A Forward Looking Mason - S. Brent Morris 6/3/09

JEEZ - It is 12:14 and I forgot to Blog. - To be fair, I had an important task to do. In 1993 I was honored to work with S. Brent Morris when Iowa Research Lodge #2 published a collection of his writings. The book was called A Radical In The East and as I re-read it today I realized just how groundbreaking Brother Morris' book was.

I had not realized just how much my Masonic thinking had been influenced by the ideas in this book. Brother Morris was very kind to me and made me believe that I was actually helping him to get the book edited and out. I have no illusions. He did most all of the work. I was just someone who was there for him to bounce ideas off once in awhile. But Brent is such a giant of a Mason that he basically could have done it without any help from me. But it was one of those cases where I was able to sit at the feet of a master and I gained immeasurably from the experience.

One of the ideas that jumped out at me today as I read was a quotation from Brother Rob Morris Poet Laureate of Freemasonry - He said:

" The Order with us has too much of the pulpit and too little of the table. A due intermixture of both was what the Craft in olden times regarded."

There is much in this little volume which needs to be read and discussed by any Mason who is interested in moving the Craft forward into the Twenty-first Century. You can find out more about Brother Morris here. He has an impressive resume. 

A Radical In The East is out of print right now but Iowa Research Lodge # 2 is in the process of printing a second edition with two new papers not in the original book. Anyone interested in joining the Lodge will receive the book and also Robert Davis' Book on Manhood in America.