Blaine C. Clay Lodge # 14

Bros,

    Recently a couple brothers and I went the first meeting for a mentoring program called the Twenty-Twenty Mentoring Ministry. The sole purpose of this ministry is to provide an opportunity for twenty adult brothers to mentor to twenty selected young brothers at a junior high level.

     Bro. Frank Kidd is coordinating the program. It was born in the local churches and two junior high schools reached out to these churches for help with their at risk teens.  In preparation for this meeting flyers were sent out, brothers spoke at churches, and ads were placed in the newspaper. Only 12 men showed up, 3 of which were brothers, and I can honestly say that everyone was disappointed. Since then in lodge meetings we have tried to push this program. Everyone keeps saying the right things but no one has made any moves to support this program. Maybe we don’t realize the impact that this may have on an at risk teen, so I have added this letter that I received from Worthy Matron Thibodeaux about a week ago. Hopefully this will change the way this program is viewed.

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class

walking home from school.

His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books.

I thought to myself, 'Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?

He must really be a nerd.'

I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends

tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him.

They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so

he landed in the dirt.

His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet

from him.

He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes.

My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around

looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye.

As I handed him his glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks.

They really should get lives.'

He looked at me and said, 'Hey, thanks!'

There was a big smile on his face.

It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.

I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him

before.

He said he had gone to private school before now.

I would have never hung out with a private school kid before.

We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books.

He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.

I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends.

He said 'yes'.

We hung out all weekend, and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked

him, and my friends thought the same of him.

Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again.

I stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some serious

muscles with this pile of books everyday!'

He just laughed and handed me half of the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends...

When we were seniors, we began to think about college.

Kyle decided on Georgetown, and I was going to Duke.

I knew that we would always be friends, and that the miles would never be a

problem.

He was going to be a doctor, and I was going for business on a football

scholarship...

Kyle was valedictorian of our class...

I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

He had to prepare a speech for graduation.

I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak.

Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great.

He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school.

He filled out and actually looked good in glasses.

He had more dates than I had, and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous!

Today was one of those days.

I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the

back and said, 'Hey, big guy, you'll be great!'

He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and

smiled.

'Thanks,' he said...

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began...

"Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those

tough years".

"Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach..., but mostly

your friends."

"I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best

gift you can give them."

"I am going to tell you a story."

I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told about the first day

we met.

He had planned to kill himself over the weekend.

He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to

do it later, and was carrying his stuff home.

He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

"Thankfully, I was saved."

"My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable..."

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us

all about his weakest moment.

I saw his Mom and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize its depth.

Never underestimate the power of your actions....

With one small gesture you can change a person's life... for better or for

worse...

God puts us all in each other’s lives to impact one another in some way.

Look for God in others.

You now have two choices, you can either:

1) Pass this on to your friends, or

2) Delete it and act like it didn't touch your heart.

As you can see, I took choice number 1.

'Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble

remembering how to fly.'

There is no beginning or end...

Yesterday is history.

Tomorrow is a mystery.

Today is a gift.

Brothers, please, support the 20/20 Mentorship Ministry.  Bring back the Knights of Pythagoras.   These are our kids, young black kids.  Support your community, you will never know when you've changed a life.

So Mote It Be

Bros,

     I've been doing a lot of research and reading as of late on the same ole Masonic argument, why is there no recognition between PHA lodges and so called mainstream lodges? It’s a good question and from my perspective it's easy to answer. We live in the south and it "is what it is", right? Racism is alive and well in the "Bible Belt" and it's always comical to me that the former confederacy always tries to stand on their Christian and Masonic morals and dogmas but end up being hypocrites. Anyone who has ever heard of the Bible will tell you that tolerance and love are two of the biggest teachings of the religion. The Old Testament teaches an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which is interesting to me because in all realism mainstream lodges can’t use this argument.  They have attacked us! In the New Testament Jesus Christ teaches to turn the other cheek, which we as PHA, seem to do all the time.

     I always remind people when I talk to them that I have only been traveling for a short time. In my line of work I talk with a bunch of different people from a lot of different places. One engineer noticed me by the Perfect Points of my Entrance, so he says. He is AF&AM from North Carolina and is a 32* Scottish rite mason. He fully recognized me as a Mason with a handshake and a word. He is an older gentleman and like me a fairly new traveler.

     While I do honor my obligation, of course, and I understand that I can’t masonically converse with this cat, we did have a conversation. We both expressed mutual admiration for each other and wished each other the best.  However I still feel like he felt that by recognizing me, he was showing compassion, like he had just done me a favor or something.  This sense of superiority appears to be pretty common unfortunately.

     I’ve said all of this to ask this question, do we even want or desire recognition by the white lodges?

I have read repeatedly that the mainstream lodges consider the PHA lodges to be clandestine. Just recently the mainstream lodges of the north have began Masonic relations with our Prince Hall lodges and everybody has that warm and cozy feeling about it. The south, however, does not and apparently will not, view PHA lodges as anything more than clandestine masons. So our plight in the south is one that will not change and I don’t really care!

     When I look at the rich tradition that is Prince Hall Masonry I feel that we don’t need to feel “accepted” by anyone other than ourselves. We have a legal charter from the UGLE that states that we are legit to work and that is good enough for me and should be good enough for anyone else. Looking back at what Prince Hall and his brothers went through, and then look at what they ultimately achieved, I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t want to preserve this history. Yet some Bros. that I’ve talked to say the Prince Hall Masonry has served its purpose. I talked to this one black “mainstream “F&AM and he compared PHA to affirmative action. According to him we should let those lodges absorb our lodges and become one big family. Of course this would be at our expense since we would lose everything and they would gain control of us. He was concerned that I would view him as an Uncle Tom, well…

     I am no racist and for me it isn’t about race. It’s about right versus wrong, future versus legacy. We have our own thing and it demands respect and I know that we require no one’s approval. So to answer my own question I say it doesn’t matter whether we are recognized or not by “them”. They don’t have to like it, but PHA Masonry is here to stay. We have swagger, we have style, and we are doing it our way.  What do you think?

So Mote it Be