A LETTER TO A BROTHER ABOUT HIS DRESS CODE

Hello Sweet Brother Amagashie,

I was at Makola yesterday, I inquired the prices of different classes of suits, the most expensive was ghc1400 and some were as cheap as ghc55. You won't get angry to know that, almost all of them looked better than the one you wore to the last half yearly communication. ( Onua fakye me wai, truth is bitter too much).
This was not to sport your feelings, but for three especial reasons, one, to point your attention to your external appearance as a superstructure and not a summer hut. Two, to remind you of the nobility and honour this fraternity has earned, by the good of its members in all forms of presentation, of which, included, our wardrobe.

At large masonic meetings like the recent half yearly communication in Takoradi, Brethren invite their ladies, some even come with their crop of families, others of a more sociable nature, come with their friends, whom they would want to arrest their interest in the fraternity. It therefore necessarily follows that, we appeared noble men in all corners of our superstructure. King Solomon was a fashionable man, why then would you think the women fell practically at his feet?, Come to think of how well he adorned the first temple at Jerusalem. The network, lily work and one hundred pomegranates on each of the chapiters on the pillar. The pillars were not built of aluminium but brass, and he didn't place them within the structure but right at the porchway or entrance, My Brother, you should by now know that, our Solomon, King of Israel, from whom we derive so much precepts, was a man who loved to prove himself a beautiful man, handsome was just inappropriate a word for him. Such, my brother, ought to designate our sense of fashion too, until time or circumstances, this time, makes us better.
And please don't tell me you dressed to match your age, do you know how old the District Grand Master and His officers are?, yet they appeared so sweet that, I could count some winks and smiles flying their direction from..... ( y3ntwa so).

It has truly been said that Masonry does not give you money and no material benefits, well, that is something I don't believe personally,(a letter of another unknown day) but, masonry certainly doesn't make a man poor or grotty in his dressing. I am not suggesting we dressed so heavily that our guests would think of us billionaires, NO, I mean, we dress so elegantly that, they will think of us, a group of baronial guys, that when they finally find our connetion with King Solomon, they will exclaim "OOoOH I thought as much".

First sight impression is the most important perception we sell of ourselves, I need not here dilate on its importance, as it has often been felt and practised by men of the elite class. Like its sister, speech, it has the ability to make the other like or hate you. The power to influence the perceptual sight of the uninitiated at our meetings, lies in the neatness of your suit, your ironed pair of trousers, your well shaved hair, the gentility in your steps, the perfume that diffuses it frangrance in the hall, your well polished black pair of shoes, and most importantly, the little words and smiles that emanate from your mouth and face respectively, please cook all your thoughts in your middle chamber, taste them before you serve the other, so that, when it is heard of you, it can be said to be a speech from a Freemason - a society of highly moralized men.

Brother Amagashie, you thought I had forgotten, I reserved it for last because, for this one only your brothers see it, it is your supposed white gloves. I nearly prompted you at Takoradi, to wear your gloves, until I came closer. Your gloves is of a colour that blends your skin now. Well done. Much said and tiring, you can visit Makola or any boutique for a new set of suit and shame me in our next meeting. I still love one thing about you though, your pair of socks. However, the last time I saw your wife hanged them on the drying line, they were losing their dignity, you may consider replacing those guys too at yout feet.

I am off to the District office for a new apron, do you care for anything, my one and only sweetest Brother Amagashie.

Fraternally Yours
Bro. Oppong Clifford Benjamin
Excelsior Lodge No. 7670 EC.

‪#‎Cliffmasonicletters‬ are open-thought letters not addressed to any Brother or person in particular, but to mention out some disturbing issues in Freemasonry Ghana.

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