What the Heck is a “Facebook”?

This blog post is a reprinting of an article that I wrote and was published in the November 2009 issue of the Connecticut Freemasons Newspaper.

You have probably heard something about Facebook either in the news, from an email, or you might be on Facebook already. However, you might have been left wondering “What is Facebook?” and “Why do I need to know about it?” Since this is a tool that many people are using sometimes on a daily basis, perhaps we can shed some light on the subject and help you figure out “What the heck is a Facebook anyway?”

Let’s start off simple; Facebook is a web site that people use to network socially, that is, leave messages with their friends that all their other friends can see. A user logs into Facebook and has the ability to post, either publicly or privately, information about themselves such as photos, notes, their taste in music, or even events they are attending. A user can then become a “friend” with anyone who is already on Facebook. This might be a family member, a coworker, a friend, or a Masonic brother. “Friending” is the act of declaring a social connection between two people and allowing them to see each other’s personal information. Becoming a friend is a two-way street, both users must agree to the friendship and confirm it. Therefore, if you don’t know someone and they request to become your “friend,” you can simply reject the request. Once someone is your friend on Facebook, they can see all the interesting stuff that you post. For example, here is a link to my Facebook profile, check it out and you can see what a Facebook profile looks like - www.facebook.com/charles.tirrell. I left it public for anyone to see, not just my “friends” on Facebook.

Two important features of Facebook is the “status” field and the “news feed.” A user has a “status” field, where they can type a short note about what they are doing at that moment. Updating your Facebook status is similar to another internet phenomenon, twittering, which allows users to post short little messages to the public. For example, a lodge member who is about to attend a Halloween party hosted by the Fellowcraft Club may post “I’m going to the Fellowcraft Club Halloween Party. Hope they play the Monster Mash!” This “status” is then prominently displayed on the users Facebook page for his friends to see. The feature is also broadcast to his friends’ “news feed.” The “news feed” is an activity aggregator, which gives a listing of all the recent updates that have occurred on your friends' pages. Most users check the “news feed” regularly as a way to see what their friends are up to. Therefore, another brother may see the status update about the Halloween Party in his “news feed,” become aware that this party is happening, and decide to come down to the lodge and bob for apples. Another useful feature of Facebook are “fan pages.” A “fan page” is a Facebook page that is not specifically for a person, but for a product, a place, or an organization. Becoming a fan is sort of like becoming a friend, except when you become a fan of an organization, it is a one- way street. A user chooses to become a fan of a page and there is no confirmation needed from the “fan page.” Once a user is a fan, the page can then post status updates and notifications to the users news feed. Photos, events, or even videos can be posted to the page, for fans to explore. The Grand Lodge of Connecticut has a fan page on Facebook and you can check it out by following the link on the Grand Lodge website.

Next month, we’ll have an article about what resources for Masons are available on Facebook and how lodges use Facebook to help the craft stay connected.

Installation of Officers Successful!

As Associate Grand Marshal for my district, I have gotten to do a lot of traveling to other lodges recently. Particularity during this month, I have been to several installations of officers and will be going to several more (two today in fact). An installation of officers is the "New Years Party" of Masonry. You get to see the excitement of brothers as they take their new stations and places. You get to see our many brothers take pride in and be humbled by the new offices their lodges have entrusted them with. New ideas are flying around and with these new ideas come hope for the future.

Although all installations are exciting events, none have been more meaningful for me than yesterday's installation of officers at Adelphi Momauguin Lodge No. 63. On January 9th, 2010, Worshipful Brother James Arthur Tirrell was installed as Worshipful Master of our lodge. James is also my younger brother.

I can still remember my mother bringing home my brother as a baby. I've seen him grow for 26 years and I'm very proud of the man he is today. His dedication, love of life and creativity will make him a great Worshipful Master and I am honored to serve him as one of his officers.

Yesterday was even more meaningful for me, because my good friend Daniel W. Hawthorne stepped down as Worshipful Master after two years of devoted Masonic service. Dan has done a great job as Master of our lodge and will continue to serve as our Chaplain for the ensuing year. Congratulations on a job well done!

Finally, I would like to congratulate all the newly elected and appointed officers of Adelphi Momauguin Lodge No. 63. We had a great day and much fellowship was had. Now let us get to our labors and build our temple!


A special thanks to Brother James Elliott who took some great photos of the installation of officers. All the photos can be found on this Facebook album.

Newly elected officers of Adelphi Momauguin Lodge No. 63

Congratulations to the newly elected officers of Adelphi Momauguin Lodge No. 63 for 2010!

Worshipful Master - James Tirrell
Senior Warden - Thomas Hardy
Junior Warden - Mark Osenko
Treasurer - William Demetriades
Secretary - Charles Tirrell
Tyler - Wayne Bailey
Trustee - James Cesario

The installation of officers will be held at the North Haven Masonic Building on Saturday, January 9th at 2:00 pm. 2010 should be a great year!

Master on the March

I had a chance to chat with my lodge's Worshipful Master today via Facebook messenger. I wrote about W:. Brother Dan and his trip to Australia this afternoon in the post entitled "Our Worshipful Master Down Under." He gave me a quick update on how things are going and forwarded me an email that he's submitting to the Connecticut Freemasons Publication discussing a recent visit to an Australian Lodge. Here is a copy of the text of his upcoming article for your reading pleasure.

Master on the March

During my travels in Australia I managed to visit Lodge Kiama in the state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia. The commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901, and the lodges of Kiama formed a single unified lodge in 1889. Prior to that there were a number of small lodges operating in Kiama from 1871 under a Charter issued from the Grand Lodge of Ireland.

I was surprised to find the differences in our signs as quickly as my examination before I could enter the lodge. There ritual work was also far different from ours, including the placement of some lodge officers. I had gone in anticipating finding the Junior Warden located in the North instead of the South because of the hemisphere change, but that was not the case (their ritual work explains the difference); nor does their floor work take them counterclockwise about the altar.

It was nice to see that they had adopted some of the more modern plans for Masonic meetings such as posting the minutes instead of reading them and shortening the business meeting in order to have guest speakers or a presentation. Worshipful Brother Chris Huer, the Master of Lodge Kiama welcomed me warmly and presented me with a History of Freemasonry in Kiama and a book called the Centenary of Lodge Kiama. Due to the comparative youth of Australia to other countries they hold a special reverence for the enduring nature of Lodge Kiama.

During the period of fellowship that followed the meeting I was honored as a guest and requested to speak. There is a concern in Lodge Kiama as there is in many other lodges, regarding a lack of youth in the fraternity. Since I am from a younger lodge they asked how we keep younger members involved. I also asked about how they normally stay relevant throughout their community. I was pleased to find out that the Grand Lodge of NSW wants lodges to focus on local charity rather than donations to larger national charities. The way the Grand Lodge reinforces this precept is by matching the money a lodge raises for the community. As an example, Lodge Kiama wanted to help a local non-profit community group purchase a small bus for transporting children and they managed to raise $10,000 for this project. The Grand Lodge of NSW then matched the money for a total donation of $20,000, cementing the bond between Lodge Kiama and the local population.

My favorite part of the evening was really the exchanging of stories and of ideas. I hope to continue a relationship between Adelphi-Momauguin and Lodge Kiama for years to come in hopes that we might continue to exchange ideas and plans, forging a bond of fellowship though oceans apart.

DW Hawthorne
WM AM63

Please make sure your check out W:. Brother Dan's blog and follow his further adventures in Australia.

Our Worshipful Master Down Under

One of the new directions that I plan to take this blog in is talking about how Freemasonry truly brings people together. Never have I seen an organization that allows men of all walks of life to come together, labor with each other and become much more than mere acquaintances. Our brothers are brought together regardless of politics, religion, creed, race, profession or class. Within the walls of the Masonic Lodge, you can meet men that you would never have had the opportunity to meet in their regular lives. This post will be one example of the new direction of this blog focusing on this concept.

Earlier this year, Carl Ek, a Past Master of my lodge and past District Deputy (and my chaplain during my two years as master) spoke to the members of our lodge about a great opportunity. His chapter of the Rotary club is funding a group study and exchange program to Australia, where non-Rotarians are chosen to travel to Australia for a month with all expenses paid. While in Australia, the members of the program will be required to make presentations about their profession to other professionals in their field and to learn more about their industry abroad. Additionally, they will be given the opportunity to explore the country and meet new people.

Our Worshipful Master, Dan Hawthorne, who was currently serving in his second year as master, applied for the program and was accepted. About two weeks ago, he and his other companions traveled to Australia and began their mission. Dan has been reporting on his adventures on his blog and the full details can be found here: http://theeverblog.theeverwar.com/

Dan and I have been close friends since high school and I am excited that he will have this opportunity to explore the land down under. But what does this have to do with Freemasonry and bringing different people together?

If it was not for our Masonic Lodge, Dan and I would probably never have met Brother Carl and gotten to know him. Carl is a Yale Graduate, in the advertising profession and is thirty years our senior. The typical social circles that Dan and I run in rarely intersect with the circles that Carl would frequent. However, our lodge bridged this gap and allowed us all to become friends and brothers. This is just one of the countless examples of brothers who we would probably not have known and become close with. Dan's friendship with Carl led the way to Carl recommending him for this group exchange, which is now allowing Dan to explore another continent on the other side of the world and to meet even more people. Freemasonry is a far more powerful than any social networking site and far more diverse than any typical social club.

Let us never forget that the most important part of Freemasonry is bringing men from different stations in life together upon the level of equality.

The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated

As was recently reported by Brother M.M.M. over at the North Eastern Corner, we had a chance meet-up of several of the CT Bloggers at our Grand Lodge Worshipful Master's Seminar. I came to the seminar, not to attend, but to act as chauffeur for my lodge's Senior Warden (also my younger brother). Brother M.M.M. and I had a chance to chat outside the seminar and we briefly spoke about how things have changed in the Masonic Blogosphere and several of the more active online brothers have become silent, myself included. I assured him that I wasn't quite dead yet and that perhaps I had a second wind in me. So after encouragement from Brother M.M.M. and invoking the spirit of Brother MacArthur, I can now declare "I have returned."

But what have I returned as? Do I go back to blogging about gmail, leadership diagrams, email formats, websites, etc.? Mayhaps at times, but I'd like to change the focus of this blog.

In the past year, I've done a lot of Masonic traveling. I've enjoyed some great company, experienced truly enjoyable fellowship and seen a much brighter Masonic mosaic. I'd like to record and share this inspiration and focus more on what is right about Masonry, then what needs to be fixed. I am a member of the greatest fraternity in the world and I'd like to talk about what makes it great.

Welcome to a different path for the Masonic Renaissance.

This is not Masonry....

This is not Masonry. This post is not Masonry. The blogosphere is not Masonry. The internet is not Masonry.

Like many brothers on the web, I have spent a significant amount of time following the back and forth occurring on various Masonic Blogs. Many blog posts have been ripe with disagreements, fights, arguments, contention, hatred and generally un-brotherly un-Masonic conduct. Like daytime TV, gladiatorial matches and professional wrestling, these examples of the most basic of human emotion has attracted me like a moth to a flame. I have paid unnecessary attention to it, like a passer-by gazing at a car wreck. Not giving assistance, yet transfixed and focused on the destruction. These brothers are not building the temple while they fight and I am not building the temple while I idly watch. This is not Masonry.

This bad energy has permeated my being and has nearly poisoned my own love for Masonry. After the long summer months I have felt dread about returning to my labors, not because I dread my lodge, my valley or my district. But because I have convolved the bad blood being shown over the internet with what real Masonry is. I have somehow confused the ill will shown by brothers in this land of bits and bytes with the brothers of flesh and blood.

Real Masonry is your lodge. Real Masonry is your brothers. Real Masonry is your community. Real Masonry is helping the poor and distressed. Real Masonry is looking to God, thanking him for his beautiful gift and continuing with your labors no matter how much the world-at-large has been sullied. We labor not in spite of our flawed humanity, we labor to better our flawed humanity, not to give into our more base instincts.

The brothers of my lodge, my valley, my district and my Grand Lodge have recently reminded me why I labor. This was not a conscious reminder on their part. No one stopped and noticed the corrosive forces at work in my soul. No one stopped, said that I looked lost and actively showed me the way. They didn't need to, they did what Masonry is meant to do. Masonry gives no man light. Masonry shows no man where the light is. Masonry isn't light. Masonry reminds men that there is light in this world and that we are all seeking it together. A calming joke at the right time, a friendly hand shake, a shared pizza, a chat about life; this is Masonry. Being there when your brothers need you and finding your brothers when you need them. This is Masonry.

Turn off your computer. Close your laptop. Thank God for the light in this world. Lock arms with your brothers and find a ray of that life-giving force which serves to enlighten our hearts and minds. Live Masonry.


".....that cement which unites us into one sacred band, or society of friends and brothers, among whom no contention should ever exist, but that noble contention, or rather emulation, of who best can work and best agree."