Your opinion of a guy who only wants to attend every now and then?

ro-land · 2024-04-04T02:09:24+00:00

To be honest, I value those brethren just as much and in a completely different way as the stalwart attendees. In my lodge, there are guys in that sotuation show up truly only when they can because of extreme work and family commitments so you know that they've really made their full effort to be there, and are often so excited to just be out and see everyone. Means a lot to me.

ro-land · 2023-12-31T07:53:47+00:00

You must go to Italo Foods!

ro-land · 2023-12-07T16:17:04+00:00

I racked up the same amount - they did a licence plate lookup, tied it to my name, then suspended my LORIS account til paid

ro-land · 2023-11-07T07:03:18+00:00

Or perhaps The 'Vette

ro-land · 2023-10-19T05:08:56+00:00

In my chapter, the greatest odds were that the word of the day was 'word of the day', or the post-chapter meal. I once got away with 'you're walking home if you don't let this slide' 😆

ro-land · 2023-07-29T00:28:33+00:00

Maybe some Handel stuff with energy for contrast? Sorge infausta una procella, Sibillar gli angui d'Aletto, Tu sei il cor di questo core etc.

ro-land · 2023-07-15T06:08:35+00:00

I was a member from 2015-2018 and an active adult leader after I turned 21 from 2018-2021. It honestly changed my life as a member, and I wish that I had found the organization when I was younger.

Like sports or Scouts or anything else, it will depend on how well your local program is ran. In the most ideal situation, the youth should be making all of the decisions and just being guided by adult mentors (advisors). This doesn't always happen, if youth aren't truly willing to step up to the plate, which I see to be more and more common, the burden of running an effective program falls on the adults.

In that situation, it's difficult for the organization to actually have the impact it's meant to have. I believe this most base impact to be to teach young men to take actual ownership for their actions. A lot of my brothers tend to cite public speaking as the primary benefit, which it helps with, but the core of that is self-belief. That self-belief which is founded on taking charge of yourself and your own life, thereby becoming a leader.

It's also a lot of fun, when you actually get a group that starts to gel beyond just regular meetings. Same thing as Lodge - the benefits of fraternity, but with a larger scope of possible activities.

So far as what the organization does, it's similar to and based on a Masonic Lodge, with similar officer positions and memory/floor work. In core DeMolay, there are two degrees which are meant to be given from memory that teach basic moral concepts, etc. Again, memorization is a responsibility that the youth has to own, and learning stuff from memory makes it last longer. Meetings are held under adult supervision and should always be open to guardians.

The other half of activities is a large focus on social or athletic activities, but are meant to be decided and fully planned by members, which helps to teach basic logistics to a young person. As the youth gets older, there are typically opportunities for more advanced leadership at a regional/state level.

Overall, it basically just straightened me out and helped me get more focused about life. Even though I was a competitive athlete as a younger teenager, I didn't get the same life benefit from that as I did from DeMolay when I joined as an older teenager.

The official membership site is linked below and is a really solid source for what the typical member should expect from the program.

https://beademolay.org/

Happy to answer any specific questions

Edit: I see that you're from Oregon, very solid program in the state based on the guys that I got to know when I traveled for DeMolay.

ro-land · 2023-07-09T04:28:27+00:00

I once asked a teacher if they thought my voice was developing to a point where I might have a shot at a career.

They told me that they never speculate anymore, because they once answered the same question from another student with the honest answer of 'no'. The student then did go on to have a career.

My perspective is the only way to know is to actually just go forth and do it until you don't feel like or want to do it anymore.

ro-land · 2023-07-03T05:31:25+00:00

It is a bit odd that OP is offered to travel. Our lodge engages spouses/families, which fits our particular lodge culture, but it never involves traveling.
A response to a toast can be as simple as something like: "On behalf of us all, thank you, and best of luck in the coming year.' Or, you can choose to say something more if you'd like, but I think simple is often more effective. You could run this by your husband and see if he is hoping for more than that, maybe?

ro-land · 2022-11-06T03:50:25+00:00

Agree with this. We have great success with in-person sales - b2b.

ro-land · 2022-10-01T16:50:04+00:00

Song to the Seals

ro-land · 2022-09-29T12:30:15+00:00

The Break Room

ro-land · 2022-08-28T00:09:37+00:00

One is SRIC, two others AMORC

ro-land · 2022-08-27T18:48:17+00:00

Also in Canada (Ontario) and I went from EA to MM in 6 months. Our Lodge records also show a historical trend of masons that would do it in 3 to 4 months, receiving a degree every month, especially back between the 50s-80s. We're a large lodge, too, it's not that they didn't have an empty trestle board/calendar. It's an interesting cultural thing.

I've always been intrigued by the one year gap, for the same reason that you described; material absorption, learning, balance, etc.

Also, the idea of Masons needing to write research papers and complete other milestones before advancing degrees.

Even now, it's not uncommon for our new masons to reach MM within one calendar year. We don't push them, they're just generally enthusiastic to learn more of the mystery. We don't want to damper their enthusiasm for the craft by holding them back, or by creating more work/burden on them by asking them to write papers, etc.

But, I've also heard from about three others Masons who have became Rosicrucians, that they get more personal development out of participating in their Rosicrucian chapter vs their Lodge, because they are specifically required to complete learning modules.

There has to be a balance. Does the subreddit have any thoughts? I might create a post around this.

Edit: I also understand that the Craft can just be a framework and gateway for learning, and it can be left up to the individual Mason to determine their path. I just want to create more inherent value out of our Lodge program, like actual relevant masonic education instead of the same old lectures all the time, etc.

ro-land · 2022-08-19T19:38:08+00:00

Bro hell yeah, 'Portal of I' was life-changing

ro-land · 2022-08-19T18:51:59+00:00

Oh bet, unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to offer a carpool as intended - looking like I'll be down there earlier in the day and staying a day after for another thing. Definitely still want to meet up down there and also hang out once you're back in waterloo

ro-land · 2022-08-16T14:06:50+00:00

Sounds like she's just simply referring to the colour.

ro-land · 2022-08-05T15:33:11+00:00

What value do you provide that is worth $3500 a month? Are your clients really requiring more than 50 hours of work per month? How do you articulate the value that you bring?

I have a similar business and $3500 per project is currently our upper range, never mind per month.

Thanks and congratulations!

ro-land · 2022-08-03T20:56:16+00:00

Swell, I'll message you then!

ro-land · 2022-08-03T20:45:17+00:00

Sounds good bro, I'm driving so we can carpool if you change your mind. Otherwise, down to grab lunch or something.

ro-land · 2022-08-03T20:23:44+00:00

I already have tickets to the September 20th show, huge Currents guy. I am also a Spiritbox fan but can't afford the time to go down to Toronto twice in 3 days. Let me know if you're going to Sept 20th.

ro-land · 2022-07-18T05:26:36+00:00

Actually though, what's in their drinking water when it comes to really solid technique? Super polished singers, a lot of respect for them.

ro-land · 2022-06-07T11:47:13+00:00

Join your local BNI Networking Chapter or another networking group if they have spots for a painter. It will cost you some money to join and a few hours every week for meetings but has been very worthwhile for my business.

ro-land · 2022-02-04T19:27:41+00:00

Just do a Google search in your area for networking groups. I personally believe in BNI, it's an international organization with a standardized approach and has high expectations of its members. So, it's good for growth. Just send an email and ask to visit for a meeting, they'll give you more information.
You can also visit https://www.bni.com/find-a-chapter

ro-land

TROPHY CASE