For t M yer s Be ach Lodge #362 F r ee & Ac cep t ed M asons

17671 Pine Ridge Road

Phone: (239) 466-6363

Website: WWW.FMB362.COM Email: info@fmb362.com

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Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge #362Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge #362Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge #362Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge #362

Free & Accepted MasonsFree & Accepted MasonsFree & Accepted MasonsFree & Accepted Masons 17671 Pine Ridge Road17671 Pine Ridge Road17671 Pine Ridge Road17671 Pine Ridge Road

Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931

Chartered April 27, 1967Chartered April 27, 1967Chartered April 27, 1967Chartered April 27, 1967 Meets First & Third ThursdaysMeets First & Third ThursdaysMeets First & Third ThursdaysMeets First & Third Thursdays

6:30 Refreshment 6:30 Refreshment 6:30 Refreshment 6:30 Refreshment ---- 7:30 Meeting7:30 Meeting7:30 Meeting7:30 Meeting

Visitors Welcome Visitors Welcome Visitors Welcome Visitors Welcome ---- Members ExpectedMembers ExpectedMembers ExpectedMembers Expected WWW.FMB362.COMWWW.FMB362.COMWWW.FMB362.COMWWW.FMB362.COM

239239239239----466466466466----6363636363636363

The Trestle Board

November November November November 2013201320132013

Left to Right: Tyler Frank Alexander, Chaplin Derek Vaneske, Treasurer Tony Clark,

Junior Deacon Mark ”MJ” Kenny, Junior Warden Ken Compton,

Worshipful Master John MacDonald, Senior Warden Isidro “Izzy” Lopez,

Senior Deacon Joshua Calero, Senior Steward Jeff Taylor, Junior Steward Scott Wilder,

Secretary Fred Wright

Worshipful Master: Senior Warden: Junior Warden: Treasurer: Secretary: Chaplain: Senior Deacon: Junior Deacon: Senior Steward: Junior Steward: Tyler:

Past MastersPast MastersPast MastersPast Masters

John MacDonald

Isidro Lopez Ken Compton Tony Clark Fred Wright Derek Vaneske Josh Calero Mark Kenny Jeff Taylor Scott Wilder Frank Alexander

239-450-7712 239-462-2101 239-564-5539 239-454-6600 239-675-6503 913-731-2597 239-770-4233 239-246-1216 239-590-9250 239-898-7816 239-940-5251

*Deceased

2013Officers2013Officers2013Officers2013Officers

*W:.Marshall E. Wilkins…..1966-67UD

*W:. Hugh Holligan ……...……..1968 *RW:. Louis A. Myers…………......1969

W:. Raymond A. Howerton…....1970 *W:. Paul O. Hoffman……………..1971

*W:. Earnest C. Brown …...……..1972 *W:. Thomas S. Reahard .…......1973

*W:. William J. Nelson……..........1974 W:. Douglass M. Midgley….......1975

W:. Ronald E. Bare .………........1976 W:. Ralph E. Shaffer………........1977

*W:. Elbert E. Smith………..........1978 *W:. Jacob F. Woods ………….....1979

*W:. David A. Wedig ……………...1980 *W:. Chester A. Townsend.........1981

W:. Reginald C. Stark ………....1982 W:. Peter H. Hopwood Jr.........1983

*W:. William F. Mazur................1984 RW:. James W. Hogg.................1985

*W:. Richard D. Upham..............1986

*W:. James Toby ......................1987 W:. Robert J. Berczik.................1988

*W:. Robert j. Gibbons..............1989

W:. Frank C. Modafari..............1990 *W:. William F. Mazur Jr............1991

*W:. Daniel H. Nichols Sr...........1992 *W:. James L. Michael...............1993

W:. Kurt M. Reichenbecher…...1994 W:. Beaufort R. Bierce.............1995

*W:. E. James Toby..................1996 W:. Matthew L. Hall.................1997

RW:. Dick Tafel.......................1998 W:. Charles Pack.....................1999

W:. Donald Smith....................2000 *W:. Clyde Curry ....................2001

W:. Beaufort R. Bierce ............2002 W:. Robert DeVeny .................2003

RW:. Dick Tafel ......................2004 W:. Dan Lumley .....................2005

W:. Jerry Ralston ...................2006 W:. Bobby Mimmo....….…2007-2008

R.W:. Ed Lanham …...……2009-2010

W:. Bart Howard……………………2011 W:. Jim Phillips ………………..…..2012

Galloway Family Fun Day

Monthly Charity for October 2013 $100.00 - CHILD ID

Members are urged to support the monthly charity

November Events Nov 7th - FMB362 Stated (Business) Meeting - 6:30 Meal - 7:30 Work Nov 16th - Zone School/Open Books, Punta Gorda #115 - 9:00 until noon Nov 21st - FMB362 Stated (Business Meeting) - 6:30 Meal - 7:30 Work Nov 23rd - Rusty Nail Degree, Araba Shrine, 2:00 pm

District 29 Lodges & Meeting Dates Cape Coral #367 - 2nd & 4th Thursdays - 7:30pm

Cypress #295 - 2nd & 4th Thursdays - 7:00pm Fort Myers Beach #362 - 1st & 3rd Thursdays - 7:30pm

LaBelle #379 - 2nd & 4th Tuesdays - 7:30pm Lehigh Acres #344 - 2nd & 4th Mondays - 7:30pm Tamiami Trail #262 - 1st & 3rd Mondays - 7:30pm

Veritas #396 - 1st & 3rd Tuesdays - 7:30pm See www.fmb362.com for maps & directions to all local lodges

884884884884 License Plate VouchersLicense Plate VouchersLicense Plate VouchersLicense Plate Vouchers

sold so far. Just 116 more to reach sold so far. Just 116 more to reach sold so far. Just 116 more to reach sold so far. Just 116 more to reach

our goal of 1000. Let’s Go!our goal of 1000. Let’s Go!our goal of 1000. Let’s Go!our goal of 1000. Let’s Go!

From the EastFrom the EastFrom the EastFrom the East Hello Brothers, A few thoughts from the EAST this month. Please keep our Secretary Freddie and our Grand Guru Ed in your thoughts as they are dealing with some health issues that the rest of us would not want to deal with. Again please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. On Nov 9th we will again have our Master Mason I,II,III test at the Lodge. Our last one was a big success and I am hoping for a good turn-out this Saturday. Doughnuts and Coffee will be available at 0830 and we will start the Tests at 0900 or thereabouts. It should only take about 2 ½ hours and everyone will learn something. Now a word about:

THE MASONIC LETTER "G"

Why the letter “G” is so prominently displayed in Masonic lodges is an enigma to Masonic historians. Like the sphinx before the pyramids, it stands before us in silence and mystery. It is not consistently displayed throughout the Masonic world and there are Masonic scholars who feel it should be removed. The reason that it is so displayed is plainly given to the candidate in this Degree. We are told that it is the initial of Geometry as well as the initial of the name of the Supreme Being. From the time of the “Old Charges” and manuscripts up to the present, the synonymous nature of Geometry and Masonry is clearly stated. It is also obvious that “G” is the initial of God. This alone may be sufficient reason for its presence. There are other considerations that the Masonic student might want to take into account. The immediate question for some may be why is Geometry given such exalted status? One might also observe that the word “God” is not a name per se, but is a category of being – like “human being”. The name of the Supreme Being depends on what tradition a person follows, and it would not be incorrect to say that the True Name of the Supreme Being cannot be known. Obviously, then, the letter "G" does not refer to the common usage of that term. These two issues have given rise to much speculation regarding the focus given to this one letter of the alphabet. We will offer a few of these speculations for your benefit. The ancient languages of Phoenician, Hebrew and Greek all placed the “G” in the third place. In Hebrew, the order is aleph, beth, gimel. In Greek, the order is alpha, beta, gamma and so on. The Phoenician/Hebrew letter gimel means camel. There is an interesting passage in the Gospel of St. Matthew regarding our patron John the Baptist: “And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins.” (Matt 3:4) In both Hebrew and Greek, each letter is assigned a numerical value as well as a phonetic one, so that “G” is equivalent to the number “3” in both languages. The Greek letter gamma looks like an upside down “L”. It is two perpendicular lines forming the angle of a square. Gamma is also associated with Dionysus and resurrection.

Continued

The importance of Geometry to a full understanding of Freemasonry becomes apparent to the candidate as he progresses through the degrees. He is unequivocally informed that Geometry is the basis or foundation of Masonry. A full explanation for this importance is not forthcoming, just that it is very important to undertake the study. We would suggest that the Masonic student might follow some of the following lines of research that he may come to his own conclusions. It is thought that the Egyptians became skilled at surveying because the annual flooding of the Nile obliterated boundary markers in their fields. They had to set out and calculate new boundaries each year. The Greeks named this skill Geometry, or “earth measurement.” Empirical generalizations were derived, presumably, from their experience in field measurement. The Greeks, it is thought, made the advancement of using deductive logic to expand the knowledge into a theoretical science, and Pythagoras is credited with this achievement. This actually set the groundwork for the development of the sciences. So we may consider Geometry the first science. Pythagoras and his Society, and later, Plato and his Academy, raised Geometry to a sacred science of discovering the nature of reality and through it the Deity. We have such statements from Plato as: “Geometry rightly treated is the knowledge of the eternal.” And also: “Geometry must ever tend to draw the soul towards the truth.” Later, Euclid systemically presented all the knowledge of Geometry in his work Elements of Geometry, beginning with five unproved principles about lines, angles, and figures, which he called postulates. Euclid uses only the compass and straight edge for all the drawings, proofs, and solutions. There are some Masonic researchers who think that the letter “G” represents a little known method of Biblical interpretation known as gematria. One of the earliest known references to this method is found about 200 CE in the Bariatha of R. Eliezer ben R. Jose, the Galiean, which is a collection of 32 rabbinical rules. Gematria is listed within this treatise as a rabbinical method of biblical exegesis. As already mentioned, the Hebrew and Greek alphabets were also used as numbers. Therefore, every Hebrew word and every Greek word is the sum of the value of the individual letters. Exploring this technique of letter-number substitution, one looks for words, names, and phrases that add up to like values. Like values are thought to have meaningful relationships. For example, the Hebrew word for “heaven” (ha-shamayim) has the same gematria value as the word for “soul” (neshamah); that is, 395, derived by adding up each letter to arrive at a total. The Qabalist would say this means that the soul is identical with heaven. Another example of gematria can be found by comparing the Hebrew words for “love” (ahebah) and “unity” (echad), both of which add to 13. Combining the values of these two words gives us 26, the number of the Hebrew word rendered in English as Jehovah, the principal Name of God. This is a clear intimation that the nature of God can be understood as Love and Unity. This exegetical technique can be used with both the Hebrew scriptures and the Greek Christian scriptures. There are other texts that have been found to contain hidden gematria in Latin and Arabic, as well. From the practice of gematria have arisen extremely interesting techniques, which reveal a type of spiritual Geometry hidden within the Scriptures. WM:. John A MacDonald

From the East ContinuedFrom the East ContinuedFrom the East ContinuedFrom the East Continued From the WestFrom the WestFrom the WestFrom the West A Caring Lodge

My brothers, what we do in our Lodge before the meetings or

before the degrees start is as important for us as Masons as

each degree or management of the lodge. As we gather around

the table and share a meal or as we greet one another in the

parking lot or when we socialize after the meetings, let us be

mindful of the cares and concerns, the hopes and dreams of

the brothers and guests that we meet and greet. Our dreams

and aspirations, our hopes and joys start as seeds planted in

the dark soil. Those dreams, hopes and joys have to be shared

before they can grow. Let us serve the Architect with our

whole hearts. Our lodge is more than a degree or program. It is

more than a proficiency exam. It is a loving, caring fraternity of

men that support, care and love one another. We must remem-

ber that what really makes a difference is not where we sit our

rear, but, where we place our heart. This next year let us all

remember that what happens before and after the degree or

meeting is just as important, if not more important, than what

we do in the lodge room.

Yes, we are the “friendly lodge”. Let us also strive to be the

“caring lodge”. When we are at the lodge dining table enjoying

a great meal, we need to remember that, at that moment, the

person we are talking to is the most important person in our

lives. We are to be with that person, for they are our brothers.

Each seed planted has a potential. That realized potential

makes our world a beautiful place. Each brother is to care for

and serve the other, and, with that potential, what a beautiful

lodge we will have. Let us serve the Architect with our whole

hearts.

Fraternally Yours,

Bro. Isidro “Izzy” Lopez