by Michael S. Romano

Created on: September 08, 2009   Last Updated: September 14, 2009

The Ceremony

As man matures and really begins to start his life, there are a number of times where he can feel the sense of accomplishment. Graduating from college and landing that perfect career. Maybe it's meeting the perfect someone and getting married. For many it is the birth of a child. These are all fine examples. Some people may have a difficult time in school, but through hard work and with self determination they finally pull ahead and are able to wear the cap and gown. You may be the person too busy to be out looking for a girlfriend, and the one day like magic she comes into your life. Perhaps you have had trouble in the past conceiving a child. Then one morning you hear a horrifying screech blaring from the bathroom. You rush to your wife's aid and find she is holding a piece of white plastic rod in her hand, she looks you in the eyes as tears fall from hers and softly whispers, "Good morning daddy." Indeed all very proud moments in a man's lifetime, and I certainly have shared in a few of the aforementioned examples. Even though one particular event in recent time has stood out, and not for any greater reasons but, simply for different reasons.

"Being a man, freeborn, of lawful age, and coming under the tongue of true Masonic report." This answer is one of many, given in response to a battery of questions asked to a man who seeks admission into a lodge of Freemasons. One can discuss for days, even weeks or longer on the subject of Masonic ritual. Volumes after volumes of Masonic lore have been penned on the subject by many a celebrated author. Millions of words have been poured on paper like tiny little grammatical rain droplets of Masonic genius, though none truly has captured the emotional satisfaction of "coming in the same way and manner as all others who have gone this way before." Having achieved something to which many of the most revered men in our time or time in antiquity had achieved. To be part of something that predates written history and being able to call yourself "Brother" alongside of men like George Washington, J.C.Penney, Buzz Aldrin, Marquis de Lafayette and Benjamin Franklin, just to name a few.

It is one thing to pass the portal of this Mystic Temple, to become a Brother, and gain the trust and respect of such great and important men. However it pales in comparison to the sense of satisfaction you amass, the shock that overwhelms you from learning your peers, men to whom you already share so mighty a bond, cast your name

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