Christopher L. Hodapp's Blog, page 56

Fall 2019 Issue of 'Ritual, Secrecy and Civil Society'

The Fall 2019 journal  Ritual, Secrecy, and Civil Society has just been released. It is published by the Policy Studies Organization (PSO), which supports research into associations, civility, and the role of non-governmental organizations within democracy.
I've been meaning to spotlight these fascinating collections of new Masonic education and scholarship for quite some time because few Masons seem to be aware of them as a resource. These journals deserve a much wider audience than they...

GL of Wisconsin Begins Assessment to Preserve Madison Temple

Back in June of 2018, the assembled Freemasons of the Grand Lodge of Wisconsin overwhelmingly voted to take ownership of, and to preserve and protect the Madison Masonic Center. The Masonic Center is home to fourteen Masonic bodies and the Scottish Rite Children's Dyslexia Center, and it has been the meeting place for the Wisconsin Annual Communication for many years. The beautiful beaux arts interior features two lodge rooms, a grand ballroom, dining room, offices, lounges, the Robert...

Thank You All

Many thanks to the quite literally hundreds of birthday wishes posted on Facebook and elsewhere yesterday, or sent privately. I am truly humbled by this outpouring, and I do appreciate it.

For those keeping score, I'm 61 this year, despite my boyish good looks and too much hair for my advancing dotage. I fear that you're all stuck with me for a while longer, based on my odds. From a purely genetics point of view, my father died at 94, and my mother turns 91 in January with no sign of slowing...

Shriners, Fezzes, Symbolism and the Blunt Object of Corporate Censorship

You can't keep up with with the pop culture these days without a scorecard app. In truth, you probably need five or six apps on two different smartphones plus a desktop version just to keep up to date.
The Disney Corporation launched its new highly-touted video streaming service this past week, and in their infinite wisdom to appear suitably angelic to the world, they've bee...

Looking For Help Outside the Lodge To Save Your Temple

Rifle Lodge 126 in Rifle, Colorado (just down the road apiece from the town of Parachute) has been working with the Colorado Historical Society and their town council to help preserve their century-old lodge.

You gotta love Western U.S. town names.

For more than ten years, Brother Ron Roesener and others at Rifle Lodge have been dealing with the same problems so many other Masons have throughout the country. Shrinking membership, tighter money, and an aging building have all combin...

Chicago Columnist Spotlights Indiana Lodge in the Community

There was a very positive report in the Chicago Post-Tribune on November 1st, written by local columnist Jerry Davich, that highlighted the Brethren of Indiana's Glen Park Lodge 732 and its Master, Izzy De Jesus. Unlike so many typical drive-by treatments of the fraternity by so many reporters who have no idea who and what we are, Davich's was a refreshing, first-person account that demonstrates what Freemasons do, and how and why we are still important to our local communities.

17th Paris Masonic Book Fair This Weekend 11/16-17

Albert Mackey once lamented that American Freemasons don't read, and the handful of Americans who have made a stab at being specifically Masonic publishers can tell you it's an ideal formula for going broke slowly. French Masons aren't afflicted with that character quirk. If you've ever visited a Masonic bookstore in Paris you know that the French have an insatiable appetite for books about Freemasonry. Consequently, each year, the Institut...

UPDATE: Who Would Want An Old Masonic Lodge?

UPDATE 11/13/2019: 
I first posted this story a year ago, and just checked it today out of curiosity. This former lodge in Alexandria, Indiana did not sell, and is still on the market currently marked down to $64,000. Just in case you have a hankering to own one of your own. 

I

Franco's Exhumation Leads to Vandalism at GL of Spain

The headquarters of Madrid's Provincial Grand Lodge of the Gran Logia de España (Grand Lodge of Spain) were vandalized on October 21st during street protests over the exhumation of the body of long-deceased former Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco Bahamond. Digging up the old dictator's corpse last month brought out the pro- and anti-Francoist street protestors and the bored vandals alike. 

GM of Nevada Rules 'No Multiple Volumes of Sacred Law' in Lodges

Over a month ago, the Grand Master of Nevada, Most Worshipful Steven A. Robinson, Jr., issued an Order that declares the use of any other Volume of Sacred Law (VSL) or book of faith besides the Bible during lodge ceremonies, meetings or degrees is a violation of Nevada's Masonic code.

While the Old Testament of the Holy Bible is central to the origins and allegories...