More Masonry

So today I met Frank, the outgoing leader of the local Masonic lodge. He was grateful as I returned the items and asked where I found them. When I mentioned the handicapped parking space he laughed as he explained the owner of these items was handicapped and like many of his lodge mates must have put the items on the roof of the car to open the door. And of course he just drove off – a moment some of us have had and most of us have feared.

Frank again asked if I was interested in the Masons – I struck him as a fine man – and took the opportunity to share a moment about them. Now I was expecting to maybe hear of the sense of fraternity and the fun at the meetings. But Frank – a nice man without agenda – needed to share their current project. They are doing a child safety project – pictures and fingerprints on a CD in case a child goes missing. I was struck by this. I suspect the community service aspects of the fraternal organizations are more noticeable in smaller towns, places where they are the lead in the local papers. But in a close in suburb of New York City it is not exactly front page news.

So I am still going to take a pass on becoming a Mason, but I am glad that I had my five minutes with Frank. It’s funny – I teased about putting a face on the gay community for him and instead he put the face on his community for me.