TAMWORTH

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Some Masons from North Carolina who are on Military duty in Iraq desert. Masons from other states have also
been participating. The effort is organized by Sam Lee, who was serving as Master of Hiram Lodge No. 40
(North Carolina) when he was dispatched to Iraq by the military.
The transplanted Masons do not confer degrees or conduct business, but the meetings provide an outlet for men
with a common interest. The group presents educational programs and shares personal accounts of Freemasonry.
(Source” Footnotes- The Northern Light- May 2005)
The Grand Lodge of Nebraska has instituted a program for Brethren in the military deployed outside the United
States, the program features a Lodge in “A Briefcase, and is called a Swisher Kit, named in honour of S.Sgt
Christopher Swisher, a member of Lincoln Lodge #19, Lincoln, NE, was killed in action in Baghdad on October
9 th 2005 issue of Emessay Notes,
(Source: Emessay Notes — January 2005
The Grand Lodge of New York approved forming a Lodge, U.D. in Iraq at the Grand Lodge session in May
2005. Further details will be given to our readers in the future issue of Emessay Notes. (Source: Grand Lodge of
New York)
WHY MASONIC RITUAL IS REGARDED SO IMPORTANT?
Truth may be taught without ritual, but truth taught by ritual is always taught as the original teaches desired and
makes a lasting impression upon the mind of the learner.
Man has always devised ceremonies of initiation for his organizations; the Men’s House of the lndiuans had
them; savage tribes bring their young men officially to manhood by rites which are sometimes rather terrible;
ancient religions admitted to the temple only those who could quality by successfully completing a course of
initiation; many modern churches- especially those denominated “high”- have set forms of for religious
worship; crafts and guilds of all kinds in all ages have had certain preparatory rites.
A ritual which becomes sacrosanct in human belief tends to stabilize truth and keep it “uncontaminated by
“modern” ideas. Many a man has thought he could “improve” the ritual of Freemasonry. None has succeeded in
making better that which was already “best” since it’s consent was and is living, breathing, sentient truth,
conveyed in words, actions and symbols which by their antiquity prove that they are “best” for the purpose.
Dr. Joseph Fort Newton, loved teacher of the spiritual aspects of Freemasonry, said, “Ritual” is the
dramatization of belief hope and spiritual dream. Lt assists imagination by giving form to what otherwise remain
formless, presenting vivid mental images which lend a reality-feeling to what is often abstract and unreal lt is
picture philosophy, truth visualized, at once expressing and confirming the faiths and visions of the mind”
District Grand Lodge of Syria-Lebanon
(Under the Jurisdiction of The Grand Lodge of the State of New York)
Address: Leon Zeltounallan. The District Grand Secretary (PDGM), P. O. Box 45 – 424,
Hazmieh, Lebanon.
Telephone: (961 1) 261706 or 260030. Fax: (961 1) 260031.
Email: leonz@inco.com.lb (Past Grand Master, District Grand Secretary)
SHORT HISTQRY QF DISTRICT GRAND LQDGE SYRlA-LEBANON
The Grand Lodge of New York chartered The District Grand Lodge of Syria-Lebanon in 1956. It was originally
planned to be the basis for a future regular Grand Lodge for the country and by 1960 it had most Lebanese
masons under its banner. However, schisms, and a subsequent proliferation of spurious “Grand Lodges” meant
this aim was never realized. Nevertheless, the majority of Masons in Lebanon remained regular either under
either New York or Scottish allegiance. There is no move for these bodies to form an
Indigenous Grand Lodge, and risk possibility irregularity.