic employments. It has therefore attracted the elite in society and the glorious men of the arts and sciences. In a society so widely remarked for its nobility and affluence, it cannot be denied that, among the thousands who range under its banners, there are many members of rank and opulence. Neither can it be concealed that, there are some who, perhaps from circumstances of unavoidable calamity and misfortune, are reduced to the lowest ebb of poverty and distress. However, on behalf of distressed members, it has been a usual practice among Masons to provide relief in forms of charity, so far as it disturbs not their comfort.

In this part of the world (Africa), everything is just not right. The economy. The job availability. The youth. Well, lets also agree its a glabal malady and that cure will one day come. Young Africans however, have not redefined their fate yet, they still believe there is light at the end of the tunnel, even though we see no rays at half way the tunnel. We have big faith, African youth.
So, a young man growing from the armpit of Ghana, is not intimidated by the crotch hair. Right from infancy, he knows that nothing comes easy, he knows as an African youth, he fights for everything including air. Like K'naan said in his 'Waving flag', we are fighting to live, fighting to eat and we struggle. Let me just add to this observation that, we fight to belong too.

Just when we became men and our community started expecting from us, we got frightened by our fate, we wondered whether the weather will be bright, we started searching for avenues to live up to expectations coming from family, community and schools. The growing Ghanaian young man identifies the essence of networking, he comes to accept that, down here, like we say, (kokofu ball bo, wonua enka ho y3n passi wo), the game is for the connected. He, therefore, no longer sees necessity to be the mother of invention but the father of relationship. It became necessary he associated with the respected and affluent in society. That is if only he saw it a duty to live up to expectations,if only he wanted to be acknowledged by community and if only he had a particular interest in influencing lives. If none of the above characterized his heart, he continued to live by the rise and fall of the sun and eventually die unnoticed.
Freemasonry being the household name in esotericism, the young Ghanaian man with huge ambitions, big faith and fate, a positive inclination for knowledge and willingness to succeed, ends up reading and probing further about the order.
Having battled curiosity, fear and confusion, he finally knocked the doors of Freemasonry and gently but inarticulately said, "I have come to see for myself if Freemasonry is evil, I have come to make myself superior in society, I have come to join the elites, I have come so society could label me responsible and I have come to become rich". Though, most masons would lie to disagree with me, I still will go on with my essay.
It is protocol that a man who sought admission into Freemasonry be interviewed, so the young Ghanaian man, went through it and he truly exhibited the qualities in his heart. It became apparent that, he came in with a mission to envision his future in the lodge. After all, he can't be blamed, this is how we have been mentally schooled by the pictures of the day.

When he was eventually employed into the craft, he saw it to be an eye opener, he started to speak like a mason, he attended meetings,paid his dues by the pull of the hair in his nose which caused nasal twang each time he spoke with the Secretary. This is why I don't want to ever be a lodge Secretary, few brethren think good of him, you become the lodge soul, you doze and the lodge sleeps.
There are no jobs for these young masons, most of them sweat in their heads, first to even purchase their first suits, their regalia, the ritual, the banquet levies and even their transportation to meetings. Yet they never let go their zeal. The fortunate older members are mostly retired giants and are not in their best times to assist the young masons financially. Freemasonry Ghana therefore, is mostly consistuted by many old pensioners, very few privileged working men, who by the grace of the global disease are unable to take care of themselves, and many more young masons, who are unemployed graduates, students and kpa kpa kpa movement men. This has resulted in the financial leprosy in the hands of most lodges. They too, like the African youth, have not redelineated their hope for a better tomorrow. As Africans, what do we do better than hoping and praying for the best while expecting the worst.

Young Masons in Ghana don't rest and won't rest.They will attend in their numbers this Saturday's big meeting in Kumasi, wine and dine with big masons, take pictures with the elites and go back home on sunday, to say to themselves its well, they don't complain much, some of them will even borrow monies from their fellows to get home but again, these guys enjoy masonry, if not for anything, the privilege to befriend great men of the nation. If not for anything, they are happy to be seen by the popular world as rich while we know for sure that, no pesewa is earned. I never have come across such sceptered millitant gangs marching a long journey to an unknown tomorrow. The process is hard but there is certainty in our progress. Ain't young masons in Ghana unique at the end?
Bro. Oppong Clifford Benjamin
Excelsior Lodge No. 7670 EC
Founder- Sustain The Craft (STC).

Peculiar Parallels which meet

Peculiar Parallels which meet (St. John the Evangelist and St, John the Baptist, the Saint Patrons of Freemasonry since time immemorial, whose lives are the parallel tangents touching opposite sides of the circumference of the circle also called life.)

At first glance in the Scriptures, they seem like strange people
to hold up as examples. John the Baptist's diet consisted of
wild honey and locusts. Honey certainly is appealing, but the
locust! A study of Middle Eastern customs indicate that they
could be eaten fried, boiled, dried or raw. Certainly not a
person you'd want to invite to your lodge' s next potluck.
He dressed in camel hair clothing and his hair and beard had
a wild look about it. And he didn't have a lot of tact, he told
you the truth straight to your face. He called the Pharisees a
"brood of vipers" and was fond of telling every-one to repent.
In our "politically correct" era, he would certainly not be riding
high in the polls.

St. John the Evangelist was also a different sort. He was a
rich kid (Scripture tells us that his father owned at least one
fishing boat on the Galilee and they had servants) and at the
beginning of the Gospel of John he was looking to find
himself. He first attached himself to John the Baptist until
called by Christ.
He was hot tempered, so much so that Jesus called John and
his brother James "boanerges" meaning "sons of thunder." He
lived up to that name when the villagers in a small town in
Samaria refused to welcome Jesus and the disciples, so he
asked Jesus if he (John) could rain fire and brimstone down
upon them (Luke 9:51-55). Fortunately for the village, Jesus
rebuked him.
John was also self-seeking, asking with his brother James for
thrones on the right and left of Christ when Jesus set up his
early kingdom, thus placing himself above the other disciples.
But when one goes beyond their faults, the Sts. John have
some strong qualities that every Mason should exhibit.
When looking at John the Baptist, one must look at him
through an Eastern light. John was a Nazirite from birth,
literally set aside for service to God. He let his hair and beard
grow wild, because like Sampson, he could not cut his hair,
which was forbidden by Mosaic law. His appearance brought
to mind, to the people who heard him, the stories of Elijah the
prophet who had dressed in similar manner. His clothing was
of camel hair, because that was what poor people wore. It
was plentiful when the camels shed their coats. It was cheap,
warm, and although scratchy, quite waterproof.
John taught "change of character." He pointed fearlessly to
the truth, even at the cost of his life. It was better to die for
truth than to live a lie, because he knew that the Great Light
upon the Altar, the holy scriptures, pointed to a better way, a
life with God.
St. John the Evangelist teaches us to subdue our passions,
one of the first things every Mason is taught in lodge.
When we follow the Gospels and the Book of Acts in the New
Testament, we see a major transformation of young John. He
goes from being the hot-tempered young man to one who
exhibits peace in his old age. He goes from being intolerant of
others, to working with others in sharing his theology of a
better way of life.
John is loyal. He was the only disciple to attend the trial of
Jesus as well as to be at the foot of the cross for the
crucifixion. And when he heard about the empty tomb on
Sunday morning, he was the first of the disciples to arrive.
He also took care of the widows taking Mary, the mother of
Jesus, into his home until she died.
A study of John's writings shows that he teaches truth with
love. He didn't waiver from his convictions, but he knew the
power of truth and love in a person's life.
Applying The Sts. John To Our Lives
If they form the two parallels, then a Mason traveling the
circle must touch both of the Sts. John and learn from each
of them.

He must learn to subdue his passions. Learning to subdue our passions is a lifelong process. Zeal not tempered by love becomes extremism and leads to misuse of power.
While subduing one's passions is good, a Mason must always
stand for truth. Truth, even when it is unpopular, is still better
than the alternative. Truth will always reign. Even when some
dictator tries to re-write it, the real truth will always emerge.
Like St. John the Evangelist, a Mason must help the widow
and orphan. In our lodges today, are we doing enough?
Recently, I received a call from a new widow who's husband
had unexpectedly died, and she was about to lose her house
due to the loss of income with his death. "If anything ever
happens to me, call the Masons" he would always tell her.
But she wondered what they could do. And I wondered, what
would her husband's lodge do? It's up to every Mason to look
after the widows and orphans.
Every Mason must practice brotherly love, which is the unique
characteristic of our fraternity. St. John writes about the true
meaning of brotherly love when he says: "This is how we
know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And
we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has
material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no
pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" I John
3:16-17.
A Mason is called to practice charity. We must hear the cries
of a needy brother, but we must also be aware of each other
to see when we are in need. Masons must care, which we
learn from traveling the circle.
Where Parallel Lines Meet
If one travels the circle, he quickly finds that the two parallel
lines meet at the point where the circle touches upon the
Volume of Sacred Law.
In Masonry, the Bible is called the Great Light and is placed in
an open position in the center of the lodge. A brother is
admonished to open it and learn from its wisdom in all the
three degrees of Masonry.
Indeed, the Sts. John were well versed in Scripture, and held it
in high esteem. They looked with reverence to its knowledge,
because they knew the answers of life were contained within
its pages. They were not afraid to quote it, to trust it, to read
it, and to apply it to their lives.
Masons must likewise emulate the Sts. John in their
application of this Holy Light in their lives. Only by its
constant attention and application can a Mason improve his
own life.
Each time we touch the Scriptures or the Sts. John,
something should rub off on each of us, just as brushing
against chalk will leave its mark, no matter how light the
touch.

Values like truth, subduing passions, brotherly love, care of
widows and orphans and practicing charity never go out of
style. They are timeless values, and no matter how often
attacked, always rise victorious in the end.
The Sts. John are timeless examples for each of us. Their
foibles simply show their humanness. It is in their humanness
that we can relate to them, and see that if we apply Scripture
and our Masonic teachings, we too can become better men!