As a member of DeMolay since  the age of 13 I have met  young men of different ages.

Most never have heard of me nor I them, but it was like we had known each other our whole lives.  As a State Officer, I got to go to International where I met many brothers from other states and countries. Even there, everyone was like family.  I am now a Master Mason which means I gained a whole new brotherhood of men from all over the world.

But what does all that mean, family and brotherhood?

It means you will never be alone in life if you need someone to talk to, or someone who will help you become a better person.

Sometimes we all need that brother to hold us accountable for what we do.  If we are not presenting ourselves as a Mason, we should have someone who will help correct us in a brotherly love way. This will help us to live better and leave the world better than we found it.

Sometimes we just need that time together to fellowship and bond doing our ritualistic work and usually with lots of food.  (Every Mason loves that part.)

Brotherly love means to love like Jesus loved the ones that mocked him . 

Respectfully submitted with love,
Austin Barfield, State Master Councilor
Order Of DeMolay

What is The International Order of the Rainbow for Girls?  Is it a cult, is it a sorority, or is it just another club for girls?   NO! NO! NO!  It is none of those things!

Here’s a little bit about what it IS:

It IS a sisterhood of girls who nurture, encourage and support each other in every phase of life and through every experience.  It IS friendship that lasts a lifetime and spans not only their town, their state and their country, but the entire world.

It IS a vehicle that takes a timid young girl and allows her to bloom into a self-assured, poised young woman who can stand confidently in front of any size audience and eloquently deliver a speech or take part in a debate or discussion. 

It IS a culture of love and service.  Love of God, of family, of Country and her fellow man are not just words she utters, but the mantra she lives by.  Her greatest source of pleasure and pride comes from her service to her community and those less fortunate. 

It IS a principle of right living and right thinking.  A Rainbow Girl knows other girls are watching her and conducts herself as a model of high moral standards.  She sets the bar high and strives daily to reach and exceed her own expectations.

So now, my question to you – do you know a young lady between the ages of 10 and 20 who would benefit from all the things Rainbow IS?  If so, I encourage you to reach out to me or any other adult leader in the state.  If there is not a Rainbow Assembly in your area, let’s start one.  Let’s teach our young women the proper paths to follow while they are in the impressionable years of life.  Most of our members go on to join OES when they become old enough. 

If you would like more information about Rainbows in general, go to the Supreme Assembly website, www.gorainbow.org.  If you would like more information about Mississippi Rainbow and all the things they are doing, go to our website, www.missiorg.org.

We invite you to join us for our 70^th annual Grand Assembly to be held in Natchez, MS, June 12-16, 2019.  Information about Grand Assembly can be found on our website.

In Rainbow love and service,
LaDonna Hamilton
Supreme Deputy in MS

We are taught that these admonish us to have Faith in God, Hope in Immortality and Charity to all mankind. The greatest of these is Charity; for Faith may be lost in sight; Hope ends in fruition; but Charity extends beyond the grave to the boundless realms of eternity.

In 1870 a group of Masons gathered frequently for lunch at the Knickerbocker Cottage on Sixth Avenue in New York City. At a special table on the second floor a particularly fun-loving group of men met regularly. The group frequently talked about starting a new fraternity for Masons – one centered on fun and fellowship, more than ritual.

The first meeting of Mecca Shriners, the first temple (chapter) established in the United States, was held September 26, 1872. As word got out about the fledgling organization, membership grew rapidly, spreading across the U.S. In the early 1900s, membership spread into Canada, Mexico and Panama. Today, Shriners International is a fraternity with nearly 200 temples in several countries, thousands of clubs around the world and hundreds of thousands of members dedicated to the principles of brotherly love, relief and truth.

From its earliest days the Shriners were known for their philanthropic efforts across the country. By the early 1900s the fraternity was growing quickly. And as the fraternity was growing, so was the support for establishing an official charity. Most temples had local philanthropies and sometimes the Shriners’ organization offered aid.

The idea to establish hospitals for children was brought to the membership in 1919 by Freeland Kendrick (P.I.P., Lu Lu Shriners, Philadelphia) after he visited a Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children in Atlanta. This visit made Kendrick aware of the overwhelming need to care for children with orthopedic disorders.

During his tenure as Imperial Potentate in 1919 and 1920, Kendrick traveled more than 150,000 miles, visiting a majority of the 146 Shrine temples and campaigning for an official philanthropy to be established.

By June 1922 the cornerstone had been laid for the first Shriners Hospitals for Children® in Shreveport, La. The first patient to be admitted in 1922 was a little girl with a clubfoot, who had learned to walk on the top of her foot rather than the sole.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is changing lives every day through innovative pediatric specialty care, world-class research and outstanding medical education. These hospitals provide advanced care for children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate.

If you know a child under the age of 18 with any of these conditions, please have the parent or guardian call Shriners Hospital for Children-Shreveport at  800-830-0606.  If you would like to know how to be a Shriner and help us help children in need, just talk with a Shriner or visit https://www.beashrinernow.com/  

Grover W. Vining
Member, Board of Governors
Shriners Hospital for Children-Shreveport

Our obligations as Masons instruct us to work to make ourselves better men.  We are repeatedly encouraged  to attend lodge, to  study and  talk with other more knowledgeable Masons, and to work hard to learn more and more just as we were instructed to do in our degrees. 

Too often we as Masons overlook the other portion of our degree lecture that says to remember our obligations outside of Masonry, especially our obligation to our families.  We attend stated meetings, degrees, practices, fish fries, pancake breakfasts, schools and work days.  I just checked my calendar for May and June and realistically I could attend at least one Masonic meeting every night of the week except Sunday.  Some of our members do exactly that. 

 Instead of workaholics, we become Lodgeaholics.

Most of us are married and many of us have children at home during at least a portion of our Masonic careers.  How do our families benefit from having an always absent husband or father?  

Brother Eric Lentz often said that “What we do inside the lodge doesn’t matter.  It’s what we do outside that counts.”  Let us all remember to carry the lessons to use our time wisely from inside the lodge out into the larger world, and to balance the obligations we owe to other Masons with the obligations we owe to our families.  

Let us  work harder to become better husbands and fathers, remember the  obligations we owe to our families, and to keep the balance in our lives as we are taught in the first degree. If we do those things,  we will become better Masons and better men. 

Ricky Stevens PM
Internet Committee Member