Corinthian Lodge #573: “Making good men better.”

Corinthian Lodge #573, F.&A.M. has been in existence for one hundred twenty-four years. Among its members you will find men from all walks of life, Politicians and community leaders, Landscapers and Truck drivers, Lawyers and Judges, Doctors and Teachers, Plumbers and electricians. One of the amazing things I find in Freemasonry is the diverse group of men united in the same fraternal bond.

Contrary to what you may have seen or heard Freemasonry is not a religion, a cult, or a society of evildoers. Freemasonry is a way of life. Yes, we have secrets, just as most other fraternal organizations and businesses. John Schnatter, founder of Papa John’s Pizza, won’t tell you his pizza sauce recipe. Colonel Sanders promoted his secret recipe of “eleven secret spices”. The difference between our secrets and theirs is that once you become a Mason, our secrets are revealed to you. I doubt you would get Coca Cola’s secret recipe the first day you went to work for the company.

Freemasons can trace their origins back to the labor crews who built King Solomon’s Temple. Originally, Freemasons were a union of construction workers. The “secrets” of geometry, trigonometry, and general math skills were not commonly known, let alone the knowledge of how to build large stone castles, cathedrals, temples, fortifications and storage facilities. If you knew these “secrets” you were a pretty important person 3,000 years ago. If you were interested in learning the “craft”, or the skills of construction, you apprenticed at a lodge of masons. As your knowledge grew in the skills of construction, so did your advancement in the union. You received the secret knowledge of a different “handshake” and “password” for each level of your ability which you were able to perform on the job from general laborer to carpenter, from brick layer to site foreman. These handshakes and passwords enabled you to identify yourself as qualified at the skill level that you claimed. The original Freemasons formed an organization of skilled men who hired one another from job to job all over the world. They looked after one another and ensured that every major issue concerning the tradesmen (continued)