Nazis, Gold, and the Masons

My friend Jay over at Bailey's Buddy wrote about the novel, The Traitor's Emblem by Juan Gomez-Jurado, a few weeks ago. It took awhile for me to get a copy from the library as there was a waiting list, but when I did finally get it home, I wasted no time. One evening I thought I'd read a dozen or so pages before bed; I didn't get to bed until after 1:30 AM! I could not put this engaging book down!

I encourage you to check out this novel, especially if you're interested in history, Nazis, Freemasonry, or just a great story.

Dr. Gordon Wood, Brown University

Dr. Wood is a professor at Brown University and a Pulitzer prize winning author of a book on the American Revolution. He is the featured lecturer this week for our seminar at Mount Vernon. Stephen Bullock, author of Revolutionary Brotherhood, was his student.

Deresiewicz, Entitled Mediocrity, and the Master Craftsman Quiz #4

I received my graded Quiz #4 in the Scottish Rite Master Craftsman program last week. Each quiz includes 20 multiple choice questions and 1 essay over selected degrees in the Scottish Rite. Quizzes cover approximately 100 to 250 pages of reading and are open book. When you finish a quiz, you mail it back and it's graded and returned to you. Up to this point in the program, I scored 100% on all of the quizzes- perfect. The labels on the graded quizzes even said so- “Perfect Score 100%.” But Quiz #4 changed my perfect record; I answered one of the questions wrong. I now have one quiz with just an A.

I suppose that is still okay, though: “A” is the mark of excellence while an “A-“ is the mark of entitled mediocrity. That’s what I read in William Deresiewicz’s essay: The Disadvantages of an Elite Education. Deresiewicz argues that educators do students a disservice by not teaching them to be independent thinkers. Instead, we focus on those marketable skills which allow for success from inside the system. I probably shouldn’t use the term “we.” I am a teacher and I do work in an excellent school, but it is a public school after all and we probably have too many students on free and reduced price lunch to qualify as an elite institution.

Still, I fall into the trap Deresiewicz describes. And not just as a teacher, but as a student. My first reaction on seeing the one missed question on my recent Master Craftsman quiz was to find the passage which justified my answer and compose an email to those in charge of the program. I wasn’t about to settle for just an “A.” I worked hard and deserved a perfect score. To me, at least at first, it didn’t matter that my answer was wrong. I was more focused on how hard I worked and thought that should justify me- I was entitled. Ironically, Deresiewicz makes just that point in his analysis of many of today's students who attend elite universities. They feel they are entitled simply because of the effort they put into an assignment. Scores on assignments are changed after a student argues that his answer was based on some other assumption that the question stated, or assignment deadlines are modified for the student who simply can't get it done on time. Deresiewicz writes that exams, research papers, and speeches aren't graded based on whether or not they meet standards of the professor but rather whether or not they reflect the effort of the student, and since the student has already proven their worth by getting into an elite university, that must mean that the grade should a least be an "A-."

This has been another benefit of the Master Craftsman course for me. I've learned to study with more patience and I've also learned that even though I have worked hard reading the assigned material, multiple times in some instances, my score still is dependent on whether or not my chosen answer is correct.

However, I still think that the meaning of Master of Kadosh is none of the above!

New reading material

I have some new, and some old, reading material on my shelf this week. I’m finishing the introduction in my paper on the symbolism of the Ashlar in Freemasonry and I requested two books from the Iowa Masonic Library to help me fill in the weak areas. I’ve borrowed the first title before- The Craft and its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbolism by Allen E. Roberts. Actually, I think this may be the third time I’ve borrowed it! I like this book a lot. Roberts summarizes common and not so common symbols in a clear, concise way that doesn’t patronize the reader. It’s a very short book, and yet it does a great job covering a comprehensive number of Masonic symbols. And at least one Masonic librarian agrees with me: Roberts’ book is on the list of suggested titles from a recent article on the Supreme Council’s website.

A second book I borrowed from the Grand Lodge of Iowa A.F. & A.M. Masonic Library is Mark Tabbert’s American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities. This book comes highly recommended as well. I haven’t started it yet, but I’m curious especially to read this author because of his Iowa Masonic roots. I attended the Des Moines Scottish Rite’s Blue Lodge Breakfast last week and we were treated to a short video about George Washington and the National Masonic Memorial, of which Tabbert is the Director of Collections. Shane Harshbarger, the DSM Scottish Rite’s Master of Kadosh introduced the video by telling us that Tabbert was raised in Iowa. I did a little more research and found out that indeed, he was raised in Malta Lodge #318 in Burlington.

The third book I have waiting for me is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Freemasonry by S. Brent Morris. I just picked this up at Barnes and Noble with a gift card I received at Christmas.

Now if I can just put the books down long enough to get that intro finished!

But Mr. Miller, there are two right answers!

I mailed the second quiz for the Master Craftsman program yesterday. The quiz covered over 250 pages of reading from the Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor & Guide, Second Edition, by Arturo De Hoyos and A Bridge to Light by Rex Hutchens. I had the most trouble with this question:


In the 14th degree Perfect Elu, what is sought?

Does anyone have ideas as to the correct answer? I eliminated 3 of the 5 possible answers, but that was the problem. Two different answers both looked good and it took me awhile to choose one. I've heard that comment a lot from my students so I guess now it's my turn to experience two "right" answers!

I do like the quiz format. It’s been a great way for me to study the Scottish Rite because it presents specific questions which guide my reading. The questions on the quizzes are not in chronological order so you can’t just selectively read the material, either. I enjoy reading both books by De Hoyos and Hutchens, however, they are quite detailed. A specific reading program, like the Master Craftsman class, is a wise choice for those who want to learn more.

I’m starting the reading assignments for the third quiz. This one covers fewer than 250 pages so I’ll be slacking a bit!

Scottish Rite Master Craftsman Course

(picture copyright Scottishrite.org)

I received my Master Craftsman Course materials in the mail today and I'm eager to start reading. The mailing included the first quiz, book, and reading assignments. The book is huge: over 1,000 pages. I wondered why the shipping charge was so high!

Christmas lists?

Chris Hodapp has a great story about book reviews over on his Freemasons for Dummies web page. James T. Tresner II discusses several excellent reading selections in the Scottish Rite Journal; the title of the article is Book Reviews: Enlightening Strikes and you can read the article on-line.

The list of suggested books comes from recommendations of Masonic Librarians around the country. I was pleased to find the suggestions of our own Librarian of the Library of the Grand Lodge of Iowa, Brother Bill Krueger. I was fortunate enough to spend some time in this library over the summer and Brother Krueger was welcoming and extremely helpful in guiding me.

Symbolism, according to H. L. Haywood

I checked out H. L. Haywood's The Great Teachings of Masonry from the Iowa Masonic Library about three weeks ago. The book is coming due now and I have to send it back to the Library. Before I do, I'd like to post Haywood's description of the significance of symbolism.

…a symbol does not exhaust itself so quickly as words. There is mystery and depth in it, an infinity of suggestiveness, an incitement to new approaches of thought…

We cannot learn the message of a symbol with a passive and receptive mind, because it is of the genius of symbolism to hide as well as to reveal. When a thing is conveyed to us in clear simple words, or in plain pictures, such as one sees in the movies, there is no need that one make a great effort of his own mind to comprehend it all; but when a symbol is put before us, and we have a reason for securing its message to us, our own minds must act, for no symbol wears its meaning on its sleeve. … And that in itself is a virtue, because many men are cursed by the refusal to use their own faculties.

Also, the symbolical character of the teaching of Freemasonry has tended towards that intellectual tolerance which is one of its glories. There can be no dogmatic and official interpretation of a symbol to compel the unwilling assent of any mind; the symbol’s message, by virtue of its very message, fluid and free. So that every man has a right to think it out for himself.

Favorite Masonic Book?

My entered apprentice degree is scheduled for this evening and I thought I'd share my opinion on my favorite Masonic book as a total newcomer: no question, it's Freemasons For Dummies by Christopher Hodapp. Like other books in the "Dummies" series I've read, it's written by a knowlegable expert and it's a clear explanation of the basics, and, some of the not-so-basics. Hodapp's insight into what beginner's don't know amazed me. For example, I didn't understand how Freemasons were different from the Elks or the Kiwanians. He explains that. Clearly, too. He walked me through the history, the funny hats, and I love his reference to Putnam's concept of Social Capital (that's probably because I make my high school government students read an article by Putnam!). His book even includes part of the Regius Manuscript, something I don't understand but its presence there tells me this guy has ethos!

Thanks Christopher Hodapp for a great book!
(reposted from Feb. 18, 2010)