# Reasons for becoming a Freemason



## Blake Bowden

Discuss.


----------



## Sirius

_The Mysteries_ are what pulled me in. Not out of curiosity, more like polarity.


----------



## Nate Riley

Really all but "I wanted to be part of a charitable organization".  My grandfather was a Mason and spoke of the the other four in a way that really piqued my interest.  I was something I wanted to do from a pretty young age.


----------



## TCShelton

Sirius said:


> _The Mysteries_ are what pulled me in. Not out of curiosity, more like polarity.



+1.:beer:


----------



## JTM

curiosity is never a good answer during an investigation... i'll tell anyone that says that that they need to learn more about masonry before joining.

that's what brought me in, and was honestly disappointed when it wasn't as "mystic" as i had thought, but luckily found it to be rewarding in many more ways than i could imagine.

but i put "family member" because my great grandfather was one.


----------



## HKTidwell

I personally didn't join for any of the above reasons.  I had known a few mason over the years and had found them all to be good men.  Good men meaning honorable, respectable, men of character, and outstanding citizens.  I wanted to improve myself and hopefully someday be reflected on as being one of "Those" men.  In my research I had also found comments about it assisting with a persons spiritual walk.

I selected Mysteries because in away it was the mysteries of how it helped enhance a person.


----------



## RedTemplar

Finding out the "secrets" is what lured me into Masonry. The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man is what has kept me.


----------



## Blake Bowden

RedTemplar said:


> Finding out the "secrets" is what lured me into Masonry. The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man is what has kept me.



Same here.


----------



## rhitland

My Dad made me basically, I had no real intrest at all but found my nitch for sure.


----------



## Ben Rodriguez

Just so I could wear a fancy ring and have a :sc: decal on my car!  Just kidding!

I joined our beautiful craft because of previous reading I had done, and also all Masons I had met were always bright, charming, charismatic, noble individuals. So I asked, I knocked and it opened unto me!


----------



## Sirius

rhitland said:


> My Dad made me



I'm calling BULL PIE on that one.


----------



## rhitland

Well it was not drag me by the ear making me but the peer/Dad presure was intense and I thought what the heck I like what my Dad likes so I bet this rocks-made me, well it did not to me, the degrees where okay (the work by Brothers was fine I got good degrees) but I was just not into it or better yet I was not ready to get it. Then I saw the politics involved and I ran like a scalled ape for better than a year and then I saw that little book with all those neat cyphers in it which I could read, so I started learning the work from that book thinking I would help my Lodge out with degree work attending floor school at a differnt Lodge once or twice a week as to not get involved in politics just meet, learn and go and the occasional visit to my mentor. Well long story long my mentor happen to not show up one night for an EA degree which he does the lectiures and they were gonna cancel and my Dad said he can do it so I did and wow I had an eye opening experinence, at that moment I was trully initiated and I cared not what came in my way in the future I was gonna do degree work and have been jumping in the biggest chair I can every degree I can get to ever since.


----------



## JTM

Sirius said:


> I'm calling BULL PIE on that one.





rhitland said:


> Well it was not drag me by the ear making me but the peer/Dad presure was intense and I thought what the heck I like what my Dad likes so I bet this rocks-made me, well it did not to me, the degrees where okay (the work by Brothers was fine I got good degrees) but I was just not into it or better yet I was not ready to get it. Then I saw the politics involved and I ran like a scalled ape for better than a year and then I saw that little book with all those neat cyphers in it which I could read, so I started learning the work from that book thinking I would help my Lodge out with degree work attending floor school at a differnt Lodge once or twice a week as to not get involved in politics just meet, learn and go and the occasional visit to my mentor. Well long story long my mentor happen to not show up one night for an EA degree which he does the lectiures and they were gonna cancel and my Dad said he can do it so I did and wow I had an eye opening experinence, at that moment I was trully initiated and I cared not what came in my way in the future I was gonna do degree work and have been jumping in the biggest chair I can every degree I can get to ever since.



i believe him.


----------



## Bigmel

When I was just a kid in the late 1940's I witnessed a Masonic Grave side service, It seems like there was more to the service then than now.  I saw most of the communities leaders, who were masons, all good men.  performing this service it stuck in my mind, and left a hunger, to belong to and  become a member.  later in life, at 21 I petitioned the lodge and was raised 3-26-1965.


----------



## cemab4y

I became a Mason for one simple reason. Men I respected, were Masons. Plain and simple. Yes, I have a family connection, my father is a Mason. Both of my (deceased) grandfathers were Masons. My Great-uncle was a 33rd degree SR Mason, and big in the Shrine. But I did not join because my relatives were Masons.

Most people do not realize it, but we are our own best advertisement. When you wear your lodge ring in public, you represent Freemasonry.  Other men, will look to you, and measure you by the kind of man you are. If you live up to the tenets and practices of Masonry, other men will follow. 

One question you should ask yourself often- "If being a Freemason were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you"?


----------



## rhitland

Sirius said:


> _The Mysteries_ are what pulled me in. Not out of curiosity, more like polarity.



Well I wish I could say something cool like that but I was intially pulled into the frat by my Dad and Sirius who is my cousin. I sooned realized that Masonry is in my DNA make up.


----------



## owls84

I am a legacy. It is all around me on both sides.


----------



## Griffin

Brothers,

I also have a rich family history of Masonry.  My dad worked in all three of my degrees, and as the WM in the FC and MM.  My father-in-law and my wife's maternal grandfather were in all three as well, as were many men who were dear family friends.

It seems like I was aware of Masonry almost all my life.  It's not that my dad was very active in lodge when I was a boy, but that Masonry was obviously an important part of his life. He kept Masonic books on the shelf and he would occasionally speak of living the Craft when other Masons were around.  I would ask him about it, and he would almost always respond with something to the effect that maybe one day he could answer all my questions.

The two books that used to captivate me the most were the _Texas Monitor with Lightfoot's Commentaries_, and Pike's _Morals & Dogma_.  I was just in elementary school when I discovered these two books, and I would sneak them into my room to read in private.  While very little of it made sense to me, it nonetheless instilled in me a real love of ancient wisdom and an appreciation for the diversity with which human beings experience and express their spirituality.  Beyond all of that, my sense of the mystery and depth of meaning in existence was powerfully stirred.

In my mid-20s I went back to take another shot at college, and started majoring in psychology and minoring in philosophy.  One of my philosophy professors really captivated me.  I could sense his deep wisdom, his love for life and its mysteries, and his compassion for others.  After a couple of courses with him, I found out that he taught one in the spring called "The Ancient Wisdom Traditions," which was a review of the esoteric and mystical currents of the Western world. I signed up in spring 1988, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Needless to say, Freemasonry came up a lot in that course.  

We were required to write a term paper on something that captured our interest in the course, and I was stuck on whether I would do mine on Freemasonry or Rosicrucianism.  So I went to my professor and told him about my quandary.  As I was sitting there in his office, I noticed a copy of _Morals & Dogma_ on his shelf, just like the one on my dad's shelf.  My professor asked if I had a family connection with either of those traditions, and I told him I did, and made note of the connection with _Morals & Dogma_.  He immediately said something like, "Well, there's your answer! Take that book and make it the focus for your paper." 

So, I did as he suggested, wrote the paper, made an A in the course, soon thereafter asked my dad for a petition, and was raised as a Master Mason before summer's end.


----------



## Weldon Cressman

... One day I realized all my friends were Mason's.  It was sort of an epiphany. I hadn't paid any attention to it before that, didn't take any hints from them, connect any meanings, etc... strange!


----------



## Raymond Walters

My initial reason for interest in OUR fraternity wasn't covered in the responses. In my growing up I came to admire several men who all happened to be members of Freemasonry. 
What tipped me off was they all wore a ring with S&C, but were upstanding men, well thought of in their families, by the community and churches they belonged to. That was enough for me to come to admire this organization that they belonged to. 
When I announced my intention to join this organization, it was then that I found out my family's long connection to Freemasonry.


----------



## Heffernan

Masonry runs all around my mom's side of the family, and my dad became a Mason when I was still a kid, and I couldn't wait to become a DeMolay and I lived and breathed DeMolay throughout my teen years.  For me, I suppose it was a natural progression.  Almost all the men I admired in my life are/were Masons.  In the twenty-one years that I've been a Master Mason, that rule has held true throughout.

--
Patrick Heffernan, P.M.
Anson Jones #1416, AF & AM
Friendswood, Texas


----------



## C. Banks Barbee

Really it was several of the reasons in the poll.  

My grandfather was my first introduction to how important Masonry was.  As a child, I would thumb through his "Lightfoot's Monitor" and look at the pictures and read what I could understand.   I was fascinated by the facsimile of King Solomon's Temple and at that tender age wondering "How did _they build_ that!

When I came of age, I knew I wanted to become a Mason.  Knowing that my grandfather's days were numbered (although he's still kickin', thanks be to God) I knew that if I was going to go through with it I needed to do it while I could still sit in Lodge with him.  Probably my fondest memory, more precious than my first car... among other firsts, is my grandfather "raising me from the great beyond."

Masonry has so much more to pass along besides memory work.


----------



## WarriorProphet

I put "family members" because it is the primary reason, my father and several uncles are Freemasons, I don't believe either grandfather was but both exemplify the way a mason should live in their charity to others.

But, the real reason was more of an epiphany moment, like many brothers have expressed. I had watched my father as he went through the degrees, then hardship made him leave the lodge for a time, then a brother secretary called and said if its about the money, I'd rather pay your dues than see you slip away. This was a moment for my dad where the brotherhood over rode all the rest. Because a brother would rather have him along for the fellowship than the work. Still, it was not the time or place for me. Then my best friends sister (whom after 12+ years I claim as a "spare" sister) began dating a man 15+ years older than her. I was told this, plus that he was a marine, and finally that he was a mason. I was understandably upset about the former two pieces of info, but the mason part left a hard question. How bad could this guy be if he was a mason? And if he had those tenets and teachings at heart, how does that effect the oddness of the pairing? I called my dad and discussed it, and was encouraged to just see how he treated her. So their family had a vacation, my friend did not get to do due to military training, but his sister and her new beau went. So I went, primarily for the half week I'd get to spend with him. Immediately upon arriving I could see his attitude was well, he brought a levity to things that had become doldrum or contention, and was constantly calling all around him who would listen to better enjoy each other, better work together, and even challenging the younger men to improve their lives. As I listened I began to quickly grow close, and found he'd been most quietly challenging me. So I had a great new friend, whom I spend much time with to this day, and we continue to encourage each other, now despite a decade or more separating us we are true friends and brothers.

But it was one discussion with him that I began to realize, as good as this man was, and as well as his life prepared him, in the last few years masonry had sewn up, straightened up, and given definition to those things, making him able to combine all the good things he'd learned, forget or surpass all the bad, and truly made a good man better. Then as we spoke I also admitted I'd seen similar in my father, and was proud of the changes and progress the craft had done in him.

A couple weeks after the vacation I visited my friends lodge, found the men there more agreeable to my personality than the older gentlemen my father's lodge had been and petitioned to join. In coming around for my degrees my father met my friend, and the brothers there, and also joined there.

This is what it should be about, not to discount the awesome mysteries, nor the grand history of the fraternity, nor even a longstanding family legacy. But, to be lead to the door by a friend, knock, have it opened, and find new brothers and friends already waiting inside is to me the best experience one can have, made even better for those of us who find fathers and grandfathers of our own already there.

And now I'm here, able to see all as my brothers, and now I want to spend more time at his lodge, other lodges in the area, shriner game nights, combined service projects, and the like. Because I see friends and brothers wherever I go.


----------



## Blake Bowden

Excellent post my Brother!


----------



## leshassell

The best men I've ever known were Masons and there are many, many reasons I could come up with but the main reason I wanted to become a Mason was, quite simply, so I could wear my Grandfather's ring.


----------



## ddreader

long family history of masons. i was being taught masonic morals and vules my whole life and did not even know it till i joined. how i love it so.


----------



## Benton

I petitioned for a couple of the listed reasons in the poll. My maternal grandfather was a Mason, and while I didn't know him long (he died while I was young) I always knew him to be a very kind, good person. 

My high school band director was a Mason (noticed his ring my senior year), and he was very influential on me musically and developmentally. I'm a music education major in college, soon to be a music teacher, and a large part of that was his influence, so it certainly impacted me!

I also, while in college, have had a grand time in my college fraternities (two of them) both of which were heavily influenced by Masonry, and I wanted to both continue my fraternal pursuits post college, as well as experience the grand daddy of all fraternities itself. 

And I'm not going to lie, the mystique of Masonry pulled me in a lot too. Seeing men with their rings, usually very put together and successful, good people interested me. It was only after I joined Masonry that I discovered the beautiful virtues and morals it taught, and how it could affect me as a virtuous man. And I think that's what interests me about Masonry the most now that I'm in it; using it to mold myself into a better man.


----------



## Papatom

Sirius said:


> _The Mysteries_ are what pulled me in. Not out of curiosity, more like      ( polarity).
> 
> POLARITY????


----------



## Willys

I used to like working backstage in my school theatre, it was where the other kids were friendly.  The treat of the year being the musical.  I couldn't carry a tune and was jealous watching those who could.  Years later, I commented to a Manager at work that I would like to have been in the longest running musical in Broadway history.  To which the Manager replied, 'Get yourself in a Lodge.'  He did sign my petition.

I realize today it was all discipline, ritual, design and commitment I was seeking and have no further interest in Broadway.

Okay, really.  My dad and most uncles were Masons. I always had a good opinion of Masonry.  At family gatherings they would all huddle out back, smoking, laughing, sharing a bond.  So, I finally became accepted but unfortunately, the family has now mostly passed on.

Masonry has helped me to learn that family lineage, continuity.  Dads and uncles have done this for a couple of centuries.


----------



## trey_odom

this wasnt an option . but when i was growing up . my dad didnt stick around .. so i wanted to b around good godly men , and men with good hearts to help out even the youngest masons.


----------



## JEbeling

Barbee.. ! it was nice to see your Grandfather get his 50 year pin the other nite.. ! have known him for a lot of years.. ! nice to see him getting around and still doing his job.. !


----------



## jwhoff

family history going back seven generations to (at least) Germany.
history and philosophy of the order
deep yearning for "something more" than the work-a-day world
my mason father died when I was 14 and, because of the masons around me, I never suffered from male nurturing and leadership


now, it's the triangle:  my relationship with God and my fellow man

of course, being able to get myself around Washington, DC without a street map is a real bonus!


----------



## jwhoff

rhitland said:


> Well it was not drag me by the ear making me but the peer/Dad presure was intense and I thought what the heck I like what my Dad likes so I bet this rocks-made me, well it did not to me, the degrees where okay (the work by Brothers was fine I got good degrees) but I was just not into it or better yet I was not ready to get it. Then I saw the politics involved and I ran like a scalled ape for better than a year and then I saw that little book with all those neat cyphers in it which I could read, so I started learning the work from that book thinking I would help my Lodge out with degree work attending floor school at a differnt Lodge once or twice a week as to not get involved in politics just meet, learn and go and the occasional visit to my mentor. Well long story long my mentor happen to not show up one night for an EA degree which he does the lectiures and they were gonna cancel and my Dad said he can do it so I did and wow I had an eye opening experinence, at that moment I was trully initiated and I cared not what came in my way in the future I was gonna do degree work and have been jumping in the biggest chair I can every degree I can get to ever since.


 
Sorry Rhitland, lots of folks are scared off by politics in the lodge.  Even though we're warned against such nonsense everywhere in the craft.  Your statement has struck a cord with me.  As a brotherhood we should spend more time building up the important aspects of masonry than trying to persuade one another of our various political views.  Thanks for hanging around long enough to catch the bug.  Remember what you've learned personally and pass it on brother.


----------



## jwhoff

cemab4y said:


> I became a Mason for one simple reason. Men I respected, were Masons. Plain and simple. Yes, I have a family connection, my father is a Mason. Both of my (deceased) grandfathers were Masons. My Great-uncle was a 33rd degree SR Mason, and big in the Shrine. But I did not join because my relatives were Masons.
> 
> Most people do not realize it, but we are our own best advertisement. When you wear your lodge ring in public, you represent Freemasonry.  Other men, will look to you, and measure you by the kind of man you are. If you live up to the tenets and practices of Masonry, other men will follow.
> 
> One question you should ask yourself often- "If being a Freemason were a crime, would there be enough evidence to convict you"?


 
Take care of yourself brother.  Your words are food for thought.  Wisdom abounds in those few words you share.


----------



## Wesbarr

My father, grandfather, and four of my uncles are MM. I never gave it any thought growning up but after getting older I gained intrest and went through the degrees. It's a very wonderful experience to have so much family with you


----------



## robert leachman

Grandfather and greatgrandfather on my Dad's side
Found out later that there are several on my Dad's


----------



## Brethren Taylor UK

After surviving cancer I wanted to do something worthwhile with my life and help others less fortunate.


----------



## Timothy Fleischer

I asked about the Lodge because I kept coming across the names of men who were Masons doing good things in the community. I own a small town newspaper and these men kept coming up through the newspaper for volunteering here and doing good things there. When the WM came in to the newspaper to announce an Open House at the Lodge, I knew him through other ways and asked him about Masonry. He lit up like a Christmas tree!

That was 15 years ago. Best question I have asked in a lifetime of asking questions as a newspaperman.

From there, I learned of the rich history of our Fraternity both in the founding of our nation and in the founding of Texas and in the founding of the small town I call home.

I learned of the beauty of our rituals and the symbolic lessons taught through them.

I asked, I sought, I knocked and the door was opened unto me.

Tim Fleischer
PM Salado Masonic Lodge #296


----------



## sspencer@chireno.com

I felt that masonry had to be a good organization because every mason I had met were good and upstanding men. Also there is the shriners hospital. After some research about the craft I asked my best friend about becoming a mason. My proudest moment (Next to my children being born) was when I turned in my MM work!


----------



## jwardl

Multiple choice would be better.


----------



## MikeMay

jwardl said:


> Multiple choice would be better.


 
True...I think many of us could have picked several.


----------



## gnarledrose

I had lots of things pointing me in the direction of the lodge at the time; I wasn't very pleased with the politics my church was slinging around (I grew up Mormon, and this was right around California's Prop 8 debacle), but more than that, I missed the friendships I'd had in church as a young man but seemed to have grown apart from. I was also going through my father's belongings after he passed away, and found a pin that I later found out  belonged to the National Fraternal Society for the Deaf. I figured if anyone would know anything about another fraternity, it would be the Masons. While trying to find out where a lodge was near me and how to contact them, I did some research on the fraternity itself and when I came across the note about religious equality, it really struck something in me hard. And when The Lost Symbol came out and showed me that all you had to do was ASK to become one, that cemented the notion in my head.
So, a combination of the mysteries, brotherhood, and religious tolerance all swept me into our ancient and honorable fraternity.


----------



## Michaelstedman81

As Bro. Mike May said, there are several answers to this.  My father is a Mason, but I never new about that until I was about 16 years old when I found his apron.  Even then, I had no clue what the organization was about until a couple years later when I was riding with him on the way back from Austin and saw a sign for a Masonic Lodge and I asked him about it again.  He told me a little bit about it being an organzation for me.  When I got home, I researched a little bit more about it on the internet and was able to find some of the values and morals involved with living a Masonic life.  It really hit me because they were values and morals that I had seen in my father that he had been teaching me since I can remember.  All along I was just thinking that my father was just a nice, understanding, and down to Earth kind of guy.  I had no idea that there was something more to it.  So obviously, I wanted to become a better man and contribute more to charity and the rest of the world by being one.

Also after looking more into things, I started to see the rich history of the fraternity and how far back it went.  Before long, I was addicted to picking up Masonic literature and trying to learn as much about it as possible.  I wanted to be involved with a group that was doing so much for the country and the world.

So yea, this was a really good question, but maybe if there were radio button that allowed for checking off more than one choice or even a choice that has "multiple" answers would have made this more accurate and easier to answer...lol  But since it was just one that I was allowed to choose, I would have to say that a rich history was the biggest factor for me as all of my other reasons can be contained in that one.


----------



## jwhoff

Michaelstedman81 said:


> A It really hit me because they were values and morals that I had seen in my father that he had been teaching me since I can remember.  All along I was just thinking that my father was just a nice, understanding, and down to Earth kind of guy.



BINGO!  My dad died when I was a little over 14 years old.  I knew he was a mason, that most of the men in my family from both sides were masons, and that I came from a very long line of masons reaching all the way back to Germany and Scotland.  What I didn't understand until I got into the craft and, more specifically the Scottish Rite, was that the principles taught me by my mother and father were exactly those I find in the craft.  What an eye-opener that was!

And believe me, those principles weren't always in line with those of my friends and neighbors.  Often I thought of why we had different views that some of folks around us.  What was different since we were living in the same environment, culture, and time.


----------



## Michaelstedman81

jwhoff said:


> BINGO! My dad died when I was a little over 14 years old. I knew he was a mason, that most of the men in my family from both sides were masons, and that I came from a very long line of masons reaching all the way back to Germany and Scotland. What I didn't understand until I got into the craft and, more specifically the Scottish Rite, was that the principles taught me by my mother and father were exactly those I find in the craft. What an eye-opener that was! And believe me, those principles weren't always in line with those of my friends and neighbors. Often I thought of why we had different views that some of folks around us. What was different since we were living in the same environment, culture, and time.




Thanks for sharing that with me.  It is awesome to know that there are other Brothers out there that experienced that same thing growing up.  I didn't lose my father, and I am sorry to hear that you lost yours at that young of an age, it is awesome the impact our fathers had on us living the Masonic life.


----------



## Thestoat

Hey guys and hi again Michael

My great grandad died when I was 13, but all the lessons he taught me carried me through some dark times, so all our parents, people bringing us up never wasted their time teaching us this stuff.

We honor them by being Freemasons, and carrying on the traditions correctly, when I joined, so much in my life made sense, it's good to know that I come from a good line of men.

To trace a line back to Scottish rite and also Germany is truly special, let's hope we all continue to meet the way we do.


----------



## songdogshooter41

The reason I became a freemason is, I had lived in the same town for 10 years. I didn't know very many people in town outside of work, the part store, bank, church, and grocery store. I was handed a petion from a church member who said. The marines are looking for a few good me.... we make good men better. He had my intrest. I did a little research, I didn't have the internet at the time, so I went to people I knew. I found out that the store manager from the part store, and my own boss were masons. Neither of them active. I asked them good questions, and received good answers.
I was initiated, passed, and raised. The fire that I had for the craft spread to those around me. The parts store manager came back! Became the WM for three years. Now I am in the East. Bringing Brothers back is my goal. Giving them a reason to come back is my goal.


----------



## cemab4y

I joined for a multiplicity of reasons. I joined primarily because men I respected and admired (including family members), were Masons. This choice was not offered in the poll. We masons often forget, that we are our own best advertisement. When we wear our ring, and advertise to the world, that we are masons, we therefore _are_ Masonry.


----------



## Aleister

The architect chose me.


----------



## Michael Hatley

> I became a Mason for one simple reason. Men I respected, were Masons.


 
Same reason, for me.  

My story - I managed a business based in Australia for a number of years.  I had an Australian counterpart, who started out as my protoge but as we got to know each other we quickly assumed a coequal powersharing arrangement.  He is a decade older than I am, and like me a military veteran.  We became brothers in a deep way, and were always honest with each other even when it was hard, and always looked out for one another.  It got to the point that each other was more important than the organization, but there was little seperation between all of that - and the organization thrived.  Anway, it turns out he was a grand lodge officer in Australia and eventually we had a discussion about it.  I tabled the idea though, just too much on my plate and whatnot.

Anyway, a couple years later I was at my HOA meeting where I served on the executive board and there was a big hullaballoo about something or other, trash collection if I recall right.  We got that all sorted out (as well is it could be - Im in one of *those* neighborhoods).  Anyway after the meeting this sweet old man told me he was having problems with his computer and he asked me if I could help him with it.  At the time I owned a software company and we'd put in an irrigation system for the esplanades, blah blah - so I guess he figured I was a computer wiz.  He was the sweetest man, and I couldn't tell him no, so I went over to help him and we became fast friends.  At the time he was I guess 88 or so, a WWII vet and truly, the sweetest man I have ever met in my life.  A pianist, he volunteered for 20 years after retiring to play for children, nursing homes, you name it.  Turns out he was a 33rd degree Scottish Rite, Grand Musician for the TX Grand Lodge, and a whole string of pretty much everything you can do in masonry.  

Brother Wade, who he is to me now, inspired me in a deep way.  I decided I wanted to be a man like him, who is quick with a smile and radiates kindness like the sun.  That sounds silly maybe, but if you met him you'd agree.  I already had a very deep brotherhood with a mason, as I say.  Which has only been deepened further now.

And Brother Wade, after I became a mason and then active in our lodge in a way that he could be proud of, now says he thinks of me as his own son.  Special stuff - and that is why I am a mason.


----------



## Brent Heilman

Awesome story Bro. Hatley. It is great to hear stories like that.


----------



## dreamer

I did not join for any of those reasons. I did not know much about Masonry at all, but I had expectations. I thought we were above all, I mean loyalty, trust, friendship and open minded men that can discuss most topics without be offended are being argumentative. It's not all quite like this I see, but I do know I am in a select group of people in the world  that I want to share my existence with. I am impressed with the ritual, history and the constant learning. I travel locally  to extend my friendship and Brotherly Love and offer to assist where I can, after all we are Brothers and that means the world to me.


----------



## WestTXFreemason

Plain and simple,  I wanted to become a better man. That is what Freemasonry has helped mold into me and I try to help others realize it too.

Freemason Connect Mobile


----------



## baruchhc

Masonry has definitely made me a better man. I will continue my journey to continue to improve. 

Freemason Connect Mobile


----------



## K3vin

I decided to become a Mason last year (2012). 

My Grandfather was a mason for 68 years, and passed away earlier this year. He was 96 and was sharp as a tack until the end. I had no doubt his mental sharpness and longevity had everything to do with how active he was in his lodge.

I am happy that I was made a Mason before he passed on to that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. He was so happy when I told him I had petitioned. My main regret is waiting so long to become a Mason. How much more meaningful my conversations could have been with him. 


My Freemasonry


----------



## John Jennings

Awesome post K3vin!

My Freemasonry


----------



## BroBook

I was looking for the truth still looking and glad to see that others are looking also !!!


My Freemasonry


----------



## dfreybur

The reasons I petitioned are very different from the reasons I remain active.  The reasons I petitioned remain valid but what I found in Masonry once I started attending meant more to me than I expected.

Petitioned because I wanted some civic activity without being politically active.  Discussion of partisan politics is forbidden in lodge, lodges sponsor charities and lodges conduct service activities.  Those were high on the list of many reasons why I chose to petition for the degrees.  I still like all of those reasons.  My wife and I very much like going to CHIP events for the kids and any other service events that put us out into the community contributing.

What I discovered when I started attending is something more.  I discovered the fellowship fills a void that I didn't even knew existed.  I attend regularly for the fellowship, for the personal interaction.  A stated meeting really can be nothing but paying the bills on the surface but under the surface I'm there shaking hands with friends, spending time with friends, interacting in a way that doesn't happen at work or with my family.  Some brothers say they want the bond they found in the military.  I could join the American Legion and get a mixed gender version of what I experienced in the military.  For me it's similar to that but more primally personal and masculine.


----------



## BroBook

Yea that's very good sir hard to find people you want to be around !!!


Sent From My Freemasonry Mobile App


----------



## Bro Darren

Its a pity that one can not choose multiple options for the poll. For myself its the amazingly rich history combined with the Ritual work & the mysteries that surround it. Then the whole concept of being part of the same fraternity that my Mothers Uncle spoke so highly of in his days. 

I can't choose multiple options so I guess I'd have to say that it was because of my Mothers Uncle as he was the original reason that sparked my interest. 
The other options have added fuel to my interest and pushed me to petition and without them, I'm not sure that I would have pursued my interest.


----------



## jwhoff

Constantly rethinking my positions in life.

So ...

Power, greed, wealth, CONTROL are my current leanings.

With me Wild bill_Lins?

:sneaky2:


----------



## BroBook

We come to subdue !!!


----------



## kastonw

I was a member of DeMolay when I was a younger and when I had to leave due to family reasons I always wanted to be a Mason

virtus junxit mors non separabit


----------



## CuAllaidh

JTM said:


> curiosity is never a good answer during an investigation...



Why not? Curiosity is natural, its what drives humanity. I gave curiosity as part of my answer for why I wanted to join, the investigation committee didn't seem to mind. Sure if its the sole reason for joining perhaps the person is not yet ready for masonry, but lets be honest before joining I am sure all of us were pretty darned curious about what actually goes on in a lodge. Honesty above all else is one of my personal tenets and I believe I held true to that on my application and my investigation, so when they asked why I wanted to join "curiosity" and "to join a social organization" were among my answers.


----------



## JTM

If all the candidate has is curiosity, then it's not a good reason.  Seen too many wash out like that.  From your post, it would seem that we agree on that point.

Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App


----------



## CuAllaidh

JTM said:


> If all the candidate has is curiosity, then it's not a good reason.  Seen too many wash out like that.  From your post, it would seem that we agree on that point.
> 
> Sent From My Freemasonry Pro App



We absolutely agree on that point. My issue was really primarily with the "....never a good answer". I was probably just nit picking on semantics though


----------



## Brandon Smith

When I was a teenager I stumbled upon my Grandfathers Fez. He did not wear any jewelry or the like so this was the first time I had seen such a thing. He explained what the fez was and that he was a mason. He would only tell me that joining the lodge was one of the best things he had ever done and that they make good men better. 

As I grew older that stuck with me. I have always looked up to my grandfather and have strived to live up to the same moral standard he did. I figured joining the lodge would help me take the next step in being the best man I could be. I petitioned the lodge after college and he traveled to La from Tn when I was raised. Certainly one of the best things I have ever done as well.


----------



## goomba

Dozens of men in my family are Masons.  However, when I moved off after joining the Army I believed Masonry to be not such a good organization.  Then when my grandfather passed and he had a Masonic funeral I began to think for myself.  I read things from anti-Masonic sources and these seem so far fetched they could not be real.  Not based on the men that I knew who were Masons.  I read things from Masonic sources and this all seemed to make sense.

I finally decided the only way I could really find out was to become a Mason.  It is one of the best things I have ever done!


----------



## tldubb

goomba said:


> Dozens of men in my family are Masons.  However, when I moved off after joining the Army I believed Masonry to be not such a good organization.  Then when my grandfather passed and he had a Masonic funeral I began to think for myself.  I read things from anti-Masonic sources and these seem so far fetched they could not be real.  Not based on the men that I knew who were Masons.  I read things from Masonic sources and this all seemed to make sense.
> 
> I finally decided the only way I could really find out was to become a Mason.  It is one of the best things I have ever done!



Excellent testimony Bro.! Amen SMIB!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using My Freemasonry HD mobile app


----------



## Warrior1256

Both for the rich history and the mystery surrounding the Craft.


----------



## Morris

When I was a kid I saw a S&C on a headstone. I have been searching for "why" that moment grabbed me ever since then.


----------



## Tpower31

Curiosity and interest in the mysteries of The Craft


Sent from my iPhone using My Freemasonry Pro


----------



## Dontrell Stroman

World wide brotherhood ! Where ever I go in life, there is a brother that is willing to lend a helping hand should I need it. Just one of the reasons I enjoy freemasonry.

Sent from my 831C using My Freemasonry Pro mobile app


----------

