We initiated my friend N this evening. We worked together at ImagoQA and Searchspace, and he expressed an interest in Freemasonry a while back, so I referred him to our Lodge, which accepted him and ballotted him in this evening. My contribution, besides being Junior Warden as usual, was to deliver the Charge to the Initiate.
Now, as many of you will know, Freemasons generally memorise their parts, rather than reading them from a book. Thus, delivering a 10 minute speech, from memory (only having to be prompted twice) is pretty good. The Charge talks about Freemasonry in general, what Freemasons must do and be in order to be good Masons and good men, and the specific obligations they have to their Lodge. I was really elated that I got through it with only two minor prompts.
I also delivered the Toast to the Initiate at the Festive Board, which was quite merry in my corner. Five of us younger (in Masonry) men were very merry indeed (not the worse for wear from liquor, just merry). It was really a lot of fun.
The Toast ran (as well as I can remember) thus:
Worshipful Master, Brethren all. Brother N has the distinct honour to have been initiated on Ash Wednesday…I should have been in church to be ashed tonight but instead I was here performing my duty to N, whom I proposed for membership. Speaking of ashes, a woman’s husband was pretty useless around the house for many years, until he died and was cremated. She placed the urn with his ashes on it on the mantle and, after the first heavy snow, took the urn and scattered the ashes on the driveway, shouting, “At last, you lazy loafer, you’re doing some work.”
I have known Brother N for more than 10 years. We worked together at Imago, and he worked for me at Searchspace, and now we are together again in the Lodge. Delivering the Charge tonight was a pleasure; since I will never be able to help with a ceremony for a son of mine, delivering the Charge at N’s initiation was a very personal and distinct pleasure, and I wish him many happy years of Freemasonry. Now please drink a bumper toast to N, the Initiate.”
I have worked out that N will be raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason in October 2010, at which time I am apt to be Master of the Lodge. Thus, I have begun to memorise the raising ceremony in anticipation.