A new year brings a new order to my TO Lodge – Mount Zion No. 266. I have, only now, returned from our once-monthly meeting with batteries recharged and faith restored. This is not to say that my mother lodge is in any way unfulfilling – rather, it is to suggest that like a fine aperitif, the TO Lodge adds spice to an otherwise filling meal.
No minutes to trouble with. No endless reading of bills, no tedium. Instead, the lodge opens solemnly, with scrupulous attention paid to ceremony, the lights dimmed, the candles standing ready. All of this is prologue to a meeting that concentrates on Masonic education, which to my foreign readers is refreshing. Tonight’s agenda contains a précis on the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, and provides this month’s backdrop to our year-long discussion of the origins of the Craft.
Afterwards, the brethren mysteriously, and coincidentally, coalesce at the local pub where conviviality, sterling conversation, and fellowship is the order of the day.
Of better times, there are but few.
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