Wade Hampton Light Wade Hampton Lodge No.404 VOL. 4 NO. 4 APRIL, 2014 Welcome to this edition of the Wade Hampton Light. This newsletter is brought to you by the Brothers of Wade Hampton Lodge and is meant to give you the latest and greatest news and information from our lodge and around our great fraternity. CALENDAR Masonic Education--------------------------------------04/05/2014 at 12:00 (See Details Below) 1st Degree--------------------------------------------------04/08/2014 at 7:30 Square and Compass ----------------------------------04/09/2014 at 6:30 at Recovery No.31 Annual Grand Lodge Communication--------------04/24-25/2014 in Florence, SC 2nd Degree-------------------------------------------------04/29/2014 at 7:30 Next Stated Communication--------------------------05/06/2014 at 7:30 Charity Golf Tournament-------------------------------05/10/2014 (See Below for Details) LODGE HAPPENINGS Masonic Education event—Brothers this is open to all Master Masons that want to learn more about the fraternity, our history, our degree work and any other questions you may have. It will be an open format, so come with questions and be ready to learn. It will be at the lodge on Saturday the 5th of April. We plan on making this a monthly event and are looking forward to good fellowship. WELFARE OF THE CRAFT Prayer was asked for; The family of Bro. Wayne Mauer in his passing, Betty Cunningham, Bro. Dennis and Mary Greene, RWB Lewis Langley, Bro Jim Frazier, RWB David Watkins Wife Shirley RWB Jonathan Sprinkle, Our military and public servants. Praise report given on Bro. E. Mamon Walker, RWB David Cunningham’s Sister and the sister of Bro. Daniel George. LIGHT FROM THE EAST Hello Brothers: The springtime weather has been slow to arrive this year, but it looks like we are finally getting to see the sunshine and warmer temperatures. Springtime is a joyous time of year and I encourage all brothers and their families to get out and enjoy the weather. We are very busy at Wade Hampton Lodge No. 404 so be sure and check this newsletter for all the happenings this month. I want to give a big thank you to all our brothers who attend lodge and readily step in and help wherever needed. We all know WB Bennett is doing a fantastic job with this newsletter. I would also like to invite those that can go and view the Grand Lodge Website and look at the Wonderful updates that RWB David F. Ervin our Grand Lodge Webmaster is posting. Thanks for all your efforts RWB Ervin. th Next Wednesday April 9, 2014 the 18 District Square and Compass Club meeting will be at Recovery th Lodge. Please make your plans to attend this meeting and learn what is going on in the 18 district. Jonathan J. Sprinkle PDDGM Worshipful Master 2014 TIDINGS FROM THE WEST Greetings Brethren. It has been great seeing so many brothers visiting Wade Hampton Lodge No.404. That truly is one of the best parts of masonry. Brotherly love can help you through so many of life's troubles and strife. Even if you may never be confided in, you can be assured that to some brother just knowing you are there, is more than enough. So I encourage you, my Brothers, to approach those who you may have noticed a change in. Let them know that you are there for them and I promise that it will do nothing but bring us closer as a Brotherhood. I can't wait to see what this month and the rest of the year has in store for Wade Hampton Lodge No.404 and Masonry as a whole. Many writers and thinkers have tried to define Freemasonry but it really defeats definition. It is too complex, too profound in conception, to easily expressed in words. Perhaps the simplest and best definition of all is the phrase "the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God." Our Masonic forefathers had an understanding of human needs and human aspirations. They may never have dreamed of the mindless computer which governs our lives, or the fission of matter which threatens our lives, but they understood human nature and what motivates the spirit of man. Thus from a simple process of using stone and mortar for building they progressed to the most important of life's functions, the building of character. -Louis L. Williams Christopher D. Knight Senior Warden MASONIC EDUCATION So Mote It Be How familiar the phrase is. No Lodge is ever opened or closed without using it. Yet how few know how old it is, much less what a deep meaning it has in it. Like so many old and lovely things, it is so near to us that we do not see it. As far back as we can go in the annals of Masonry we find this old phrase. It is found in the Regius Poem, the oldest document of the Craft, just as we use it today. And everyone should know, it is the Masonic form of the ancient Amen, which echoes through the ages, gathering meaning and music as it goes until it is one of the richest and most haunting of words, and stands as a sentinel at the gateway of silence. When we pray our last words, somehow this familiar phrase gathers up all that is left, and speeds its way to the ear of God. How impressively it echoes through the Great Light in Masonry. We hear it in the Psalms, as chorus answers to chorus, where it is sometimes reduplicated for emphasis. In the Lodge, at opening, at closing, and in the hour of initiation. No Mason ever enters upon any great or important undertaking without first invoking the aid of Deity. And he ends his prayer with the old phrase, “So Mote it Be.” Which is another way of saying: The will of God be done. Or, whatever be the answer of God to his prayer: So be it – because it is wise and right. What then, is the meaning of this old phrase, so interwoven with our entire Masonic Lore, simple, tender, haunting? It has two meanings for us everywhere, in the Church or in the Lodge. First, it is the assent to His commands; assent to His providence, even when a tender, terrible stroke of death takes from us one much loved and leaves us forlorn. Still, somehow, we must say: So it is; so be it. He is a wise man, a brave man, who, baffled by the woes of life, when disaster follows fast, can never the less accept his lot as a part of the will of God and say, though it may almost choke him to say it: “So Mote it Be.” The other meaning of the phrase is even more wonderful: It is the assent of God to the aspiration of man. Man can bear much – anything, perhaps – if he feels that God knows, cares and feels for him and with him. It is a truly great prayer, to join in and place ourselves in the hands of God, as all must do in the end, trust his will and way, follow where no path is, into the soft and fascinating darkness which men call death. And the response of the Brethren to that prayer, as to all others offered at the Altar of Masonry, is the old challenging phrase: “So Mote it Be.” OFFICERS Worshipful Master Jonathan J. Sprinkle PDDGM (864) 304-1518 Senior Warden Chris Knight (864) 423-2031 Junior Warden Silas Smith (864) 371-0661 Treasurer Christopher Burkett PM (864) 361-0186 Secretary Mark A. Bennett PM (864) 414-0721 Senior Deacon Danny Brown (864) 270-9913 Junior Deacon Stephen Harrill (864) 640-7004 Steward Andrew Houston (864) 505-6399 Steward Jonathan Hamilton (864) 304-1450 Tiler Ellis Mamon Walker (864) 244-7104 Chaplain H. David Cunningham PDDGM (864) 444-9798 MASONIC HISTORY Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835 in Florida, Missouri. Clemens is best known by his nom de plume, Mark Twain, under which he wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in 1876 and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885. Clemens began work as a typesetter, tried his hand at mining, and then turned to journalism. Twain traveled as a journalist across the Great Planes and Rocky Mountains to Nevada, Missouri, San Francisco, New York, the Mediterranean, and Connecticut. Many of his great works are said to have derived from his experiences in his previous vocations and travels. In 1861, Twain was made a Freemason at Polar Star Lodge No. 79 A.F. & A.M. in St. Louis. Brother Clemens was called from labor on April 21, 1910, in Redding, Connecticut and is laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, New York. ADDITIONAL LIGHT A special Thank You to all of the Brothers who have contributed to the lodge, this Newsletter, our website and our great Fraternity. Remember to always spread Light because you never know who may ask You about being a Mason. Attention Brothers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know of a business that would like to advertise in our monthly Newsletter? We will be looking at starting this for the next few months. Our Newsletter reaches hundreds of Masons in the upstate and beyond and would be a good resource for a business to get its message out. Contact WB Mark A. Bennett to find out more details (864) 414-0721. We also want to challenge business owners that are Masons to participate. We still have a few of the Wade Hampton 50 Year Commemorative Coins left (about 15). If you would like one of these coins or know of a Brother that would enjoy it, Please let WB Mark A. Bennett know so he can hold one for you. These are beautiful coins and make a great display piece for your office or home. The coin is only 10.00 and once they are gone there will be no more. Get your hands on a piece of history while you still can. Get one while you can!!!!! Just a little trivia Alpha and Omega are Greek letters that represent the Beginning and the End, like A and Zed (Zee) in the English alphabet. There may be fateful significance in these Greek letters for Dibble Lodge No.109, formerly of Nevada County California. Dibble Lodge received its Charter in 1856 and began in the town of Alpha, California. Dibble relocated in 1862 to Omega, California, where it ended its existence twenty years later. CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT Brothers, We have put together a charity fund raiser Golf tournament to be held on May 10th at Smithfields Country Club in Easley, SC. The proceeds from the event will go to the benefit of the Einstein Academy in Greenville. The Einstein academy is a non-profit, private school. They are dedicated to developing the skills of middle school aged children who have been diagnosed with ADHD and/or similar challenges. Please help us support this great cause and have some good fellowship in the process. Cost to play is $50.00 and hole sponsors are $85.00 (that includes one player). More details will be coming soon. You can contact Bro. Chris Knight at 864-423-2031 or WB Mark A. Bennett at 864-414-0721 for more information. WADE HAMPTON OES NO. 288 Order of the Eastern Star Meetings Monthly on the 2nd Thursday. Eat at 6:30, meeting at 7:30. Officers Worthy Matron Jane Raven (864) 879-2923 Worthy Patron Jeffrey Raven (864) 505-5103 Associate Matron Trish Latta (864) 494-1127 Associate Patron Jack Kight (864) 288-7200 Secretary Barbara Kight (864) 288-7200 Treasurer Maxine Howell (864) 877-3276 Conductress Myrtle Miller (864) 288-7319 Associate Conductress Betty Cunningham For information on the Wade Hampton OES No.288 contact Trish Latta at [email protected] Please visit our Newsletter Sponsors You can subscribe to this newsletter by sending an email to [email protected] . Please forward this to any brother that you think would enjoy it. You can also check the website for updates and more information http://wadehamptonlodge404afm.com/ . You can also keep up with work around th the area by going to the 18 district website http://18thdistrictafm.com/. Wade Hampton Lodge 404 12 Airport Road, Greenville, SC 29607