The Life Masonic Podcast 
This is The Life Masonic, I’m your host, Jason Van Dyke.
As I was preparing the show for this month, I got an interesting piece of feedback from a listener. He suggested that we include a piece about the upcoming web event being hosted by the Supreme Council. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about - never fear, details are coming)
Well, it was a really good idea. One I am ashamed to admit I hadn’t thought of. And the more that I thought about it, the more I wanted to do a whole show around it.
The entire staff here at the Supreme Council is in some way involved with this project, and has been for about 3 or 4 months already. So, I thought I’d take a microphone around the building and talk to people about what the event will be, their involvement with the event, and what preparations they have already made.
Image:© Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, D.C.
On this month’s show we continue a conversation started last month with Eric Diamond in Chicago about technology and Freemasonry. This time, we move across the country and visit with our old friend John Liley, the past Grand Master of Utah. We also hear some feedback gathered from the web about one Mason's experience using tech in his Lodge. Overall, another jam-packed episode. So enough with the reading, and start with the listening. This is The Life Masonic.
A Call for Feedback...
Oh great and mighty internet, we'd really like some feedback, if you please.
Tell us if you like/dislike the show. Tell us what we can do to improve it. Give us ideas for future shows (our job just isn't easy enough; we'd like you to help). Be honest, but please be kind.
You can leave us your thoughts here by clicking the comments link to the right over there, or you can email us at thelifemasonic at gmail dot com. (We did that to confuse and irritate spammers - spineless letches.) You can call us and leave a message, too - 442-777-3579. Or, stalk follow us on Twitter @TheLifeMasonic or on our Facebook page.
Any of those are acceptable. Just talk to us, please. We miss you.
It took radio 38 years to reach 50 million people. It took Television 14 years to accomplish the same. The internet did it in just 4.
We are moving faster today than ever before. And Freemasonry may seem like an anachronism in a world that thrusts forward in ever increasing spasms of technological progress. But here we are, almost three hundred years old and still going.
Here’s the kicker, though – In a fraternal tradition that specifically bans innovation in its ritual and practice – the ways in which members from around the world meet, communicate and bond has changed so much over just the past 50 years – it would seem like magic to our brethren of the past.
So this month we present you with a story so big, we had to split it up into parts. First, I talk to Eric Diamond in Chicago about Freemasonry and design – how he uses technology for his Lodge, and what advice he has for others looking to integrate tech into their Lodge lives.
Then, next time, I talk again to John Liley, the past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Utah, and how he has leveraged tech to help grow his Grand Lodge smarter and more responsibly.
Two big thinkers in Masonry – two big episodes. Hold your iPhone close, and grab a comfortable seat – this is the Life Masonic.
Stan Dodd is the Associate Director of Membership Services for the Scottish Rite, SJ. Along with the Director of the department, Dean Alban, they tavel A LOT. And in those travels they pick up great stories for the Masons they meet. This month, we hear a couple of stories from those Masons. They are each inspirational and Masonic in their own way, but they are each great examples of how an individual can find strength when he most needs it.
On this month’s show, we talk about leadership. And where better to go for that than the head of the organization – the Sovereign Grand Commander himself.
A native of Baton Rouge, LA, Ronald A. Seale has served for 7 years as the 18th Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States, the mother supreme council of the World. Not a bad title.
But he’ll be the first to quickly add that he tied his plain white lambskin apron on just like you did, and that he stands no higher than any other Master Mason in his Lodge. And admittedly, it’s corny, until you get to know him and you realize he’s not just saying that – but that he truly and deeply believes it.
I recently sat down a talked with him about his leadership style, where he learned it from, his tolerance for leaf blowers, and what he hopes to accomplish in the future and be remembered for.
On this month's episode, we look at cornerstones. Specifically, the cornerstone of the House of the Temple, the headquarters building of the Supreme Council of Scottish Rite of Freemasonry for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States.
On October 18th, 2011 (the one-hundred year anniversary of the original cornerstone's laying), the Grand Lodge of the Disctrict of Columbia with help from the Grand Lodges of Maryland and Virginia re-enacted the Masonic cornerstone ceremony of 1911.
On this episode, we bring you the audio of this event, interspesed with color commentary from Ill. S. Brent Morris, 33*, Grand Cross, the Managing editor of The Scottish Rite Journal and author of Cornerstones of Freedom, a book about the history and traditions of Masonic cornerstone ceremonies.
Next up...
Tuesday, October 18th will mark the 100-year anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of the House of the Temple in Washington, D.C. The House of the Temple is not just one of the premier Masonic buildings in the world, it is also one of the world's greatest buildings, period.
Built between 1911 and 1915 and designed by the famous Neo-Classical architect John Russell Pope, the House of the Temple is a landmark in Neo-Classicism. It was Pope's first monumental commission and helped win him other important commissions in Washington such as the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, and the Jefferson Memorial.
In celebration of its centenary, there will be a public re-enactment of the laying of the cornerstone by the Grand Master of Masons in the District of Columbia, Most Worshipful Jesse Villareal, and his Grand Lodge on Tuesday.
The Life Masonic will be there, and we will try and share some of the best moments from the events surrounding this wonderful event. So stay tuned for Episode 3: Cornerstone, coming your way at the end of the month.
S and F -
TLM
On today’s show we highlight one of the most discussed topics in Lodge rooms and chat rooms around the world – youth in Freemasonry.
I’ll be honest with you, I’m a little apprehensive of this subject because I don’t know if there’s anything new or interesting left to say on this subject. But with this show’s guest, there just isn’t any way around it. He’s young, he’s a Mason, and he’s a leader in every sense of the word.
But first, let’s get some perspective. I talked to Dean Alban, the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction’s Director of Membership Services about what he sees in terms of membership and the effect of an influx of youth on it. He also shares a story about a recent experience he’s had with a young Mason and how even though he is a very unique individual, the reasons he became a Mason are anything but.
The New Show
Hail, Fellows out there in podcast land!
Welcome to The Supreme Council's (SJ, USA) new podcast, The Life Masonic. We just posted the first podcast episode yesterday, and are busy scurrying around and editing the second. So far the reaction has been great, and we are seeing people download the show from all over the world - some as far away as Indonesia!
We truely hope you enjoy it and want to hear what you think. Leave a comment below, or leave us a voice message at 442-777-3579. Follow us on Twitter @TheLifeMasonic, or check us out on Facebook. (Be sure to give us a "like" while you're there!)
Thanks for tuning in, and hope to hear from you soon -
TLM
Episode 1: Research with S. Brent Morris, 33*, Grand Cross
Download (right-click and select "Save As")
On our first episode we talk with S. Brent Morris, 33*, Grand Cross, the Managing Editor of The Scottish Rite Journal, and all-around well-known Masonic scholar. Brent talks about his early attempts at research and then explains how you can do it, too.
A promo for the upcoming monthly podcast of The Life Masonic.
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