Becoming a Mason

Every Mason owes it to himself to identify and think upon the events and reasons that lead to his initiation into the sublime secrets of the fraternity.  Here is my story:

As far as I know, there is no masonic connection to my family.  I may be wrong in this fact, but to this point, there is no connection.  And there was definitely not a connection growing up, there was no influence, familial-wise, that encouraged or discouraged my joining the craft.

My first run-in with the craft happened on a family vacation to San Diego.  The primary reason for the vacation was to visit Sea World, we drove from Utah to Las Vegas and spent a night in the Excalibur hotel and then from Las Vegas to San Diego, and then returned.  We stayed in San Diego for two nights.  We stayed at a hotel right off of the freeway and every time we left the hotel we would get on the freeway and returning we would have to get off the freeway.  This happened, every single entrance or exit to the freeway, near the Scottish Rite Event Center in San Diego.  Finally, the intrigue got to me after a few times of see the Square and Compasses and I asked my father what that building was.

He explained to me what the Masons were/are, within his limited ability and experience to do so.  One thing, above all else, that stuck with me was the fact that my father spoke highly of the Masons that he had met in his life.  That they stood up for ideals and virtues that were slowly fading from normalcy in society.  It was this conversation that has stuck with my for my entire life.

Entering High School and finding my own pursuits at that transitional point of life, it was to history and philosophy that my interest fell.  It seemed that every other footnote or cross-reference that I read referenced back to Masonry, from George Washington to Emerson’s lectures at the Boston Masonic Temple, there was always a reference to Freemasonry.  Even looking at the history of my own faith group, Freemasonry seems to be intertwined with the early days of that church.  It felt as if Masonry was calling out to me everywhere that I turned.  And then National Treasure was released and that was it, I decided that I wanted to join!

In the Grand Lodge of Utah, you can become a member of the craft at the age of eighteen.  It is also a requirement that you know a Mason who will sign your petition, the only problem, I didn’t know a Mason!  I contacted the Grand Master of Utah, since an email address for him was listed on the Grand Lodge website.  He put me in contact with his Grand Lecturer, a man who he thought could answer the questions I had.  And that Grand Lecturer, who would go on to be Grand Master in his own right, answered all of my questions.

Due to life and being fresh out of High School, life happened.  It wasn’t for another three or four years that I finally joined the fraternity!  Since that time, life has been full of ups and downs, but Masonry stays constant and I’m so thankfully that I asked what the Square and Compasses were so many years ago!