It was a great time with the few brethren that attended the Lodge of Instruction meeting tonight. We practiced the opening of the EA and FC and stopped occasionally to discuss and verify the Ritual as it was given in the typewritten Ritual book. This is the same ritual that has been passed down through the ages as far back as 1859.
While we were practicing the EA and FC, many of the points throughout can even be applied during the MM degree. What I find disappointing is the few brethren that did attend tonights meeting. I can say from experience that even this old dog that has sat in the East for at least 5 years still learned some of the finer points in the Ritual. It is evident that not many of us know the ritual as well as we think we do. Also, even if this is not the year that you are inspected in these two degrees, it does not mean that you should skip out on practicing. Eventually you will need to portray the work, and what better opportunity will you find to practice the ritual as it was intended? I would have hoped to see more brethren attend the meeting than did.
With that said, I will say it was an extreme honor to be allowed to sit in the East for the practice and get critiqued in what I thought was the code. While I had most of the speaking parts correct, there were many little words that either I missed, added or mispronounced. It is nice to be able to sit with brethren and learn and not feel pressured to “get it right”. We all are there to learn from each other, and it was humbling to know that I can still practice and improve myself in Masonry.
I look forward to the next instruction night in the MM degree in January. I hope my brothers plan to attend as well. Be safe and travel often!